a smart and witty title: September 2011

Dear Friends, FALL 2011

Our groups are always overwhelmed by the sights as they cross the border into Mexico on their way to our camp. They see Spanish signs, hillsides and canyons full of shanties, chaotic traffic, street vendors and beggars, soldiers with semi-automatic rifles and security guards everywhere, and walled homes with barbed wire and broken glass crowned barriers to ward off intruders and thieves. Their first discussions around the evening camp fires usually compare and contrast life here with life back home. Then a pattern of discovery follows throughout the week. By the second evening campfire, groups are asking themselves, "Why are things this way?" On the third evening they are asking how things can be changed. By the last evening they are excited about going home and seeing how they can change their own lives and their communities based on what they have learned here.

Sometimes the discussions go beyond the obvious accidentals, trying to understand why life is so difficult here when all that divides us is an arbitrary line in the sand. Some background in cultural history, politics, and economics helps to see the big picture. But, as each group lives and works along side of their host families, they begin to realize that most of these families are refugees in their own country. They have traveled great distances from other parts of Mexico and further south in search of a better life. They have left towns and villages with roots going back many centuries. They work long days and weeks just to feed themselves with little or no leisure time for developing normal social connections.

So, the initial impact of our cultural immersion can blind us to the actual circumstances of each family we serve. Seeing them in their own Hispanic culture obscures the fact that they may be totally disconnected within that culture. A Mexican lady once said to a group that until we came from nowhere to share her life with her that she had forgotten how much it had meant to her to be connected within her community. Because of our group's loving embrace she was resolved to get back into a church and to do more to reach beyond herself. In her own way she was helping us to examine our own lives. Now that's evangelical, when goodness works to the benefit of all. We don't just build houses, we build hope!

Once again this is a quiet time of the year in the field for Amor when group participants are back in school or settling into post vacation patterns at work. We use the time to retool and refresh our mission hearts with our annual retreat and time off. We hosted the Amor Lin Chase 5K Fun Run and a day at the ball park with a hot dog tail gate party at a San Diego Padres game. We are planning our Amor Three Day trips for individuals in Baha and San Carlos, Arizona, for November. Be sure to follow us on facebook to catch our Amor Store promos. We would love it if you could link us in your social media outlets. Project Hope is gearing up to distribute blankets and bibles for the winter months. And our new project, "La Cocina", is being offered to groups who would like to have their meals in camp served in the authentic style of the local families. You can learn more about this new program by calling Mission Services at 619 662 1200 x 6. Thank you again for your support. Peace, Howie.