CMU Mission Trip: Destination El Paso

Filed under CMU News on Friday, March 01, 2013.

Approximately two dozen Central Methodist University students will spend their spring break giving their time and talent to others as part of CMU's annual Mission Trip.

This year they will spend March 11-18 in El Paso, Texas working primarily in support of the Lydia Patterson Institute, a United Methodist-affiliated secondary school across the border from Juarez, Mexico.

"We are excited to participate in ministry with our friends at Lydia Patterson," noted CMU Campus Chaplain Rev. Lucas Endicott, who is leading the trip. "El Paso has a fascinating blend of cultures making ministry in this city both vibrant and verdant.

"We expect great things and are excited to see transformation both in El Paso and ourselves," Endicott said.

An estimated 70 percent of Lydia Patterson students cross the border from Juarez each day. CMU has had a long-term relationship with LPI - the 2011 Mission Trip also focused on El Paso - and three current CMU students are Lydia Patterson alumni, Endicott said.

While on the Mission Trip, CMU students will help LPI transition into new facility space, host a soccer clinic for local youth, build and install ramps for people of special needs, and help prepare a field to be planted with vegetables for free distribution to area residents.

The week culminates in "Celebrate Segundo Barrio" on March 16. The Lydia Patterson Institute hosts the event each year, and thousands from one of El Paso's poorest neighborhoods are expected to come take advantage of free medical screenings, food, children's activities, and more.

CMU students will join other local volunteers that day to hold a 5K race. Other events include live music, informational booths, and much more. The students will then help with cleanup after the event.

The spring break Mission Trips offered by CMU are designed to help students, as well as faculty and staff who participate, to branch out, experience new things, and work with different people and cultures, Endicott said. Last year over 50 went on a Mission Trip to Comerio, Puerto Rico.

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