30 YEARS TO MEXICO

Gayla and I spoke at First Christian Church (FCC) of Concord this evening. FCC has been going to Mexico for 30 years. Yes, their youth group has been going to Mexico that long. Longer than Amor has even existed. But Gayla worked with them on their first trip in 1978 in Tijuana, Mexico when she was living at a Tijuana orphanage. After Gayla and I met for the first time that same year I began working with them and in the early eighties we moved from working on the orphanage to building the first homes in the Tijuana dump. Yes, I said "dump". It was here that the city was sending their garbage and where well over a hundred homeless children lived and more than 300 impoverished families lived off the garbage.





















FCC Concord Celebrates 30 Years of Ministry to Mexico

In those early years, Youth Director Bill McNabb and Steven Mabry brought their Northern California youth groups to rustic Tijuana, Mexico. These were the days of showing up in Mexico with a general idea of what we were going to do and the youth group bringing what cash they had raise. We had to plan the projects and buy the materials the day the groups arrived in Mexico! Oh the thrill of it.

It was amazing hearing all the stories of people who had gone on trips to Mexico with Amor. One adult had gone on more than 16 trips to Mexico. FCC Concord Senior Pastor Russ Peterman has led trips from his previous church assignments as well from LaFayette, (California) and Sandy Springs (Georgio). Russ had even gone on the very first Amor trip to Cancun, Mexico to help put a roof on a home and establish the beginning of Amor in the tropics of the Yucatan.

This was a wonderful evening hearing such great stories and seeing their enthusiasm for their upcoming Mexico trips. 30 years of of ministry to Mexico, 28 years of partnership with Amor, and we look forward to what the next 30+ years of ministry bring.