Amor Ministries Field Specialist, Kamar Chafi, shares why she is impacted by every Amor Mission Trip she is involved with.  We hope that those of you who have also been involved in many Amor Mission Trips are still impacted every time you serve a family in need.

This past winter we made the six-hour-plus trek from Tijuana across the desert to serve with our groups alongside our pastors in the very impoverished communities of the little tourist town of Puerto Peñasco.  We built houses, visited with families, broke bread with one of the local Pastors that sits on our planning board, ate good camp food, did house dedications and took fewer showers than normal (cough…none…cough). It was just another week in the life of an Amor Ministries field specialist that leaves me tired, dirty, and a little heart broken, yet, refreshed in knowing that what I do still isn’t old hat to me.

One of the questions I get asked by groups all the time is, “What is your favorite part about your job in the field?”  My answer is always this:  I get a front row seat to watch the Holy Spirit change the lives of everyone associated with their Amor Mission Trip.  The families, the community, their group, the local churches we work with, and even me. I had a lot of time on the drive back to Tijuana after that week to reflect on this and remembered the three house dedications that I was privileged to be a part of.  These dedication times, however emotional or not, are never routine, are never meaningless, and we never leave them unaffected by God in some way.  Though I’ve been a part of building, literally, hundreds of homes, handing over the keys at the end of the week still gets me and, every once in a while, a few tears escape.  These are some of the sweetest, most cleansing tears I have ever cried.  God deeply impacts our lives and I get to stand as a witness to it almost every week. I could not be more blessed to be a small part of something so big.

If you would like to share a story of how you have been impacted on an Amor Mission Trip, you can share it with us at www.amorblog.org/myamorstory.

We love when our participants are inspired by their Amor Mission Trips.  Matt Lundquist, a trip leader from Ellensburg, WA., was inspired to write this fantastic poem about his rainy week with Amor in Tecate.  If you have ever lived through a rainy Amor Mission Trip  in Mexico, you will be able to relate to Matt’s poem!

Grace Like Rain poured down on us
Thirty Dirty People in in Four Old Vans
drove down to Mexico according to the plans
We all went down to a primitive camp
We got a little cold and we got a lot damp
Grace like Rain was our supply
and the strength we needed never did run dry
We pitched our tents in the wind and the mud
and we dug some trenches so the place wouldn’t flood

We could see no stars on that first night
The thick dark clouds obscured them from sight
Grace like Rain poured down on us
But the younguns and the olduns they made no fuss

We got water all over our heads
So Dolores and Ruth could have dry beds
Hallelujah the Vans were cool
except for one wheel that was smokin like a fool
At the Mexican mechanic’s it was nice and sunny
and they fixed my vans for not a lot of money

Signs in the sky and signs down below
We watch for the signs to know where to go
We were there for the work He had called us to do
And the smile of the Father came shining on through

Grace like Rain poured down on me
I once was blind but now I see
My brothers and sisters who are living in need
So I open my heart and I curb my greed
I give what I have and it’s all by Grace
What a joy to see the smiles that light up their Face

We made a big Fire and we sat around the Flame
as we gathered for worship to praise His Name
The Rain pouring down made us run helter skelter
But Kev kept playing as we huddled under shelter
Alonzo said let me work the hard place
Climbing up hills takes a bit more Grace
They shoveled the sand and carried it in buckets
Up Forty steep steps Rob’s team had to truck it

Jesus He showed us the way we should walk
And to always be helpful in the way that we talk
Our teams worked hard at encouraging speech
So the work on those houses was never out of reach
We built our two houses and all in record time
Only took us three days in spite of the climb
Jesus reminded us all through our day
At the top of each hour we would stop to pray
Unless the Lord builds the house or wall
We labor in vain who build at all
Four strong walls and a roof that won’t leak
that’s how we offer Hope, that’s how we speak
We sounded it out and we nailed it down
and poured a concrete slab over muddy ground

Grace like Rain came pouring down
it soaked our clothes and it ran on the ground
It came in our vans and came in our tents
we couldn’t keep it out with a wall or a fence
It came to bless and it came to teach,
there was no place that Grace couldn’t reach

The Team that went down are now all my friends
Jesus is our Saviour and He’s washed away our sins
The Grace like Rain baptized our heads
Without forgiveness we’d all be dead
When God takes hold of a human heart
He makes us alive and gives a new start
Grace like Rain has brought us all together
Our Awesome God is in charge of all the weather

Grace like Rain it soaked us clear through
It went down deep into hearts made new
We see the world through different eyes
We hear more clearly our brother’s cries
God wants us to be kind He wants us to be good
and He pours out His Grace so we can live like we should

