The vision of Potter’s Clay is to bring unity to the body of Christ. The ministry seeks to promote unity within the Westmont community, within the Ensenada community, and between these two Christian bodies.

Potter’s Clay was started by a Westmont student in 1977. It started when a Westmont student decided to get away from campus on the weekends and ended up making connections with churches in Ensenada, Mexico. Over thirty years later, Potter’s Clay works with 17 churches in Ensenada as well as several doctors. The city of Ensenada is on the coast of Baja California, about 90 kilometers from the Mexico-U.S. border.

The ministry is done on two student-body trips during the school year: Juntos and Potter’s Clay. Juntos is a weekend trip taken during the Fall semester. On the Juntos trips there are soccer tournaments, medical/dental clinics, Vacation Bible Schools (VBS), painting sites, haircutting stations, and worship teams. Students that go on these trips are able to serve in any of these ways.

Potter’s Clay is the week-long trip taken during Spring Break. On this trip students are broken into sports, construction, VBS, medical/dental/optical, kitchen, haircutting, and prayer/worship teams. About 300 students typically spend their week off of school serving in Ensenada. While students are there, they stay in tents at Rancho Agua Viva- a camp just outside of Ensenada that is owned by Westmont graduates. Generally, two of the nights in Ensenada are spent in the homes of members of local churches with which Potter’s Clay is connected. The week is a tiring one, but always rewarding. It is also often an eye-opening event for students to interact with the Mexican culture.

The Potter’s Clay core team is in charge of planning each trip taken during the year. The team seeks to prepare students for their trip to Ensenada and ensure their safety. Thus, the members of the Westmont core team go to Ensenada roughly an additional 10 weekends during the school year. The Potter’s Clay core team also includes three Mexicans: Pastor Ruben, Pastor Juan, and Dr. Ramon. These three impart the knowledge they have gained through the years of working with Potter’s Clay to each successive core team, and direct Potter’s Clay in such a way that it may respond well to the needs of the community of Ensenada.

What long-term difference does Potter’s Clay really make? Ministry is done in Ensenada in the name of Potter’s Clay year-round. Under the leading of Pastor Juan, Pastor Ruben, and Dr. Ramon, ministries which help single mothers, children, people with special needs, indigenous persons struggling against poverty, and many others have been established in the name of Potter’s Clay. Additionally, the fact that PC works with so many churches has helped to bring them together as a unified community in Christ. God has used Potter’s Clay to unify and empower the Ensenada Christian community, and Westmont continues to thank God for the honor of being invited into the Ensenada community each year.

We encourage anyone from the Westmont community to come along on a trip to Ensenada. The Lord has been faithful to this ministry– it is the hope of Potter’s Clay that many will come and partake in his blessing!