TIJUANA, Mexico --- Noah Reed became involved with Biola's Tijuana Ministry at the end of his freshman year and has been a dedicated member ever since. Serving on these trips has helped him realize that he wants to pursue missions in the future and work with kids in crisis.

When Noah first came to Biola he didn't know that the Tijuana Ministry existed. He found out about it at the end of his freshman year after talking with some friends about how he grew up traveling to Mexico on mission trips with his youth group, and how he wanted to continue serving in this way. Noah jumped at the opportunity to be a part of the ministry and traveled to Tijuana with the team six days after his friends first told him about the ministry.

The team volunteers at Children of Promise, an orphanage right next to the Red Light District. "A lot of the kids are orphans, but a lot of them have parents that are living and just don't want to take care of them," said Reed.

The team will travel to Tijuana about five to six Saturdays per semester, leaving around 6:30 a.m. and returning around 9 p.m.

"How it [the home] originally got started was the owners of the home would go out into the Red Light District and they would find kids who were there and they'd say 'take me to your parents' and the kid would either say 'I don't have any parents' or 'I don't know where they are,'" Reed explained. "Or they'd take them to the parents and they'd tell the parents 'you either need to take better care of your kid or we're gonna have him come live with us so he's properly taken care of.' Like 90 percent of the time the parents would just say 'just take them.' Every once in awhile you'd get parents who would say 'just take them while I change myself and when I'm better I'll come.'"

"Once we're there it's very free form and we just kind of play with the kids and do whatever the kids want to do. A lot of that includes surfing and playing soccer," said Reed. The home was built on a cliff right next to the beach, about 15 minutes from the Red Light District. There is plenty of room for the kids to live and be taken care of, and they also have a pool and field for soccer.

Noah's trips to Tijuana have given him a better picture of what he hopes to do with his future, he said: "I don't want to say that being involved with Tijuana Ministry has been life changing, but it has really made me want to do a lot more mission work or I guess do a lot more work with orphans or kids in crisis. I don't really know what that looks like because there's a million different things you can do, but I would love to move to another country for a time period. And whether that's working with this home or a different home or in a church, I have no idea, but I would love to be involved with stuff like this in the future."

Noah carries a busy schedule as a member of Biola's swim and dive team, but he's been able to balance his passions for swimming and ministry thanks to careful planning and supportive coaches.
"It hasn't been too hard to juggle because most of the stuff happens on Saturday and my coaches have been super behind everything and that's fit really well," said Reed.

Head Swim and Dive Coach Ryan Kauth values his athletes' community involvement.

"I love seeing our swimmers go out into the community and pay-it-forward," said Kauth. "I think student-athletes have very unique and special leadership qualities that allow others to view them as role models, and as a result, they have a far-reaching impact on so many groups of people. Therefore, I encourage them to volunteer, and give a commitment to service within their community."

Noah's commitment to Biola's Tijuana Ministry shows the two-fold impact of service. Not only has Noah helped the ministry make an impact on the lives of those it serves, but the ministry has also left an impact on Noah. Powerful change occurs when people give their time to selflessly serve those around them.