How God led Drew to Ciudad Nueva
Drew Holguin was born and raised in El Paso, but it wasn’t until this past summer that he learned about Ciudad Nueva.
Drew, who started as Ciudad Nueva’s Kids Create Assistant Coordinator earlier this month, has spent the last four summers working at a camp called Lone Tree Ranch in Capitan, New Mexico. This past summer, he met a group of middle school students from Ciudad Nueva who came to the camp for a week of adventure and excitement centered around the love of Christ.
Even though Drew grew up on the opposite end of El Paso from the Rio Grande neighborhood, he felt a strong connection with the kids from Ciudad Nueva and with the staff and volunteers who accompanied them to Lone Tree Ranch. When he got back home to El Paso, Drew, who works part-time at a medical insurance servicing group, got in touch with Lexi Moles, the Middle School Programs Coordinator. “I reached out to Lexi to see if they needed any volunteers, and it just so happens they had a position open up,” Drew says.
In his new role, Drew helps organize the events for middle school students. Together with Lexi, he helps plan guest speakers and games and meets with the volunteers who work with the program. “We try to make it the best it can be for the kids,” Drew says. “We want them to grow and know they have potential.”
How Drew’s creativity shapes his ministry
In addition to his other roles, Drew is also a ceramic artist. He will graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the University of Texas at El Paso this December. Drew has been making art since he was a middle schooler himself. “Coming out of high school, I was interested in communications and graphic design,” he says. “I started taking ceramics when I was looking for a minor, and I ended up switching my major from graphic design to ceramics and my minor to graphic design.”
Drew’s work will be featured in an exhibition at Xolo Gallery in El Paso. He has a couple other opportunities to show his work in El Paso, in Sante Fe, New Mexico, and at several upcoming fine art festivals. He’s also started getting involved in different artist collectives.
“I love hands-on work,” Drew says. He plans to offer ceramics classes to the kids at Ciudad Nueva and their families. A couple volunteers who also have experience as ceramic artists will work with him to teach the classes.
Drew recognizes the ways in which his love for hands-on work shapes his ministry with youth, both at Lone Tree Ranch and at Ciudad Nueva. “At camp, I coordinated service placements for the kids, like cleaning up the lawns,” Drew says. “It’s really easy to get middle schoolers active.”
Drew’s favorite part of working with the kids at Ciudad Nueva has been getting to know each of them individually. “They’re at that age where they’re trying to figure out their place in all of this, but they’re still open to share and listen and get some direction,” he says. “It’s been great seeing them get comfortable with me even in just a few short weeks.”
Despite his short tenure, Drew has been quick to grasp the holistic nature of Ciudad Nueva’s ministry in the Rio Grande neighborhood. “At the end of it, we’re serving not just these kids, but also their families, their brothers and sisters, and their community,” he says. “I would like to explore some of the other avenues of Ciudad Nueva’s work and get more involved even beyond this program. I’m excited to see where I’ll fit in here.”
Would you like to find out where you might fit in at Ciudad Nueva? We’d love to help! Call us today at 915-521-2951 or contact us online.
