Laredo Stepping Stone was founded in 2001 by Randy Leyendecker and Tavo Garcia, two local business men with a God given heart for missions. LSS is situated on twenty acres of beautiful desert in the colonia of West Penitas off of Mines Road, half way between Laredo and the Columbia crossing and approximately two miles from the US/Mexican border on the US side.
In 2002, God brought the Hall family, a couple who had been involved in taking short term teams into Mexico since 1993 and to whom God had begun speaking several years before about starting a missions facilitation center in West Laredo. God connected them with Randy and Tavo and together they began construction on LSS beginning with just a concrete shell.
Now, seventeen years later, LSS’ main building hosts seven dorm rooms able to accommodate up to eighty people, four bed-and-breakfast-style rooms for missionary use, a library, dining room, a beautiful bathhouse complex, and meeting room. Our duplex hosts missionary families coming to the border to resupply, on their way through into the states, or who are just in need of a time of respite from their work on the mission field. We also have peaceful, tranquil places like our reflecting pond and strategically placed benches along the nature trail for those who just want a quiet place to meet with the Lord and enjoy the desert landscape. Future plans include a warehouse for the food ministry and storage for missionaries, more short-term missionary housing, a game room, and staff housing.
Services LSS provides at this time are:
Caretaking for missionaries including:
- Short-term stays at our facility for missionaries working along the Frontera or in Mexico coming across the border for furlough, to resupply, medical reasons, or respite
- Advocating for and advancing missions via speaking at churches or groups, conferences, on our Facebook page, etc. to bring awareness of the needs (physical, spiritual, emotional) and situations missionaries face and different ways to affect positive change in these areas.
- A place missionaries can store things short term until they can arrange to cross them. o Provide supplies to missionaries for use by them personally or through their ministry such as food, clothing, hygiene supplies, etc. via donations or our food ministry.
For mission teams including:
- Providing a home base for teams already connected and working with a ministry along the Frontera
- Overnight stays for teams going in and out to work with missionaries in the interior of Mexico
- Offering fully planned mission trips for groups coming to the Frontera for the first time or who prefer this service (available for US side only, Mexican side, or combination)
- A communication/resource network for groups looking for missionaries and or missions projects to work with or visa/versa, providing resources and/or information to groups encountering difficulties or needing assistance during their trip
For churches or Christian groups looking for a place to have:
- Retreats
- Conferences
- Camps
- Daymeetings
Support services:
- Community
- Foodbank
- Supplies for missionaries
- Storage
If you are interested in any of the services we provide, click on the links at the top of the page to explore them in more detail or Contact Us for more information.