Within the walls of Amor Ministries, we celebrate the diversity of our team. In the spirit of iron sharpening iron, we intentionally meet to talk about divisive issues within the Church and society as a whole. The goal is to learn from each other, walk away with a better understanding and deeper respect of our differences, and achieve a heightened sense of  common ground. The topics we discuss are drawn from recent news articles. Please take a moment to tell us what you think about any or all of these topics.

• Should Christians boycott?
  • Florida churches boycott Pepsi
  • Sojourners semi-boycott of advertisers for Limbaugh, Hannity, and O’Reilly
• How far does our support of free speech go?
  • The “I hate Obama” pastor in AZ
  • Do you have the right to flip off a cop?
• How is our faith lived out?
  • Differences between conservative and progressive Christian activists
  • Should a coach be allowed to take his players to a church event to be baptized?

For the third time Amor has been named a Best Christian Worplace by the Best Christian Workplaces Institute!

The BCWI employee engagement survey gives us important information about how we are doing as an organization.  It tells us how engaged we are in our work, how committed we are to our mission, and how our values shape how we work.

So what did this year’s survey results tell us? We are more committed than ever to living out Christ’s mission for us to serve the poor, not only in Mexico, but now around the world.

Those of you who get to interact with our Team Members already know we have an amazing workplace.  But, then again, when we get to work with all of you, how can we not have the best Christian workplace?

Hola

Baño

Cuantos años tienes?

I may have just reached (or passed) the extent of your Spanish language ability.  And because of that you may find an excuse to not interact with the family you’re building a house for…except to ask where the bathroom is!

I was recently in Phoenix with Amor Ministries co-founder Scott Congdon, VP of Global Expansion Steve Horrex, and Director of Operations Ryan Perkio.  We drove out there to meet with Arizona Reservation Ministries (ARM), see their work on the San Carlos Apache reservation, and see if we could partner with them to build houses on the reservation.

Click here to see Scott’s post about our future work with ARM.

One of the exciting facets of working on the reservation is that our groups will have a cross-cultural experience without having a language barrier.  As we were  reminded of during our tour of the Heard museum in Phoenix, we have different cultures and ways of seeing the world despite some shared history.

Having dinner with Steve’s sister and her family (who graciously hosted us) we talked about our various travels in Spain and Latin America and discovered we had all had similar experiences in speaking the Spanish language to native speakers: Because we tried to speak the language, no matter how poorly we did it, our hosts graciously accepted our ignorance of language and culture.

Thinking ahead to how we structure the cultural interactions our trips to the San Carlos Apache reservation reminds me to remind you to interact in Mexico, despite your Spanish limitations.  What great respect you can show by learning a few phrases and using a lot of hand gestures!

Here’s a video from a group who built in our Puerto Peñasco location.

“Spiritual Crack” is a term I’ve used to describe my mission trips with Amor Ministries.  Growing up in Colorado and going with my youth group to Amor’s Chihuahua location to build a house was the highlight of my year – I had to get my fix.

A lot of us who went on the Amor trips every year became the “Timothy’s” of our church – we went on to full-time ministry.  Even those who didn’t end up in full-time ministry incorporate their experience of encountering Christ through the poor in their professional lives.

Yet as impactful as the Amor mission trip was on me and my peers, I refer to it as an Accidental Transformation.  If you have been on an Amor trip, you know the transformational possibilities.  We were transformed through that week every year, but no one was guiding and forming that transformation for us.

Our mission experience, maybe like yours, only lasted for a week every year.  We met once before the trip to sign forms and plan out who was bringing what tools.  Then a few of us might share with the church what we did on the Sunday we returned.  That was it until the next year.

Does this describe your mission trip experience?  Are you counting on just the few days spent in the mission field to provide the transformation you want for your group?

Kara Powell and Brad Griffin with The Fuller Youth Institute have co-authored a book, Deep Justice Journeys, to help you have purposeful transformation in your group.  They provide a framework for preparing your group spiritually and culturally for their mission experience and, most importantly, debriefing the experience as it happens and after you return home.

While the Amor trip is an incredible catalyst for transformation, it is just that – a catalyst.  It requires you to invest in learning from and applying the lessons from the experience back home.

