Staff Report

When Justin L. Davis heard his pastor at the Temple Gate Seventh-Day Adventist Church announce a mission trip to Central or South America, he knew that it was something he would love to take part in.

The first trip was planned for Lima, Peru. “Although I would have loved to take that trip, I discovered a trip to Mesa Otay in Tijuana, Mexico. That was more convenient,” Davis said.

He left from Los Angeles on July 16 with a group from Thousands Oaks, Calif.

“Arriving in Tijuana was a humbling experience for me – seeing houses in decay, trash heaps, and the water was not drinkable,” he said.

The goal of the mission team was to build a church for the members in Mesa Otay, putting up the walls and the roof.

“It was hard work, but it felt good to do something for others in an unselfish way,” Davis said.

The Temple Gate Seventh-Day Adventist Church plans to send more youth on mission trips through the Maranatha organization, according to pastor Wayne Hewlett.

“This is a new program we’re trying to get off the ground here in Selma,” Hewlett said.