Over summer, many CSUSM students traveled, took on a part time job, or even went to summer school. Some students, however, opted to serve  on a project called “Borderlands,” an alternative summer project put on by Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, a Christian organization that is present here on campus.

The project consisted of a six week trip where students from colleges in the Southern California region were split into two teams. The members of team one lived in Tijuana, Mexico at an orphanage and worked among people who had recently been deported and had nowhere to go. The team members learned about the deportees’  lives and were able to share their faith and pray with them. They also spent time on both sides of the border talking to the families and friends of those who have been deported to Mexico. The students learned about God’s heart for the lost and for the immigrants.

Ariel Plaza, a senior here at CSUSM, spoke about her experiences on the trip.  

“We got to meet a lot of people who are affected by immigration in different ways and understand their survival,” she said. “I will remember that what I do matters. Everyday I make choices that may or may not affect people I have never met. There were people I met this summer that, even though they were struggling, they still had faith.”

Members of team two lived in San Diego in the inner city and worked with at risk teens. Here, they mentored the teens and helped them build character by building relationships and working in community gardens.

Michael Cortez, a junior here at CSUSM, spoke about his experience on team two.

“At first I had no confidence in mentoring these teens. I was only a few years older than them. But after a week of being with them and God leading me, I felt much better about it.”

Team two members also learned about God’s heart for the lost and broken.

Cortez also spoke about the biggest impact the project had on him this summer.

“Character growth and a much closer relationship to God,” he said.

While these students sacrificed most of their summers,  they experienced God, made friends and took home memories that will last with them a lifetime.