With several members having years of experience, the team moved quickly throughout the week, staying a day ahead of schedule

Faith Lutheran Church of Branson, MO, is a “repeat offender” here at Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care (YLM), coming down to serve in Mexico for years.   Not only are they dedicated to serve God through YLM, they are spreading the good news to their families and friends, bringing new missionaries every year to experience the indescribable, infectious, heart-transforming love experienced through mission work on the border with YLM.

Prayer before starting and after cleaning up became the daily practice for this team and the family

The Setting:   Bumpy and winding roads lead up to the top of one of the mesas on the outskirts of Juarez, in Anapra.  The fall weather in Anapra is beginning to cool down…yes, fall and winter do exist in Juarez.  The mission team arrives to the top of the mesa, where a new concrete slab awaits them.  In less than 5 days, a beautiful, new house will be built.

The Family:  David and Citlali, and their two adorable little girls, are waiting for the team to arrive.  The team from Branson and the family greet each other; they have each been praying for the other, and for the moment they would finally meet.  After beaming smiles, firm handshakes, and warm hugs are exchanged, everyone gathers together, holding hands, and pray for God’s blessings on what is about to take place; each day started and ended with prayer.

Citlali and her daughters helped paint their little house on the first day

The Building of a Home:  This is where the incredible happens.  The house construction goes at an unexpected lightning speed.  Walls were painted, roof was completed, insulation installed, windows and doors set, drywall done, all a day ahead of normal.  The house was square—the installation of the metal roof confirmed that.  And there was never a butting of heads or egos.  (Did I mention the team prayed every day, before and after the build?)

Every day, after returning to El Paso, unwinding, and having supper at YLM, the team would share their “Wows and Pows” –their highs and lows for the day.  If you asked anyone, and everyone, from the Faith Lutheran team what attributed to the success of the house build, each person who worked on the house answered in one way or another: “We were so impressed at how hard the family worked on the house”, “The joy and excitement we could see in their faces”, and “We were able to communicate without words.”

The team and family shared lunch every day, enjoying the shade from the strategically placed slant of the roof

David and Citlali prayed with the team (in spite of language barriers) and helped every hour and every day, taking personal ownership in the building of their new home.  The desire to help with any job was priceless to the team.  Even their little girls helped paint, endearing themselves to the team.  Pastor Joel Krueger of Faith Lutheran Church said, “I am so glad God gave them to us as a family.”

Maybe that’s how God answered all those prayers.  Maybe that is what is meant by God’s divine providence.  You come to help others, and the ones helped are you, in more ways than one.

The house blessing included house-warming gifts from the team to help the family make the little house into a home

The House Blessing:  At the end of the week, Pastor Javier Lozano and members of Iglesia Luterana Santa Biblia gathered for the house blessing ceremony.  Perhaps the most impactful part of the ceremony was not that the whole team and family formed a circle and took turns thanking God for the incredible week.  No, the most significant moment for everyone was David, who was invited throughout the week to pray and he would always defer to his wife, Citlali, but on that final day, at the end of the final group prayer, David, hard-working yet too shy to pray, finally found the words to thank God and the whole team for all the blessings for his family.

In less than 5 days a home was built, the word stranger was replaced with friend, friends became family, and a shy man gave thanks to his Father before his brothers and sisters in Christ.  That’s how God continues to change lives daily through simple acts of kindness.

Written by Scott Juengel