The winner of the 2026 Thalassa contest is Cuauhtemoc (Temo) Ramirez, a Spanish education major who spent a week in January 2026 near Cuernavaca, Mexico, visiting shelters for migrant worker families and sharing the Word of God, songs, and art activities with the mothers and children temporarily living there.
MLC’s Cultural Engagement Center awarded Temo $1000, half of which he designated to Costa Maya Ministries Cruz De Cristo in Mahahual, Mexico. This is the 20th annual Thalassa Prize awarded by MLC.
Berenice
We had just arrived at the migrant shelter and were beginning to set up our arts-and-crafts for the children. The “homes” stood in rows, their front doors nothing more than hanging blankets. We called out in Spanish, inviting the children to join us for Bible stories and activities.
Berenice peeked out.
She stood quietly in the doorway, half hidden behind the blanket, observing us before deciding whether to step forward. In her hand, she held a banana. Her eyes were cautious, yet curious. The dimly lit space behind her contrasted with the light falling across her face as if she were standing between two worlds.
Berenice was one of many children living in this migrant community, a place marked by movement and uncertainty. Yet that week, she came faithfully to listen to stories and sing songs of a Savior who does not move, who does not abandon, who does not forget.
Her name comes from the Greek Bereníkē, “she who brings victory.”
Victory did not look like strength or triumph that day. It looked small. Quiet. But the victory she needs, the victory we all need, has already been Christ’s victory over sin and death.
My prayer is that when Berenice hears her name, she will one day know the greater victory it echoes, that Jesus has overcome the world, and that she belongs to Him.
“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57)
