This post is the fifth in a series of six written by our Project Nexus team members. Project Nexus is a 10-week summer internship experience for anyone ages 18-25. These Project Nexus team members are splitting their time between three of Amor’s locations working with groups in Tijuana, Rosarito and San Carlos.  To read the last post in this series click here.

By Leah Melvin

Last week was the Project Nexus week of service. Service Week is where we spend the week working around the office or at camp rather than in the field. We spent the week doing yard work with Howard Major and making phone calls to past donors. At first I was nervous to call people and thank them for their donations because I am not a good phone person. However, everyone was really nice, and I ended up loving it! I got to personally thank at least 15 people for their financial donations to many of Amor’s programs. It was a fantastic experience. When it came to the yard work, I was really excited because it was something new and sounded fun. I love getting out there and doing the work for myself. We did a lot of clean up around the front of the building such as raking leaves and debris, taking out bushes, and replanting Lilies of the Nile. It was great being able to work with Howard and others in the office.

The Friday night before Service Week, Howard stayed at camp with us and asked the questions, “Why is this week considered ‘service’? What have you been doing all summer?” This really got me thinking and I came up with a few differences that I saw:

• We did the serving rather than helping participants serve.
• We are considered “servant leaders” in the field but at the office we served the staff.
• We got to see a different side of the Ministry.

As Nexus, when we work in Mexico with groups, we work along side them rather than going in and doing the work ourselves. When working at the office for our Service Week, we are the ones doing all the work and get to see the office side of the Ministry. Normally when I come down on Amor Misison Trips with my group, I do not even get to see this side of the Ministry and all the logistics that go into coming on a trip. It is amazing to be able to see the love of God and hard work in the workplace. I loved every second of work that I did in the office. However, I also love what I get to do week after week in the field. It is great to be able to see all the different aspects of Amor and get to know how everything is put together. Service Week was a great and Project Nexus is the most fantastic experience I could have ever asked for!

This post is the fourth in a series of six written by our Project Nexus team members. Project Nexus is a 10-week summer internship experience for anyone ages 18-25. These Project Nexus team members are splitting their time between three of Amor’s locations working with groups in Tijuana, Rosarito and San Carlos.  To read the last post in this series click here.

By Greg Lesnewich, Project Nexus Intern

Two weeks ago, I had the chance to visit a house that my home church, The Presbyterian Church at New Providence, and I built back in 2009. It was in Maclovio Rojas, a neighborhood due west of Rancho camp, centered around a giant, 30 foot or so statute of the Lady of Guadalajara. Most of the houses were built on extremely loose dirt, and supported by retaining walls made of tires. Going back to see the family, especially in such a memorable neighborhood, with the Lady of Guadalajara statue and hilarious moments experienced by my group was amazing to re-live by itself.

Walking up the crumbling dirt towards the sites I had worked on brought on a feeling of accomplishment, but not for what I had done. Seeing what God had used me for, and for those blessings that were evidently multiplying in all of the Amor houses in the neighborhood was incredible. Coming up to the house seeing the stained glass cross my church had given them still hanging in the window, two years later, made me incredibly happy, especially to know that the house is under the Lord’s protection, and that the family has not forgotten that He has blessed them with a home.

Knocking on the door and entering the home to see a family completely living in, using and appreciating the house my group built was indescribable. It literally made me feel warm and joyous and just… awe-struck. It was awesome in the true sense of the word. I remember floating for the entire rest of the day. The daughter at one of the houses the group built remembered me, which was unreal. To be remembered, to be appreciated, to see our hard work put into use… indescribable.  Easily the highlight of the summer, which is ironic, seeing as how I can barely describe what occurred that day. I will forever make sure that groups nail their fire blocks in straight, after seeing the family use almost every fire block for storage or display inside of their house. They had set up a kitchen in the front room, and a bed area in the back with a crib for their 18 month old toddler. They had art, posters, flowers, bottles, a refrigerator and a television, but they said that the walls were the most important part and the most beautiful thing in the house.

To have the rare chance to go back and see the work of the Lord multiplying and bringing joy to those who served and who were served was just plain awesome. The happiness and laughter brought from both sides of this mini-reunion showed how evident it was that God really made a change in the hearts of both me as a builder and the family. Just know, after you complete the house, it will continue to bless the family, day after day, for years and years to come, and let that be a source of encouragement, to know that the Lord continues to work, before and after we have leave.

