3 minute read
A Spring Break to Remember
www.DanvilleLivingCA.com @DanvilleLivingCA #DanvilleLivingCA
By Deana Dickerson, Director of Missions, CPC, Resident since 2003
For years, Community Presbyterian Church students and adults have spent their Spring Break bringing love and building hope with Amor Ministries (amor.org) just east of Tijuana, Mexico. This year we had 250 students and 75 adults from around the greater Danville community build 16 homes in just under a week! This experience is truly life changing for all involved; it offers perspective and gratitude. Students walk up to a plot of dirt and after just four days, hand over keys to a new home. It is an incredibly sobering and emotional moment for many. Pastor Bill Haslim, the Director of Student Ministries at CPC, has brought thousands of students to Mexico in his 13 years of organizing this trip. He says that, “Our students loved the experience and their most common reactions have been unexpected observation of how happy, content and joyful the families they served were in spite of having so little.”
325 volunteers from the greater Danville area traveled down to Mexico to volunteer.
Some other experiences from the trip include:
“After a botched surgery left 66-year-old Raymundo disabled, neighborhood junkies began shooting up their drugs on his property and eventually burned down his house. Raymundo’s 5 grandchildren were inside the house and although disabled, he rescued them all! We arrived to find him living in a windowless cinder block room, his grandchildren displaced, and his son had passed away. Ray was moved to tears and overcome with emotion at the end of our first work day when he saw the new solid foundation we had poured. He looked up to God and thanked him, with tears streaming down his face... it was quite a moment for our students to witness. Our students are brave, open hearted, extremely hardworking and have tons of fun to build with! What an honor it was to serve Raymundo and his family and restore peace, safety and hope to this lovely disabled man...who's grandchildren can now live with him and they can all be together,” said Amy McKelligan, Parent/Chaperone, 5th year volunteer.
These are the tents that the student volunteers and chaperones stayed in.
“Marycruz Perez is a powerhouse! As one of the first settlers in the neighborhood 30 years ago, she has seen and been through so much. Because of the civil rights group she began years ago, the community has paved roads, electricity and drainage systems! She is also the director of a senior citizens center up the street where she and volunteers offer a safe place for fellowship, a hot meal and medical care. Amor Ministries could not have found a more deserving woman to build a stronger, long lasting home for!” - Deana Dickerson, Chaperone, 15th year volunteer.
The walls are framed out, and filled with well wishes and prayers.
Of 250 kids (8th-12th grade) volunteering this year, about 150 of them were returning from last year! For some of the high school seniors, this was their 5th trip. After a long day of working with no power tools, the students return to their camps to clean up and have a hot dinner. “Later in the evening the students all come together for a program with music and a message that reflects on what they’re doing from a faith perspective. After that they have some time in their tent groups to talk about their experiences, discuss the message of the night, ask questions, and just connect, before going to bed, exhausted.”
Happy faces sit atop a finished building. live with him and they can all be together,” said Amy McKelligan, Parent/Chaperone, 5th year volunteer.
Students raise a total of $675 to attend the trip. Maybe you’ll consider sponsoring someone on the trip or even better yet, you may consider joining us on a future trip! Stay tuned for future trips at www. cpcdanville.org. Never underestimate the impact you may have on another person’s life!
