Seaside Church has made a profound commitment to help these two institutions just south of our border. Josie Castañeda, a Practitioner at Seaside and also enrolled in the school of Ministry, has created "Tecate" as her personal project. Periodically, the members of our church cross into Mexico to assist in various projects. For example, last Christmas, presents were delivered to each girl and boy in their respective orphanages. The name and age of each child was carefully noted, funds were raised, and the children received a whole carton of many gifts - not just one. There was a combination of needed items such as clothing, warm jackets for winter, shirts, blouses, etc. And there were also toys, dolls, even electronic Walkman's for the older children, including batteries. Beyond that, our church attempted to deliver something "personal" for each child.

The Seaside group which participated in the gift-giving project at Christmas at the Juan Escutia Community School in Cerro Azul were moved by the needs of the families in that community and specifically, the community school where approximately 225 children attend. We met the Director of the school, a board member, and some of the families of the children. Because we thought the needs were so great in the cold weather, the same group returned in January with clothes, toys and food. The Director had mentioned he was not receiving help from the government to make repairs to the school and had to solicit his students to bring building supplies from home to make repairs. Our group wanted to help the school and in this way, make the greatest impact on the largest number of families in that community. The Director told us he would like to have a library to be used as a resource for the children. With the help of Spirit, our group helped build this library. A professional contractor volunteered his time and supervised the project. Skilled members of Seaside Church also donated their time.

This project has generated a lot of interest amongst Seaside members and the Pacific Church of Religious Science located in Mission Valley. They have 15 members who are interested in working with us on our projects in Tecate. Plans are in the works to do a project together in the near future.

Please go to next page

Top of Page