Short Term Mission TripsThere are many different types of trips that can be experienced with Amigos en Cristo Ministries. We like to design our trips around the gifts and passions of the individuals. Below are some examples of different types of ministries that we have worked with in the past.
Serving the community and Christ in construction, we welcome those who wish to support in building the infrastructure and expansion of our community centers.
Please contact our office for details of pending scheduled trips. mail@aecministries.org
Group Mission Trips
The AeC summer camp is such a great time for groups to join us in celebration of Christ while lifting a community in love and deed.
Please contact our office for details of pending scheduled trips. mail@aecministries.org
Contact us: we'd love to have you serve with us or bring your team down! Email mail@aecministries.org. Men and women, children through retired adults, have served on teams. Parents or guardians accompany elementary and high school aged team members. College aged groups regularly serve.
Teams complete a variety of projects which call for a variety of skills but team members don't have to be master carpenters or highly skilled laborers. A great "can do" attitude, paying attention to directions, and good communication skills are a huge asset.
Projects for recent trips include serving at a medical clinic, working with community women sewing and doing crafts, construction of classrooms and dorms, preparing ground for a vegetable garden, helping at one of our partner orphanages, painting and repairs.
Teams can stay at our New Beginnings community center. Teams of 4 or fewer can stay at the Guest House at Amistad. All locations have kitchen and bathroom facilities.
For the most part, Amigos staff is Spanish-speaking. However, a few of our staff do speak English as do many of our students. It is always good to think ahead and have someone on your team who can translate.
Wikipedia says: “Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte), south of El Paso, Texas. El Paso and Ciudad Juárez comprise the second largest bi-national metropolitan area on the Mexico-United States border (after San Diego–Tijuana), with a combined population of 3 million people.” The areas where we serve are on the outskirts of Juárez just over the U.S/Mexican border.
Wikipedia describes the climate of Juarez this way: “Due to its location in the Chihuahuan Desert, Ciudad Juárez has an arid climate. Seasons are distinct, with hot summers, cold winters, and cool springs and fall. Summer average high is 35 °C (95 °F) with lows of 21 °C (70 °F). Winter highs average 14 °C (57 °F) with lows of 0 °C (32 °F). Because of the high altitude, Ciudad Juárez is cooler than other desert cities in Mexico. Rainfall is scarce greater in summer. Snowfalls occur once or twice every winter. The record high is 49 °C (120 °F) and the record low is -23 °C (-9 °F). WolframAlpha indicates that the elevation is 6280 feet.” Believe me: you are not in Kansas (or Central Illinois) anymore.
You will probably see some of the bluest skies you’ve ever seen but you won’t see much of Juarez except to drive across the border. See our security plan. (Generally, all of your meals will be at Amigos sites. Teams bring their food and water across the border from El Paso. The communities where we serve are those where local, working-class people live. )
“The Mexico Mission trip was the first time I had been west of Nebraska let alone out of the States. What an amazing blessing to see God’s wondrous creation in the mountains and sage brush we passed. The purple skies and rugged mountains formed one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. There were so many wonderful experiences on that trip: the music and sharing times in the evening, forming new friendships, and all the special food the cooks worked so hard to make. One event in particular caught my attention. Within the first couple of days the kids were being put to work, and often a few of them would come up to a new project and ask “Can I help?” I found this very encouraging, and I pray that God would use this trip to mold both the kids and the adults to be more like Him. May we look for more ways to serve God and others, and to ask “can I help?”
- James Swim, 18
“I was so thankful to return to Juárez Mexico again this year. Having been there many times, I so appreciated the opportunity to return and continue to build relationships with those helping with the ministry we visit, Amigos en Cristo. Despite the fact that it was often hard to understand one another, it was fun to continue to build relationships through work projects together and my very broken Spanish (Spanglish really). God blessed me so much this year by reminding of the joy He can give me by simply bringing joy to others. I learned this by helping with the VBS again, and though it may have required some extensive planning, it brought me so much joy to bring joy to so many sweet kiddos. Thankful again to have this opportunity to be blessed and be a blessing.”
- Lydia Siler, 21
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