Puerto Peñasco, Mexico 2021

I’ll never forget my first mission trip—an experience that sparked a love for serving and reshaped my perspective on life. Partnering with 1Mission, a nonprofit dedicated to building homes for families in need, our High School Ministry (HSM) team from Scottsdale Bible Church journeyed to Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Puerto Peñasco, a coastal city in the Mexican state of Sonora, sits on the edge of the Sea of Cortez, just a 4.5-hour drive south of Phoenix. The route takes you across the U.S.-Mexico border and into a region where beauty and hardship exist side by side. It’s here, among the local community, that 1Mission sets up their basecamp and construction sites, creating opportunities for families to receive homes through partnership and hard work.

For one week, our group of over 50 high school students and leaders poured our energy into building homes—5 in total. The days were long, hot, and humid. Mixing cement under the blazing sun left us sore and exhausted, but it also brought us together like nothing else could. Shoulder to shoulder, we worked alongside the families and local community, experiencing what true partnership and community look like.

More than anything, this trip revealed a deeper truth to me: that at our core, we are all the same—created in God’s image, loved equally by the Lord. Despite cultural or material differences, we are united by a shared humanity and a shared need for hope. I began to see how blessed we are, not for our own comfort, but to be a blessing to others.

Serving with 1Mission taught me that mission work is not about “us helping them,” but about showing up with humility, ready to learn, love, and share life together. We didn’t just build homes—we built relationships, faith, and a deeper understanding of God’s heart for His people.

This trip planted a seed in my life. A seed of service. A seed of gratitude. And a calling to live missionally wherever I go. My prayer is that we all realize our blessings have purpose: to glorify God by serving others.

"Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." – Matthew 5:16 (ESV)