Students in the El Pozo campus ministry in Puebla, Mexico, are stepping outside the “university bubble” this semester by volunteering at a home for the indigent elderly in the community, reports team leader Kami Burns Reed.
“We started visiting Vivir de Amor this semester as part of our efforts to increase our community involvement,” said Kami. “We have taken 15 students there so far, and three students have started volunteering outside of our biweekly visit.”
Kami and the students are really enjoying the interaction with the residents of the home.
“They are so grateful for the time we spend with them, talking and hearing stories from their lives,” she said. “The residents of this home were previously homeless. Many of them grew up in orphanages and now have no family to care for them, so they are blessed to have this place to live instead of begging in the street.”
Service projects have become one of the most effective ways for El Pozo to reach out to new students, Kami notes.
“We see serving in our community as a way to live out the message of Jesus with students who might not be interested in attending an event at the campus house,” she said. “And it’s so rewarding for them to step outside that ‘university bubble,’ where they spend most of their time, and serve others.”
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