Westmont Receives Key to Ensenada
Ensenada Mayor César Mancillas and his wife, Beatriz, presented Westmont with the key to the city during last week’s 30th annual student-led spring break service trip there. The city-wide celebration of Potter’s Clay included flamenco dancers and a large dinner.
More than 220 students and three dozen community volunteers took part in last week’s outreach, constructing eight buildings, including five homes, a community activity center, a church and a counseling center for abused women and children. Medical and dental volunteers also treated more than a thousand patients, while others assisted at elementary school sports clinics and Bible schools.
“Our theme for this year was ‘amor inagotable’ which means ‘inexhaustible love,’ and we really feel like God showered us with His goodness and grace over the course of the week,” said co-leader Marisa Conroy, a junior modern languages major. “We hope that the mission of Potter’s Clay was expressed in the giving and receiving of this inexhaustible love, and we hope that both the communities of Westmont and Ensenada were blessed by this.”
Students Gordon Aeschliman and Dave Dolan founded Potter’s Clay in 1977 when they decided to “give to the Mexican people through service, evangelism and material donation.” Succeeding generations of students have kept this mission alive.
“We were truly blessed to experience the way that God is moving in Ensenada through its people, as we were received with open arms and loving hearts,” said coleader Matt Marinkovich, a senior biology major.
More than 10,000 students and community volunteers have participated since the inaugural trip, constructing 350 homes and 50 community buildings.