OFLC ALTERNATIVE THANKSGIVING
YSLETA LUTHERAN MISSION 

NOV 26-30, 2025

WHAT WILL WE DO THERE?
We’ll prepare and serve Thanksgiving meals for as many as 1,000 hungry souls over three days at Ysleta Lutheran Mission in El Paso, and its affiliated mission churches across the border in the Juarez area.  Additional service projects will also be available to volunteers.

COSTS
+ $75 per person or $300 for family of 4+ covers transportation, lodging and some meals.  Scholarships are available as needed.  
+ Payment deadline is NOVEMBER 2ND 
+ Please make checks payable to OFLC and return to Pastor Micah or Heidi Herrmann. Note “Ysleta Mission Trip deposit” on the check memo line.

WHERE WILL WE STAY AND WHAT WILL WE EAT? 
We will stay in the dorms at Ysleta Mission compound in El Paso, TX. Members of our group will prepare close to 1,000 meals Thursday through Saturday.  Rita, the mission cook, will prepare two special Mexican dinners for our group on Friday and Saturday night.  If you have special dietary needs, please let me know so we can plan accordingly! If our group is larger than 20, we will also have work teams performing manual labor around the campus in El Paso. 

WHERE WILL WE SERVE AND HOW WILL WE GET THERE? 
The serving sites will be at Ysleta Lutheran Mission and in two/three areas on the outskirts of Juarez, Mexico. We will be transported there and back each day in mission vans by mission personnel during daylight hours.

WHAT WILL WE NEED TO DO ABOUT BORDER CROSSINGS? 
+ If you are 16 or older, you will need a passport or passport card to return to the U.S. after our work in Mexico. 
+ Children under 16 can return using a notarized birth certificate for ID, along with the mission’s permission to travel form (see below).
+ Children under 18 traveling without a parent will need to complete and return appropriate notarized forms with the mission paperwork provided for you.  
+ If you will be traveling into Mexico to serve with us on this trip, you will need to read and sign a waiver for OFLC in addition to the mission paperwork.

SAFETY IN JUAREZ
Due to the visibly improved situation in Juarez over the past several years, trip leaders and mission personnel have determined that with proper precautions, we can serve safely across the border.  We will enter and leave the country only by daylight, only at the larger, more heavily manned crossings, and only in the church vans or in a group on the short walking bridges.  We follow direct, well-traveled routes to and from serving sites.  

ITENERARY
+ Sunday, November 2: All release forms and money due.
+ Tuesday, November 25: 6:00pm - meet at church to load the vehicles with supplies (4-5 volunteers).
+ Wednesday, November 26: 5:45am – meet at church, final loading, travel day. 
+ Thursday, November 27: Thanksgiving worship, meal prep and serve for local congregation and    community in El Paso.
+ Friday, November 28: Meal prep and serving in Anapra, Juarez, Mexico. 
+ Saturday, November 29: Meal prep and serving at Kilometer 30, Juarez, Mexico.
+ Sunday, November 30: Travel Day.

MISSION LOCATION 
301 S. Schutz Drive, El Paso, TX., 915-858-2588 (Office closed Thanksgiving Weekend).  

QUESTIONS? Micah Steiner / msteiner@oflc.net