The other day Andy and I were waiting in a parking lot to meet up with a group and take them across the border to our campground. We were sitting in a truck with the Amor Ministries logo on the side when a man came up to the truck and knocked on the window. He said to us, “You don’t know me, but 10 years ago you (Amor) changed my life when you built my church.”

It was incredible to be able to see an example of the long term effects of the ministry.  My hope is that all of Amor’s participants, volunteers, supporters and team members understand they are the “you” of whom this man was speaking.

Hey everyone,

So we are approaching the end of our time in Mexico with Amor Ministries.  I have been thinking about how we, the Nexus Team of 2009, are going to figure out what’s next in our lives. I’m pretty sure we can all say we’ve had times when we were just going with the flow of Christianity. Sure, we consider ourselves Christians, but are we really living that out or just saying it? I often hear people  say, “I want my life to reflect God’s will,” but what will they do to get to that point? Will they fight for it?

We were recently sitting in church service when the pastor read  Philippians 2: 5-8:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing,  taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross.

I started to think about this a little more. It seems everyone wants to be known and have their name “out there.” We try to be known within our community, jobs, school, families, and pretty much anything else within our lives. We try to be the best and fit in with whoever is around us.

But Jesus never hung out with the best of the best. He was always around the sick, the poor, the dumb, the mute, “the least of these.” Instead of trying to become known, can we be Christ-like and humble ourselves? Can we have a servant’s heart in everything we do? I want us to be vulnerable with God to a point where we say, “God, I am living your life, take me where you want me to go. You gave me the gifts that I need to do your work so lead me where I am meant to do what you need me to do.”

It says in Isaiah 64:8, “Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” We should want God to mold us into what he wishes to accomplish His work. He puts us through all sorts of trials, but I think He is just preparing us for the bigger storm that is heading our way. He gives us a little at a time so we are ready for what he has waiting for us.

We have all had our storms this summer, whether big or small. God has used our time here to move us toward his purpose. We don’t need to focus on what others think we need to be doing or what we need to do to fit in with society. We need to focus on being a servant to God and be obedient.  Do what He tells you to do, go where He wants you to go, and live how He wants you to live. Thanks for all your love and support throughout our journey.

-Jessica Melvin

Project Nexus is a group of 18–25 year olds who are spending the summer in radical service, living at the Amor Ministries campgrounds and serving our groups in Mexico.

There are questions all, or at least most, of us ask after building an Amor home:  What’s going to happen to this family?Will it change their lives? Have we shown what servanthood and God’s love looks like? Sometimes groups are able to go back and see what years past homes look like. Some, unfortunately, have not been well kept – or have moved – or a natural disaster has taken place, which can be a real downer. But then you find people like Phillipe’s family who clearly demonstrate what an incredible impact our ministry can have. I would like share that story with you this week.

A man and his family drove past my 3 sites the other day. He stopped, got out, and introduced himself as Phillipe, his wife Silvia, and their two children. He explained, in Spanish, that he would love to cook for our entire group the next day (there was 80 people in the group). He then asked his wife and children to walk with Caleb (a fluent Spanish speaking group member) and me to his home, which has been converted into a soup kitchen. It turns out his family, while going through a very hard time financially, were blessed with a home by a ministry in the area. Once things picked up, they began devoting themselves to serving God in a way that would benefit their entire community. Out of their own pockets, each of them (Phillipe, Silvia and a woman from the community) take a huge percentage of their paychecks and put it into food and supplies to feed their community three days a week, 8am – 10am. They said they would love to do it more, but that is all the money would allow at that time. They serve 50-80 people per day the most delicious breakfast of beans, rice & seasoned eggs.

Over and over again, Phillipe thanks us, all the people who came in to eat, (there were only 15 seats, so I was going back and forth bringing in new groups). He told us how blessed his community was to have people come from the US (ahem… and Canada & Australia.. hehe) to show Gods love.

We were all humbled by this family’s intense passion and drive for God – a passion he says resulted initially from receiving a home when things were tough. And all 81/82 of us that sat down to eat that day were one of those lucky people that get to see the sensational impact building a house can have on a family and community. It’s not just about nails and roofing paper, but THROUGH these tools/resources… many are able to see Gods love and desire for them.

There are SO many memories and experiences occuring and  surrounding us Nexus. As the summer clicks over the halfway point, I know that never will I forgot Phillipe and his family.

Until next time,
G.B.&<3 (Gods Blessings & Love),
Linz & the Nexus team