Over Memorial Day weekend, a team of 50 enthusiastic volunteers took part in our 20th annual house building trip in El Nino, Mexico. This year, we had the opportunity to pour the foundation of a new church building as well as foster relationships with the community and other team members. After departing from Shepherd’s Grove on Friday morning, we caravanned to the border and drove to the town of El Nino, which is about 40 minutes from there, in the Tijuana municipality. When we arrived, we settled into our rooms at Comunidad Cristiana El Niño, the church that was hosting us. We met with Pastor Daniel Nuñez, who pastors and plants churches in the area, and then we hit the ground running, starting with painting church classrooms used to host Bible studies and community groups; we also cleaned and decluttered several meeting rooms.

On Saturday, we shifted our efforts to laying the foundation of a new community center on the church campus. Alongside a team of construction workers, we mixed cement, filled buckets with gravel and sand, and assisted in whatever way we were needed. We also set up an activity table for kids in the community that gave us the chance to interact with them. We took photos, drew caricatures, and provided several crafts, including beaded necklaces and sun visors. When evening came, we were privileged to support a men’s conference being held at the church and were given the chance to put together food bags for 120 attendees!

Sunday morning we packed up, said our goodbyes, and were back at SG before we knew it with hearts full of gratitude for the relationships that were cultivated with each other and with the beautiful people of El Niño. 

Sound interesting? Plan to join us next year and check out other opportunities to serve Mexico here: https://sgp.church/outreach/. Of course, if you have questions, you can always email me at curtis.drever@irvinepres.org.