COME BUILD HOPE – November 10 – 13, 2023
After four years, we did it! and we did it well!
COME BUILD HOPE – The need
The need of the desperately poor in Tijuana was recognized more than thirty seven years ago by Scott and Gayla Congdon who then founded Amor Ministries. While there has been improvement in the past 30 years, today there are still families being torn apart due to devastating poverty that we in the USA have little experience with. Migration to Tijuana is over 80,000 a year (mostly looking for jobs) which has led to squatter homes in the ever expanding city. Amor believes that Mexico is our neighbor and we are called to love our neighbors. These families really need our help.
Amor also works on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona and in South Africa.
The Solution
Amor Ministries – Provides assistance to the poorest families in New Mexico, Mexico and South Africa. Their solution to the need is completed by thousands of volunteers from all over the world who participate on an Amor Mission Trip. So, what does an Amor Mission Trip entail? The short answer is house building. It began 40 years and over 20,000 homes ago!
This is our 23rd year and we have built 38 homes. We know how to do this and would love to bring you along. Come help build God’s Kingdom with us! We truly have a blast. We did not go in person during Covid, but we sponsored the building of 7 more homes!
Safety
Amor constantly evaluates safety in all the areas where we work. Because of this, they’ve felt confident in taking over 7,000 volunteers to Mexico in 2019, and more than 374,000 volunteers through the years. The First Presbyterian Church of Newhall has been going on these homebuilding trips for 23 years without any safety issues or serious injuries other than one sprained ankle, sore muscles & backs, blisters. But there will be Sweat. Joy. Outhouses. Tents & shower bags. New friends. Community. Culture. And then there is the knowledge that in just a couple of days your hands have contributed to helping transform a family’s life forever. It doesn’t take long to learn on an Amor Homebuilding Trip that you not only serve those in need, you will in turn, leave this experience changed. You can talk to any one of us regulars here at FPCN, we all have been changed for the better by the experience.
Impressions
“This was my 5th trip with Amor. Each time, I return a little sore, but I return with a heart that has been filled in ways that few other experiences in life can provide. This year was a great joy to help build a house for Sylvia. She is filled with love that she is so eager to share. Her joy was contagious. I will always carry her smile in my memory and call upon that when I need to be lifted up.”
”The blessings I returned home with are immeasurable, and I would not have missed it for the world. So I encourage all of you – do this. Do this with your children. It can become a family tradition like no other.”
At a recent spring trip we arrived at the Amor campground to find over 500 young adults. They had been there for their spring break week and had built 38 homes! 250 were from the Bay Area and 250 were all they way from Great Britain, through and organization called Urban Saints! There was such joy. We were humbled by the experience.
What you will need:
A valid US Passport. No building experience needed. Tent, sleeping bag, air mattress, shower bag, layered clothes, work gloves, hand tools (if you have them). There is a per person fee of $500 as we are to buy all the building materials for the home, plus our food, gas and insurance. But we never want money to stop someone from coming, grant money is always available! We have some generous friends. We camp at Amor’s secure campsite in the semi-rural farmlands between Tijuana and Tecate. The sunrise and sunsets are amazing. Bring an appetite…the food is good, you will not loose weight! Have a truck or SUV? Willing to drive? Gas and insurance will be covered.