Grace like Rain poured down on us
But when it was all over we got back on the bus
The Aluminum Falcon had plenty of gas
But the Whale choked up near Pacheco Pass
I ran and ran back to the Tan Van
Then I poured out Grace from a rescue Can

Grace like Rain did not hold back
even when we were headed on the homeward track
The sign said everyone must carry chains
Cuz we had some snow instead of rains
Captain Rick and Captain Rob
Drove the Whale and the Rocket through Ice and Fog

The folks back home were praying us through
There were times we weren’t sure what to do
But God’s Hand was mighty and His voice was clear
So we had no doubts He had called us here
Jesus He called us to serve the least
the poor, the lonely and the ones unreached
Seeking the Kingdom we give our all
It’s a life of service and we’re always on call

*If you have a story you would like to share about your Amor Mission Trip you can submit it at http://www.amorblog.org/share-story/

As part of our 30th Anniversary celebration, we have been asking Amor Mission Trip participants to share their stories of how Amor has had an impact on their lives.  Submit your Amor story today! www.amor.org/MyAmorStory

Here is Kamar Chafi’s “My Amor Story”.

Kamar was previously a member of Amor’s Project Nexus intern team in 2007, a member of Amor’s Project Barnabas volunteer team in 2007, and is currently an Amor Field Specialist.

I was changed forever by my work with Amor on my very first Amor Mission Trip to volunteer in Mexico.  I still remember the first house I ever worked on in Tijuana.   Throughout the week, I became closely connected with the group I worked with as well as the couple we built for, Carlitos and Rufina.  It was like we became a family that week, and that was a paradigm shift for me.   This definition of family was totally new to me and something only the Holy Spirit could have opened me to.   A very important part of who I am considers family, and specifically, God’s family amongst my top priorities in life and this feeling can be attributed to my experience with Amor in Mexico.  I consider Carlitos, Rufina, and every family I help build for a part of my family.  God gave everything for His family in the form of Jesus Christ on the cross.  Trying to be like Him means doing the same for my family.  I don’t just serve the poor, I care for my family.

As part of our 30th Anniversary celebration, we have been asking Amor Mission Trip participants to share their stories of how Amor has had an impact on their lives.  Submit your Amor story today! www.amor.org/MyAmorStory

Here is John McKinney”s “My Amor Story”.

Easter 2010 was my third Amor [Mission] trip. I have been to mexico often over the years… Different groups, churches, orphanages.

The amor house build is different that those experiences. Some call them a vacation with a purpose. I call it hard work.

The first two years, Templeton Community Church worked in the Rosarita area. The first house was attached to a shed. When we came back the second year, the shed and amor house were painted and it looked nice. The next year we built two homes within view of each other. It was great for competition. We also had the son of a plaster contractor working with us. He was great! I challenged our group to invite their friends and family to help in 2010 and we would try to do three houses. Then the news of violence hit and concerns for taking other people’s kids across the border almost made us stay home. To the credit of our staff, they decided to go for it with the understanding that it might be more dangerous than in years past. I had commented that we needed a minimum of 12 people to build a house. We ended up with 10 the week before we were to head south. Miraculously, one person dropped out at the last minute and two more signed up. One of them only had 10 days left on their current passport! When we go to Mexico, we were supposed to help a family that had a dirt floored shack. Unfortunately they were not ready. We got moved to a site that had a thin layer of cement on the ground where the slab was to go. Another miracle! We had much less site prep to form the slab. Our team mixed some of the best cement yet. The finish guy made the team wait an extra hour while he put the final touches to the slab. It was the straightest house and roof that we had made so far. The family we ministered to had four kids and were all sharing a 10X10 room. They were very excited to see the house come to completion. While Avenida Suares en Colonia Torres de Baja has changed, the experience of building them a home has changed some of our team forever.

Each year, we met people similar to us who struggled with poverty. In each case there were kids who needed shelter and parents that struggled to do what they could with their limited income. Each year my spanish has improved to the point where understanding ‘our family’ became easier.

Common to each house build was something that I call ‘third day drama’. It usually involves a meltdown over something that would not normally have any effect on a person who was freshly rested in their own bed. Stress has that effect on people. Also common to each house build with lots of tears being shed as we prayed for the family and handed them the keys to their new home. God called us to serve one another. The amor house build is a great opportunity to do just that.

This year, Lord willing, I want to work with our church to build a house and then work with the Barnabas Program [Amor's Project Barnabas short-term internship] to enjoy the experience with other brothers and sisters in the Lord. Blessings to you as you consider your own experiences and how to follow in the love of Christ.

Grandpa John

Thought I would share a video we just received from University Bible Church.  Love how the video captures the family they were building a home for – their joy, their love, and their excitement was so fun to see.  Good work University Bible Church!

Enjoy…