Wilma Ibarra knew what she wanted; that wasn’t the problem. The chili peppers for the salsa she planned to make gleamed under the sunlight in the open-air market. The problem was she didn’t know how to ask for them. Searching through the few Spanish phrases she knew and coming up with nothing, Wilma held out the centavos (coins) in her hand and pointed to the peppers.

After some signing and smile exchanging, Wilma walked home with the chili peppers. Soon she became a familiar face at the market in Saltillo, Mexico. It was 1945. The girl from Missouri had no way of knowing that 60 years later she would still be in Mexico.

It all started with a sack of potatoes

Born in 1916, Wilma grew up in a strong Lutheran home in St. Louis. During the Depression, Wilma’s brother volunteered at a nearby mission. They handed out coupons that could be exchanged for food. Juan Manuel Ibarra, a chemist originally from Mexico, heard about the program. He came and eagerly accepted a large sack of potatoes.

The Holy Spirit worked through those potatoes. Juan Manuel returned for food and stayed for Bible classes. Wilma’s brother befriended him and introduced him to Wilma. Three years later, Juan Manuel was a confirmed member, and the two were married.

Dr. Walter Meyer, a member of the church where Juan Manuel was confirmed, thought Juan would make a good pastor. Meyer encouraged Wilma to talk to her husband about it. “I didn’t want to force him to make a decision,” Wilma recalls, so she did not push the issue. She did, however, regularly attend church services. Their two children were baptized, and Wilma worked hard to keep Christ as the center of the family.

In the 1940s, Juan Manuel decided to introduce powdered soap to Mexico. Wilma followed him to Saltillo. After initial sessions of signing at the market, she learned Spanish. She planted cacti and fruit trees in her garden. Looking for a way to use the pomegranates one of the trees produced, she developed a recipe for pomegranate syrup. She stored the purple liquid in empty Coke bottles.

While Wilma made all of these adjustments, one thing did not waver: her faith. Her emphasis on Christian living resonated throughout the family. Juan Manuel soon saw the need for the gospel in Mexico. He shifted his plans and studied to become a pastor.

After graduating, Juan Manuel began his ministry in Torreón, a city in north central Mexico. “He started desde cero (from scratch),” Wilma recalls. The first members were soon confirmed. Today the congregation he founded, El Redentor (Redeemer), is part of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Church, WELS’ sister synod in Mexico.

Letting it shine