More from North of the Border

In order to give you a glimpse of this next season of life for us, following is a series of snapshots of where we'll be living, and some of the things we'll be doing, as seen through the eyes of the community of faith we'll become part of, NieuCommunities.


Golden Hill is a small community in a big city. Sitting in the heart of downtown San Diego, it is a land of in-between, an eclectic mix of apartments and craftsman homes, of diverse socio-economic status and recovering neighborhoods. Golden Hill is bordered on the west by downtown San Diego and the 16th street corridor, the heart of the 10,000+ homeless community of San Diego. It's streets are lined every night with thousands of homeless. To the north is Balboa Park and South Park, two historic and gentrifying neighborhoods with diverse cultural roots. To the east is City Heights, the heart of San Diego's refugee community. And to the south is Barrio Logan, the heart of the latino community in San Diego. A hundred years ago a community of affluents business owners working downtown, Golden Hill fell into the hands of gangs, crime and drug addiction through the 80's and 90's. It is a community in transition, a neighborhood still searching for it's identity. This is where NieuCommunities decided to call home, and is submerging into the diverse cultures of this (and surrounding) communities, listening, learning, engaging, and finding the places where God is already at work. Many in NieuCommunities are submerging in tangible, practicals ways. Some help coach local high school basketball, others partner with local homeless efforts, half-way houses (there are six in Golden Hill), and refugee communities. Some have even opened a local retail business, engaging the local community at a grass-roots level of commerce and neighborhood relationships.

A few minutes south of Golden Hill sits Tijuana, a sprawling city of 1.6 million people. The San Ysidro border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana is the most-crossed international border in the world. These two cities—for all practical purposes functioning as one—depend deeply on one another. Yet they are separated by a new 20-foot wall and a tense political climate that makes the disparity between these two cities deep and wide. Tijuana can been seen from Golden Hill, and NieuCommunities has steps out to cross the border frequently and purposefully. Some in NieuCommunities have deep ties to Mexico (some were born and raised there, and even led ministries there), and today partner with and support local Mexico efforts in broad and diverse ways. Every week a few from NieuCommunities spend time at Nueva Generacion, a home for homeless boys in Grupo Mexico, one of the roughest neighborhoods in Tijuana. Some partner and work alongside Reflejo, a group of Jesus-followers living in Ensenada, who partner with local ministry, community and business leaders in that city. And the local Golden Hill retail business started by members in NieuCommunities employ/sell artisan goods made talented by locals in Tijuana, which helps financially support 16 creative residents of Mexico.

Here's a few more photos of life in NieuCommunities, San Diego...