Santa Fe Christian Schools

We made it last night and hit the ground running. After getting settled in our rooms and eating dinner- we went to a Jewish Synagogue and learned about the Jewish faith from our new friend, Rabbi Avi. It was a neat experience to hear about their faith and the intersections of Christianity and Judaism. We asked a lot of amazing questions and spent almost two hours learning from Rabbi! 

Partnering with the Resources Food Bank to unload and inventory storage, preparing holiday meals to meet their goal of 800 community meals.

This afternoon, we're at GRM! We enjoyed a tour of this incredible ministry and are now making homemade potstickers.

Enjoying a scenic lunch break. Suargo National Park is stunning!

Group 6 is preparing for relational ministry downtown. Praying for God's blessings on those we will serve.

Today our groups started at Goshen International Church. We worked hard emptying a large storage container, cleaning the items, then returning them to the container. We were able to hear some amazing stories from the Pastor of this church. He shared how he came to help build the church up and house multiple different families on church grounds. 

Team two spent our morning doing various projects at our partner church Hope City! We cleared out their kitchen in preparation for a new paint job coming later this week, worked our fingernails to the bone trying to scrape off a decal from a donated van to the church, and even did our best to wash all their windows. It was a great morning, working alongside some amazing people.

Tonight some of the team got the opportunity to wash peoples feet. One of our team was washing a gentleman's feet when he asked why she was doing it. She then told him about Jesus and shared the gospel with him. After she was done he then asked if he could wash her feet. What an awesome example of Christ love. 

We had a great morning at the Goshen Center helping to clean up the facility and organize supplies. The team worked hard and made some nice imporvements. We were able to  listen to Pastor Bigumbe share his story of coming to  this country with a vision to minister to the community and especially to refugees. During a half hour downtime we were entertained with a student talent show and the hit was the girls' dance with our new little friend!

Yesterday, group 5 spent the day working very hard in the hot sun. In the morning, We had the honor to serve Westside Church of God and learn about the beautiful history of this 96 year old church.  The students had an amazing time prepping the ground for a new walkway and painting the existing sidewalks.

With one day of serving under our belts, we woke up ready to go and get after it on day two. Teams two and three spent our morning volunteering at the Tucson Village farm. We did some weeding of the beds, some planting of the spring crops, and even some harvesting of crops that were currently in the ground. It was great fun to get our hands a little dirty, and to see how God grows it to feed us.

Our team headed over to our host, Hope City Church. This morning we worked on painting the kitchen. We were able to speak with some amazing people who attend this church. They shared what their walk with God has been like. Afterwards, we took some time to reflect on what we have seen and heard this morning, how we have seen God, and how we can help our communities when we get home. 

Group 5 had the privilege to learn about the Gospel Rescue Mission.

During our time, the team took a tour of the organization and was able to hear about the amazing partnerships and services they provide to the unhoused individuals and families.

After the tour, the team worked on prepping food and serving lunch to the residents.  During lunch each student was assigned a specific task, such as serving food, bussing tables, and prepping plates to be served. The group loved having the time to work alongside other volunteers and residents/workers and getting to know the residents.

Teams two and seven served this afternoon at Westside Church of God. Pastor Karen directed us as we made a new side entry way path for the church,, painted the sidewalk in front of her church, and replaced the hardware to the cabinets inside of the fellowship hall. 

The kids are doing amazing. It’s been great to watch them work together and see their confidence grow right before our eyes. God is good.

This morning we went to Caring Ministry where we labeled hundreds of canned beans that were donated to the ministry without labels. We also learned a lot about the ministry and the community they serve. 

We spent the afternoon at St. Andrew's church helping them with their new prayer garden.  The church has had 2 of their pastors pass away in the last 4 years and they want to install a prayer garden in their memory. We were able to remove a TON of rocks and clear a space for them to build a bridge to the new garden. We were able to do the first step in making their vision a reality. 

Afterwards we went downtown and had nice visits with several of the unhoused folks in the area. We were able to bless them with a little food and water and the team took turns praying for them. We were reminded of the fact that we are ALL loved so much by God and were grateful for time to really see each other.

Today, Group 8 served at Gap Ministries and Gospel Rescue Mission. We had the privilege of helping meet both physical and spiritual needs, seeing firsthand how God is working in this community. Grateful for the opportunity to serve and share His love!

This afternoon we were at GAP warehouse working alongside some of their amazing employees and volunteers. This ministry provides some free food/ household items as well as discounted items for families and individuals. We are thankful for another day of serving this community! 

Team two was up and serving at another amazing ministry that serves so many here in Tucson.. It’s called Caring Ministries.

We were toured around the facility by Josh, whose grandfather started this ministry years and years ago. He and his crew work tirelessly every single day to help alleviate hunger here in Tucson.

His ministry and his charisma were inspiring enough for us to label cans for 2 1/2 hours in the sun. Our kids did not even complain. It’s been awfully fun to watch them grow. You’ve got great kids!

Top notch team! 

This morning we went to Hope City Church and worked on several projects. Some of us helped organize the supply closet. While others painted and repaired some kitchen cabinets. 

Augustus lead our team in prayer for our new friend we met at the park. 

This morning group 5 was able to be a part of the weekly food distribution at GAP.  Members of the group helped distribute food items, crush boxes, sort through pallets of donations, and help people bring items to their cars.

This morning we packed sandwiches and waters to hand out to people in the unhoused community of Tuscon. We were able to speak to so many people who met us with joy and gratefulness. We prayed over many individuals that we will remember forever. 

What a blessisng it was to cook and serve guests at the Gospel Rescue Mission today. We worked with wonderful people from all walks of life with servant hearts for others. We cooked and chopped and served and cleared and had sweet conversations with guests. They loved having young people there joining them in their work and life. It was a great experience for all of us!