Dear Friends,

I think that I am finally beginning to understand something that I have known for many years.  It’s about the great “Aha!” of groups and participants who “get it.”  It’s about the most frequently asked, “Why are these people, who have nothing, so happy?”  Somehow, I have managed to help people understand the answers to this question without even fully understanding it myself.  Lately, I have been choking on the words that used to come so easily, “We are here on a mission to help THE POOR.”  I couldn’t understand why it was becoming so hard for me to mouth the words.  I was even beginning to panic in fear of the next encounter that might reveal my uncertainty.

So, like any other good Christian, I prayed about it. (Imagine that!)  And as I listened in prayer, the answer came from an unexpected quarter: the very people we serve.  I started to see and to hear the joy in the children playing and helping us build their house.  I started to see and to hear the looks and words of gratitude from the moms and dads.

One dad said, “You didn’t just give me a house, you have given me the second half of my life.” 

One mom said, “You don’t have to worry about us, we are going to have a good life in our new house.”

These are words that I have heard before, but like my friend said in my last letter, these are the words and actions of people who are rich in courage, rich in faith, rich in hope and gratitude and relationship.  They teach me by their humility.  They may be poor in resources and opportunities, but they are not by any means THE POOR.  I had been marginalizing absolutely beautiful brothers and sisters all this time by referring to them as THE POOR. They were helping me all along to see them as brothers and sisters, helping me to “get it.”  I need them more than they need me.

Mike Pilavachi, of Soul Survivor UK, is a very gifted speaker.  He inspired me at Black Stump, a Christian youth festival in Australia.  He characterized himself in a self-deprecating sarcasm as a minor Christian icon that had come so far only to realize disillusionment with himself. After all, what is a minor Christian icon to do? It isn’t easy to be humble, especially when we see ourselves as reaching down from our advantaged perch in life to help THE POOR. Perhaps we could take to heart the words of an Aboriginal Activist group in Queensland, Australia: “If you have come to help me you are wasting your time. But, if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

Maybe you could help me find the words for the next time I try to introduce myself as a missionary helping THE POOR. I would love to hear how you would present yourself if you had to stand up in front of a group or even in a casual conversation. I would like to hear the truth about how “the rich” can overcome their stereotypes of themselves.  Remember what Yogi Berra once said, “Honesty is almost as good as the truth.” I hope you will accept the challenge.  I look forward to reading your thoughtful replies and I will share them in my next letter.

By the way, here’s another great testimony from one of our participants:

“This year was by far the greatest trip I have taken. The funny thing is that I have had four greatest trips with Amor. Here are some things I had never seen before this trip.

• The entire neighborhood was present singing for us when we arrived.
• The sites were the absolute best I had ever laid eyes on. I was wondering if it would be challenging enough!  How can you find out what you are made of if you don’t have to conquer the elements and the terrain?
• I felt safer than I had ever felt for the dozen or so times I had been in Mexico (or Africa or Europe for that matter).
• No one came home with a cough or a fever.
• The border crossing was fast and pleasant.
• Several officials and pastors came by to thank us.
• Peace and love to you and the entire Amor crew.  Blessed are the peace makers, not the peace lovers.  Peace makers by definition go to where there is no peace.”

I would also like to share some awesome quotes of the past year:

• Amor is a chance to get away from our everyday lives, not to look upon what we don’t have and wish, but to look at all we do have and should hold dear.
• I ran into a lady at the store where we were working.  She remembered my name and the names of every kid in my group from when we built her house five years ago.  I felt like family.
• This ministry has been a great influence on our church and has played a major part in revitalizing the faith of so many here.
• We built a new house for a giving loving family of five that worked side by side with us.  Each day they had coffee, bottled water and pastry for us and shared smiles and words of encouragement.  They even bought Coke when they heard of some in our group’s cravings.  This was a huge gift given that the man only makes $120/wk.
• We cannot solve the poverty issue in Mexico for the hundreds of thousands that are in need, but today one family is a little better off.  They will be able to stay dry, be more secure and know that they are loved.
• I realize that it is such a beautiful thing when we can serve each other unconditionally.

I am very excited to be heading out again on September 4, 5, and 6 with another X Project crew to build another home with individuals not connected with regular church or school mission programs.  It’s really cool to see how these participants come together and form an immediate rapport based on their common desire to serve. There is one more X Project scheduled for October 9, 10, and 11.  Go to www.amor.org/xproject for more information.

