Eagles Head to New Mexico on Mission Trip
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – The NU women’s basketball team is delaying the start of their summer break as they take off for New Mexico tomorrow for a mission trip to help out the Menaul School in Albuquerque. Coach Ken Crawford will be taking the team on a week-long trip as they perform a number of different duties as they carry the call of Northwest. The team will help with painting and repair projects, offer a community/Menaul team basketball clinics, and lead chapel at the school. They’ll also spend time in classes at the school and find time to hang out, get to know and mentor the students.
The beginnings of the Menaul School date back as far as 1881 with the formation of the school actually taking place in 1896 when Rev. James A. Menaul, a Presbyterian minister, sought and received Presbyterian mission funding for a boarding school that would serve Spanish-speaking boys from New Mexico, primarily from the northern portion of the state, and purchased some 200 acres at the present Menaul School location. Originally founded as a school for Native Americans, the school has evolved to more of an international school today offering a college prep program to students from all over the U.S. and other countries.
“We were looking for a meaningful mission trip for the team that could help make a difference,” said Coach Ken Crawford, “and I just came across the Menaul School by chance and contacted their principal. We found we could help them in many ways from painting walls to sharing our calling with the students. I’m proud of how our ladies have embraced this trip with enthusiasm and commitment.”
Jordan Asher, one of the teams captains said, “We wanted to go somewhere and serve, not just play basketball. We also wanted to use our talents and abilities to help people, especially kids...We contacted Menaul and put together our own little package of what we would do to help the kids and community there.”
The team will depart Sea-Tac on Wednesday, May 13 and return on Tuesday, May 19.