Trinity (Lincoln, NE) worshipped with their fellow brothers and sisters at San Pablo Lutheran Church on Sunday morning

This is a typical question heard at the end of a Servant Event week at Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care (Ysleta), but with events surrounding the pandemic, that question took on a whole new perspective for many Servant Event teams, including Trinity Lutheran Church of Lincoln, Nebraska.  Trinity has been faithfully coming to Ysleta every year for over 2 decades, but with the global wide-pandemic, no one knew exactly when they would be able to get back into the mission field.

After visiting the work site, the Trinity team worked together to meet the challenge of limited working space

Well, the wait was over!  Trinity’s team arrived . . . finally!  Driving 18 hours, 1,000 miles, non-stop from Lincoln, NE, to El Paso, TX, the team pulled into their home away from home around 11:00pm on May 14th.

Trinity came ready and eager to give, serve and love, with a trailer full of backpacks, blankets, clothes and more, as well as VBS materials for 5 days, and extra tools and equipment needed to build a beautiful house for a family in Anapra.  At first glance, the team of 12 seemed small, but years of experience and hundreds of hours of preparation back home, by countless Trinity members, made this week possible.  Ysleta is a church-wide mission event at Trinity, and what used to be a funny, and hard to pronounce word, now flows effortlessly, and with unwavering commitment The Great Commission; go and share God’s love and the Gospel beyond the borders of Lincoln and El Paso.

A 5-day VBS was held at La Santa Biblia, with kids and adults doubling daily as the Trinity team shared God’s Word through Bible stories, crafts, games, and a homecooked meal for lunch

Sunday, the first full day at Ysleta, Trinity worshiped at San Pablo, then drove across the border to meet the family, seeing first-hand their new worksite for the next 5 days.  It had been so long since the team crossed the familiar Cordova Bridge into Juarez, and for some of the new mission team members, Juarez was an all-new world, while for the seasoned members, it brought back many fond memories.

Alfredo worked alongside the team to help build the needed living space for his growing family

Alfredo and Hortencia’s family would be growing considerably as soon as the new home was built.  Due to the loss of parents, they would be taking in six of their nephews and nieces, giving up nearly half of their enclosed front patio to make living space for them.

The challenge with this build was the enclosed patio, with concrete block walls on 3 of the 4 sides where the new house was to be constructed, with Trinity’s team making several adjustments to make the most of the space and accommodate for the fact 3 of the new walls were so close to the existing walls. Once in place, there was no getting back there to do any more construction or paint work.  Due to this challenge, the team fell behind at first, but by day 3, Trinity was ahead of schedule to completing the house for the family.  Mission accomplished!

In addition, Trinity held VBS at Iglesia Luterana de La Santa Biblia.  Crafts, fun, Bible lessons and fellowship for all 5 days, ended with the team feeding all the children and adults there.  After serving a different lunch every day, the VBS team returned to the home site.  Those who stayed at the building site were always eager to hear stories about what happened at VBS.

By the end of the week, hundreds of children, teens, and adults were fed wholesome meals and the Word of God, and a new home for a growing family was built.  More importantly, new homes were created in the hearts of countless souls on the streets and neighborhoods of Anapra; new homes for Jesus to live in.  The journey was a long time coming, but for Trinity, it was never in doubt –the journey continues.

“When are we coming back?”

Article written by Scott Juengel