It is also exciting to see hundreds of back-to-school back packs loaded with school supplies going out this month to families that desperately need these resources for their kids.  Imagine the relief to a mommy buying just one or two sheets of binder paper at the little corner stores for their kids to do their homework.  You can read about this program and others at www.amor.org/store.  We are also distributing hundreds of water purifiers.  These things are amazing.  I have tasted the ordinary well water that we use in camp for bucket showers after it has passed through one of these things.  Read about this at www.amorblog.org/category/appropriate-technology.  You will like what you see.  I guarantee it!

Thanks to all of you for your encouragement and especially for the financial support that makes it possible to be here and to tell the stories of lives built on Hope.

Peace,

Howie

I recently sent out this email to members of Amor’s National Advisory Board:

On Sunday, I will be on a missions panel for a local church. One of the questions I will be asked is:

“Many of us here have been the beneficiaries of seeing our teenagers affected positively by volunteering their spring break to go to Mexico to build an Amor house. How have you seen God change hearts of volunteers or recipients through Amor’s ministry?”

Since a great many of our stories are your stories also, I thought I would pose this question to you as well. If you had two minutes to tell a story about how an Amor trip has changed the heart of someone you know, what would you say?

The responses have been amazing. What I began to see with fresh eyes was a theme of a deeper commitment to act, serve, and change stemming from eyes and ears being opened to the suffering all around us and a true grasp that we can and must do something about it.  Please check out these responses to that question and then tell us what you are doing.

Jason Barger of Columbus, OH responded with this:

I remember standing in the Amor campsite late one night with Drew. He was a high school student who was having a profound week. He could barely spit the words out with his heart beating so deeply. As we processed that night what we thought it meant to serve out God’s love in the world, you knew it was a sacred moment. Since then, Drew has carried that spirit into another journey.  I have no doubt his experience with Amor that week was a catalyst to even more committed service.

Love is Free Trailer from Homeless Drew.

Steve Ensz of Garden City, KS sent us this:

I have to say that the Amor experiences have had a profound impact on all of our students over the past 19 years.  I have seen individuals go on into ministry in a variety of ways and I believe the Amor trips were key to these career choices.  Missionaries, Youth Pastors, Worship leaders, Health care, Foster care work…the list goes on.  These trips have instilled a heart of compassion and God has been able to work in their lives in amazing ways.  One story stands out among the others: Luis, a little boy crippled up from birth defects, just melted the hearts of our students.  This song was written and recorded by these youth, and I couldn’t put it any better:

We are so excited that God has used what we do as a catalyst into full-time service for so many. To our core we desire to see the Kingdom of God revealed more and more through the love, joy and compassion of those working and serving in His name.  So what are your stories? How has this or any other act of  service changed your or someone else’s heart?

The God Hunt is simply reflecting on the events of the week and recording the places where we can see signs of God’s Presence. Obvious answers to prayer, unexpected evidences of God’s care, uncanny “coincidences,” and awareness of help in doing God’s work in the world all qualify as bona fide sightings. As simple as it is, this is a profoundly helpful practice. By gradually revealing the patterns of God’s faithfulness, it can rescue us from the trap of immediacy and from the blinding preoccupation we have with the problems which confront us in this moment. Even better, it trains us to recognize more readily and more often that God is indeed among us.

(taken from Rhythms of the Inner Life by Howard Macy)

The Amor Team weekly responds to the idea of seeing God in the midst of our everyday lives. Please join us by responding with your comments of how you’ve seen God work this week.

I recently sent out the following message to members of Amor’s National Advisory Board:

On Sunday, I will be on a missions panel for a local church. One of the questions I will be asked is:

“Many of us here have been the beneficiaries of seeing our [church members] affected positively by volunteering their [time] to go to Mexico to build an Amor house. How have you seen God change hearts of volunteers or recipients through Amor’s ministry?”

Since a great many of our stories are your stories also, I thought I would pose this question to you as well. If you had two minutes to tell a story about how an Amor trip has changed the heart of someone you know, what would you say?

The responses have been amazing. We have to share them with you! Look for more in the coming days.

