In Tijuana, a large city in Mexico located just south of California, 22% of their population faces poverty, and three percent faces extreme poverty states the Borgen Project. This is double the percentage of poverty here in America.
Covenant Life Community Church, a local church in Lansing, Michigan, recently organized a young adult mission trip to Tijuana to help those in need by building shelters, helping an orphanage, and providing encouragement to those in need. Reid Curry, a member of the Covenant Life Community Church and DevOps Manager at GreenStone’s East Lansing office, joined the group of young adults (including his oldest son and one of his daughters) on this mission to help those in need.
“As Christians, we want to show the love of Christ to other people, and this was a ministry where they help the poor, the destitute, and the orphans. We saw the need and wanted to be a part of it,” Reid explains.
Reid and his team helped the penurious by building shelters for those who do not have anywhere to go. They spent time with the kids in the orphanage by playing games with them and giving them hope and encouragement.
Reid and his team putting up the walls to one of the shelters.
As part of the trip the team helped to support people in Esperanza, which means hope in Spanish. Hope is exactly what these people need. Reid describes this place as a landfill, where the city dumps all their trash, and people live at the bottom of it. Their team provided these people with fresh food, clean water, and tried to give any bit of strength to them that they could. Reid shared, “When the trash trucks come in, the people run up to the top and scavenge for food and try to find anything that can help them with their day-to-day life. They would look for wire and burn it down so they could sell it just so they could have money for something to eat.”
A trip like this is one that makes you reflect on your own life, and realize all you have and take for granted sometimes. One of the biggest impacts this ministry had on Reid was reassessing his priorities back at home. He plans to spend more time serving those in need and focus less time on himself, and encourages others to do the same as well.
“I would encourage others to get involved locally. Take a group of people to the Lansing Rescue Mission and help serve food at a mealtime. Take time talking with people that are in need, encourage them and give them hope.”
This month GreenStone encourages you to help someone in need and volunteer somewhere in your community. To learn more about how GreenStone employees get involved visit this page.
