Timothy Project: Cherry Hills Christian Middle School (CHCMS) returned to Juarez, Mexico after several years away. This trip of 24 middle school students and a handful of teachers and parent chaperones marked the return to serving the impoverished and orphaned in Juarez, a city on the Mexico side of the border. The team’s week of serving proved not only to be safe and free of violence but full of great rewards few expected.
The team’s primary objective while at Arbol de Vida was to pull out dead and damaged trees in the orchards and replace them with healthy saplings. When the students were not honing their arborist skills, they were bonding with the orphans who live there. A highlight of their time with the children was the giving of the soccer gear donated by Soccer Chaplains United.
Isabella Carpinelli, an eighth grader from CHCMS, said,
The kids were overjoyed to see everything. Right away they ran out onto the field with their new soccer gear and played for hours on end.
Soccer Chaplains United sent with the team a few dozen complete sets of soccer gear. With their new cleats, soccer jersey, and shorts the kids from Arbol De Vida experienced Christmas-like joy. The gratification did not end with the children, it rippled through the Cherry Hills Christian students and even into the adults. Todd Burmeister shared,
As a supporter of Soccer Chaplains United, I was excited to see how the Timothy Project works in its entirety. It is one thing to organize and donate gear here (in Denver), but quite another to see the joy and excitement in the children’s faces when they receive it. I now know firsthand what a blessing the Timothy Project is.
Todd Burmeister has been a supporter of Soccer Chaplains United and a parent of a Cherry Hills Christian Middle School student.
Since returning from their trip, the students have begun plans to continue to grow the relationships they started while in Mexico. Several of the students hope to return to Arbol De Vida as well as support the children with gifts and cards of encouragement.
To support Timothy Project: Middle School Returns to Juarez, Mexico or future Timothy Project ventures please donate through PushPay — simply select Timothy Project from the selectable funds to contribute to. Your financial gift helps us purchase new soccer equipment, sponsor an individual or organization in an outreach effort, and to cover associated costs of providing Bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!
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