Deep Justice Journeys gives you 50 experiential activities from which to choose to engage your group.  We encourage you to make the most out of mission trip by committing to purposeful transformation.  This book will give you the tools to do it.

The Project Hope program Clean Water for Life is here! Many meetings and many prayers have brought us to this point and all because of a vision God gave one of our founders, Scott Congdon. It has always been our purpose to support the ministry of the local church in Mexico. This is one of the many ways that you can help out!

Clean Water for Life is a Project Hope program that provides families with a sponsored water filtration system that will filter whatever water a family in need can access. The Sawyer Point One Filter is the definition of Appropriate Technologies. This small filter uses the same technology as kidney dialysis called hollow fiber membrane technology. The filter meets and exceeds EPA requirements for drinking water and maintains a very efficient flow rate of five gallons in 13 minutes. The design is very simple and easy to use. The filter is attached to a hose that attaches to a five gallon bucket. Non potable water goes in the bucket and potable water comes out the filter thanks to the motivating power of gravity. It removes harmful organic compounds from the water such as bacteria, protozoa, cysts, E. Coli, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium making the water safe to drink. The filter is guaranteed for one million gallons which is essentially a life long guarantee for the family. It never has to be replaced. The only maintenance required is a simple back flushing of the system with clean water when the flow rate slows down using a bulb that is provided with the filter.

For our families this filter means that they can save, on average, $80 per year on drinking water. That is enough in savings to send a child to school for a year. There is no easier way to make a difference in the life of a family. For $100 you can give a family clean water for the rest of their lives!

How? You or you and some friends can sponsor a water filter for $100. The family will receive a certificate containing information on how to contact the local pastor to redeem the certificate for a filter and information on the filter in general. The family will then call or go to the pastor’s church and get their water filter packet including the bucket and instructions on care and maintenance of the filter.

Please partner with us. Buy a water filter online or next time you are down on a trip with us in Mexico.

Hundreds of groups from all over the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K. take a mission trip with Amor Ministries each year.  In our experience of getting to spend time with these groups, they put some of their best work into the devotional materials they use for their trip.

It makes sense.  For many people, their week-long mission trip with us each year is a spiritual mountain-top experience.  So group leaders save some of their best stuff for the time spent around a camp fire at night in Mexico or South Africa.

Read more…

6 chicken breasts (pre-cooked or use canned)
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cans sliced carrots, drained
1 can cream of celery soup
1 tbls dried onion flakes
Canned biscuits (10 in package)

Place chicken in a pot, cover with water, add salt, pepper and onion. Bring to boil, then cover and simmer until meat is tender. Remove chicken from pot – discard skin and bones. Cut chicken into bit-sized pieces and return to the broth. Bring to boil. Make dumplings from canned biscuits and drop in stew. Cook 10 minutes uncovered and 10 minutes covered. Serves 10.

As with all recipes, try this one out at home first. We would love to hear your comments on this recipe or see a recipe of your own that you would like to share.

6 chicken breasts (pre-cooked or use canned)
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cans sliced carrots, drained
1 can cream of celery soup
1 tbls dried onion flakes
Canned biscuits (10 in package)

Place chicken in a pot, cover with water, add salt, pepper and onion. Bring to boil, then cover and simmer until meat is tender. Remove chicken from pot – discard skin and bones. Cut chicken into bit-sized pieces and return to the broth. Bring to boil. Make dumplings from canned biscuits and drop in stew. Cook 10 minutes uncovered and 10 minutes covered. Serves 10.

As with all recipes, try this one out at home first. We would love to hear your comments on this recipe or see a recipe of your own that you would like to share.

Start with this post on Aluminum Foil Cooking

6 ground meat balls
2 carrots, sliced
½ cup instant rice
Salt and pepper to taste
1 small white or red potato, chopped
1/8 cup diced onion
BBQ sauce to taste
½ cup water

Separate ground beef into little balls (it cooks faster this way). Cut up potatoes and carrots into small chunks. Pour some BBQ sauce and about ½ cup of water. Drugstore wrap in double layer of foil. Cook directly on fire or coals about 30 minutes, turning frequently.

As with all recipes, try this one out at home first. We would love to hear your comments on this recipe or see a recipe of your own that you would like to share.