Spring Break Servant Event 2009 - El Paso, Texas
Dear Friend,
We want to thank you again for your prayers and support as we went to do work on our Spring Break down in El Paso. As you may have heard, we did not go into Juarez due to the violence in the city. Instead, we worked with Ysleta Lutheran Mission on the American side of the border in an area outside of El Paso called Sparks. Here is what we did each day.
On Friday before leaving, the group met at Martin Luther Chapel for a commissioning service with the other groups who went to Phoenix, New Orleans, and Nicaragua. Afterwards we all went out to dinner and went home to finish packing for the upcoming week.
On Saturday, we left Martin Luther Chapel at 8 am to head to Detroit Metro Airport. From there we flew to Dallas and had a three hour layover filled with gate changes and icebreaker games. We arrived in El Paso at 7 pm and were greeted by Chris and Erin from Ysleta, who would be working with us throughout the week. That night we had the first of our daily group Bible Studies.
On Sunday we attended both the English service and Spanish service at Ysleta. They had a commissioning service for us, and everyone was very excited for us to be there. We were also given a tour of the Ysleta campus and told about the many other outreach services they provide.
Monday began our first day of work. The neighborhood of Sparks has an average income of $16,000. The trailer we worked on was in rough shape. Much of the floor and ceiling was water damaged, the roof leaked, and the entire structure needed reinforcement. Part of the group, including Melissa Bunge, started by ripping out the walls and floors on the inside of the trailer. On the roof we began to put up a framework to put the new roof on. Hailey Schaldach became adept at screwing in the braces for the framework.
On Tuesday, the tiling of the inside began. Abbi VanSickle and Katie Lonc carefully cut the tiles to fit into the odd shapes of the floor. On the roof, plywood was placed on top of the framework and Kannan Raghunathan and Andy Barrus honed their hammering skills.
On Wednesday the inside crew began to reinforce the structure. Reed Kalso was seen a few times attempting to hold up the house on his own. On the roof, the work day was shortened due to rain, but all the tar paper was rolled out and nailed in with the help of Hanna Miller and Matthew Montney.
On Friday, our last day of work, the inside crew began putting up drywall. Maxwell Mianecki enjoyed getting rid of the old nails and screws from the previous walls. Christine Waltersdorf also became an excellent painter inside and outside. On the roof, the shingles were put down with lots of tar. Sally Albrecht got into a fight with the tar bucket and lost. When we were done for the day, Maria, the mother who lived in the house, was very gracious for everything we had done for her including getting her new welcome mats for her house and fresh baked cookies. We were lucky to have Danielle Grabowski as a translator for the group.
Friday was our day off. We were able to witness the glory of God’s creation at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. Here the group played all sorts of games including making a slide out of cardboard down the dunes. Afterwards, the group went out to Cici’s Pizza where Reed won the eating contest with 23.5 points. We had our last group devotion that night and left El Paso the next morning for our return to Michigan.
We want to thank you for your support and prayers during these last few weeks. Without you, this amazing trip would not be possible. You were just as important in the lives of Maria and her family as we were. Thank you!
God’s blessings and much thanks,
Matthew Montney and Sally Albrecht – The Leaders
Abbi VanSickle, Andy Barrus, Christine Waltersdorf, Danielle Grabowski, Hailey Schaldach, Hanna Miller, Kannan Raghunathan, Katie Lonc, Matthew Montney, Maxwell Mianecki, Melissa Bunge, Reed Kalso, and Sally Albrecht