Jen Pitera of Phoenix, AZ sent these quotes from her students:

“At the beginning of my first Mexico Mission, when we first had the opportunity to meet the family, I remember feeling a special connection with them but I was unable to identify it at the time.  Toward the end of the Mission I came to the conclusion that this connection was surely love; the bond that unites us was a love that God instilled within our hearts.  And that love is Jesus’ presence within each of us no matter our differences.  It was through these Mexico Missions that I really began to realize and actually see the true presence of Jesus within those around me and for that I am forever thankful.”  -Courtney

“I have always known what extreme poverty is and I have seen pictures of what it looks like, however, participating on the November Mexico Mission I was able to see it right in front of me.  It was a lot to take in, but the more I saw, the more I wanted to do for those people who despite their circumstances and unimaginable hardships have the joy and peace of Christ in their hearts.  I remember going to bed the second night in Mexico and being truly overwhelmed by the power of God and his love.  I really believe that there is no better testimony to the love, joy and peace found in Jesus Christ, then to go out and give fully of one to better the life and circumstances of others, without expecting anything in return.” -Danielle

“By breaking through the barriers of language and geographic location, we are able to identify with families from another region under the kingdom of God. For me, missions have always been about the fusion of two cultures.  Two completely different ways of life coming together under the common interest of hope:  The hope of a better life in the eyes of the families we build with and the hope of a better world in the eyes of my fellow missionaries.” -Nicole

“Through house building missions, I have realized how to utilize my faith as a gateway to work as one of God’s servants and help those who are truly in need.”  -Phillip

Tim Galleher from Saratoga, CA wrote:

For me I picture one of our post College students who just came back from a year stint in El Salvador with Campus Crusade.  On Sunday she and another student will be sharing what God did in their lives and in the lives of the college students that she led to the Lord.  Where did this compassion come from?  It came from her freshman year in High School when she went with Amor Ministries to build houses over Spring Break.  That’s were her compassion for the world came from, and it continues to grow and she considers a career in full time mission work. Simply life changing!

We are so excited that God has used what we do as a catalyst into full-time service for so many. To our core we desire to see the Kingdom of God revealed more and more through the love, joy and compassion of those working and serving in His name.  So what are your stories? How has this or any other act of  service changed your or someone else’s heart?

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you can be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4 (NIV)

This Scripture has been my “go to” passage whenever I’m asked my favorite Bible verse.  I memorized it back in Bible College and it has stuck.  It wasn’t until recently when a friend of mine told me that he didn’t like those verses that I began to re-think my commitment to it.

At 55 years old and with thirty years of Amor Ministries behind me, I was living “la vida perfecta;” never in my wildest imagination, would I have believed that our 29th year of ministry would present us with “trials of many kinds.”

When it became increasingly evident that groups were afraid to come to Mexico because of reports in the media, I hit the road to meet with many of you to discuss your concerns and fears.  It was a huge disappointment to see the cancellations even though we didn’t feel it was necessary and still don’t.

We could have survived this and had genuinely believed that we had until a new plague hit—the swine flu.  In the month of May, more than half of our summer groups canceled making this the final straw for some of you.

So, we worked diligently to recover rather than let any staff go.  We raised money, took pay cuts, had a garage sale, rented out one-half of our office space and yet; in the end, losing half of our yearly participants was simply too much for the Ministry to handle.

This past week has been the most difficult for Scott and me in our 29 years of ministry.  We have never laid anyone off and not one staff person warranted being let go.  It was not easy.  There have been many tears and heartache.

Tough decisions were made by our leadership and some amazing people that have served the ministry well, were released.  And that hurts.  Those that remain are also hurting but in a different way.  To see their teammates leave is just plain hard (not to mention that all of them will be absorbing additional responsibilities so that the Ministry can move forward.)  In the end, we laid off about ¼ of our work force.

And sadly, this is where we are but, Scott and I are not the kind of people to let this keep us from forging ahead.  Our experience reminds us that this isn’t the first time we have faced trials and it won’t be the last.  I genuinely believe that these things happen to make us as the Scripture says, “mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  As hard as this has been we still see God’s hand on the Ministry.

In fact, Scott and I have had many discussions over this past year similar to the one’s we had when we first founded the Ministry.  So much that has happened recently has reminded us of those early days.  People were afraid to go to Mexico, the economy in the United States was in dire straits and fear of sickness on a mission trip was a frequent concern.

We overcame that just as we will overcome this.  The joy in all of this is that we have a peace from trusting that God knows exactly what He is doing with Amor Ministries to make it healthier and stronger for the next 30 years.  Scott and I truly believe that our best years of Ministry are ahead of us and that this season is preparing us for it.

I ask you to pray for Amor.  Those who have left and those who remain all need your prayers.  As we plan for the future, pray that we are sensitive to God’s leading for Amor Ministries 2010 and the future of the work.  Please pray for us as leaders.  We are humbled by this opportunity to serve God in this way and are so grateful that He continues to disrupt our lives in order to make us more like His son.

Consider it pure joy.

By Gayla Congdon, Founder and CSO of Amor Ministries

Read more by Gayla by clicking here.