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