What To Expect On A Mission Trip To Mexico

You have decided to take part in a life-changing experience, and we want to equip you, an Amor Mission Trip participant, with the tools necessary to succeed in this mission trip as much as possible. The times before, during, and after your Amor Mission Trip will bring new challenges, growth opportunities, and eye opening moments. One thing is for sure, you will return with a new perspective on poverty and God’s love. Each Amor Mission Trip group has a slightly different timeline but we hope that the timeline outlined below will touch on what you should expect while participating in an Amor Mission Trip in Mexico.

When you arrive to begin your Amor Mission Trip, your group will meet an Amor Team Member at a designated location. From there you will head to the Amor Camp or to the worksite to prepare for your days of building ahead.

Day One: Today you will meet the family that your group will build a home for. There is an excitement about what you are about to do and certainly some reservation as to how you will communicate (especially if you don't speak Spanish) across cultural boundaries or build a house in such a short period of time. Your group leader will assess the worksite and will build a strategy for the days ahead. Soon you will be digging, leveling, mixing cement, and taking part in some pretty tough manual labor (remember, no power tools are allowed). You will be able to start playing with kids from the neighborhood and making connections with the family. By the end of today, your group will hopefully finish the foundation for the house. You will start thinking about what poverty means to you and those you know that are truly poor.

Day Two: Today you will wake up a bit sore, thanks to the manual labor you took part in yesterday. There was a lot of mixing cement by hand the day before! When you arrive at the worksite, the cement slabs has hardened and your group can now continue in the building process. Today you will take part in sawing, hammering, measuring, and becoming an expert in the art of framing a house. You will have the opportunity to continue building on the relationships you started yesterday. You may even pick up some Spanish words. By the end of this day, the walls and roof will be framed and positioned on the foundation. The worksite will start to look like a house and the reality of providing the family with this gift of hope will start to sink in.

Day Three: As the week comes to its mid-point, you will realize how acclimated you have become to your surroundings. The once intimidating poverty has become a part of daily expectations, and it’s now been a week without TV, Video Games, computers, and life’s other distractions. With the walls of the house standing and prepared for stucco, the roof completed, and the door and windows installed, the final day will be left for two coats of stucco. The once empty worksite is really taking on the form of a home that will keep a family together.

Day Four: Today is filled with much emotion. Your group knows it is the last day that you will be with the family you are building a home for, and you will soon have to re-enter life back home. Your will go to the worksite excited to finish up the two coats of stucco and give the gift of a completed home to the family.

This is an incredible moment! Your group will gather with the family to express their love, but more importantly, the great love and grace of God. The key to the home, a symbol of safety and stability, is presented to them.

Throughout the past few days, you have come to a place where you have adjusted to seeing poverty and, instead of being threatened, have started to question why poverty exists. You will also begin to see change happening within you and your group. You will gain the understanding that you can make a difference, you have something to offer the world, and that you have a role to play.

By taking part in providing the gift of a simple home, you have experienced a glimpse of the joy that comes when we give rather than receive. This is just the beginning of your life being shaped by not only building into the lives of a family in need, but also by making a difference in the lives of each person you will encounter upon returning home from the Amor Mission Trip.