Mission Trips

Mission Trips: What Three Teams Have in Common
May 15th, 2012 8:00 AM

If I mentioned, Easton Baptist Church in Massachusetts and Riverside Christian Church & Fellowship Bible Church in New Hampshire, could you tell me what they all have in common?  Yes, they are all churches, they all have 3 word names, they are all located in the North East, and hold church services weekly; but what connects these three churches at a much deeper level? 

Easton Bible Church - February 2011

In February 2011, Easton Baptist Church, located just south of Boston, sent a group from their congregation to a small school in Guatemala – Las Vistas.  It is a school of 210 students ages 5 – 18 that was started by AMG International over 10 years ago.  The facility needed painting, so this crew began working on a “makeover” for the facility.  

Riverside Christian Church - February 2012

Fast forward to February of 2012, and a team from Riverside Christian Church in Manchester, New Hampshire, joined the work and helped continue the development by building a retaining wall to help protect the children and make the facility look more like a school.  In April of 2011 and 2012, two different teams from Fellowship Bible Church in Derry, New Hampshire continued the work that had been started and helped with the painting of the classrooms and the new wall built just a few months earlier.

Fellowship Bible Church - April 2012

If you were to go to Las Vistas, located in Guatemala City, today, you would find a beautifully painted (yellow and blue) facility with a very nice looking retaining wall that is decorated by plants and rocks.  The effort of total strangers who live miles apart has been united together in one facility for the glory of God.

Las Vistas - April 2012

None of these teams could have completed the project alone!  All of them needed the others to complete the task assigned.  And thanks to the prayers and support of so many others, the task has been completed, and the children of Las Vistas get to experience the fruits of the labor of these teams.  Three very different groups from different churches at different times came to a single place that God might be glorified in their effort.  He has been, and will continue to be glorified as the ministry there continues on.  Thank you all for your sacrifice and for your service.  The children and workers at Las Vistas thank you as well.

Written by: Ken Ivins - Mission Adventure Team Leader

Posted by Karen Farney in Guatemala, Mission Adventures   |  0 Comment(s)

Mission Trips: 10 Trips and Counting
May 14th, 2012 8:00 AM

Pete Johnston has traveled to minister alongside AMG Guatemala 10 times in the last 12 years.   Over the years Pete has been involved in construction and painting, teaching kids at Camp Canaan, encouraging AMG Missionaries, and loving on the Guatemalan children.  Pete has shared with us some of his most memorable experiences while serving in Guatemala with AMG:

My first trip, in 2001, several men from Fellowship Bible Church built a typing classroom at the Oratorio Childcare Center; I met for the first time a little 5-year-old boy named Osman, whom we had begun sponsoring; Osman has since graduated from the program. We are now sponsoring Osman’s little sister, Rosita.

In 2002, a group of 6 men went down to do some odd jobs, but mainly to be an encouragement to the missionaries.  The most memorable part of that trip was the privilege of attending the dedication of La Iglesia de Luz y Verdad at Las Vistas.  I remember like it was yesterday that a little girl who was sitting on my lap, whose name is Helen, went forward with her friend Jamie at the invitation – we were heartbroken when we learned that Helen and Jamie already had sponsors, but I started praying for them that day. 

In 2003, a large group of teens and adults from FBC (including my wife, Inger, who was on her first trip) worked at Camp Canaan, and had the opportunity to minister to the sponsored kids who were there that week.

In 2005, Inger and I were part of a team that painted the Fourth of February project, one of the neat things that year was to reconnect with some of the kids who had been at Camp Canaan (in 2003).  The most memorable part of that trip for me was our visit to Verbena when we learned that Helen (who I met in 2002) was without a sponsor – we immediately grabbed her bio and began sponsoring her, and still do!

In 2006, Inger & I joined a team from Grand Rapids MI, and worked with them to construct a building at the Villa Laura project; it was nice to be able to spend time with other believers, and to work together for a common cause, and share our lives with one another. It was one of the Grand Rapids team members who helped me to realize that my mission field is wherever I am at any given moment.

In 2007, Inger and I were part of a team that painted the structure built by the Grand Rapids team the year before at Villa Laura; it was great to see the beginning and end of a project, and to see the AMG staff and kids there two years in a row; this team included our son, Liam, who was 14 at the time, and it opened his eyes to the body of believers outside his home and local surroundings.

In 2010, I was part of a team that painted at Verbena; our son, Ethan, had his first mission adventure that year; the most memorable part of that trip was working closely with the AMG Guatemala maintenance crew, culminating with a USA versus Guatemala soccer game that provided for a lot of trash-talking, from both sides.  That was my first exposure to Mission Adventure Team Leader, Ken Ivins, and my life will never be the same again; we also had the privileged to stay with Brian & Mary Dennett and their family for a day, and the friendship that began on that trip has only deepened since then.

In 2011, Inger and I were able to work again with Ken, and we were part of a team that painted at Las Vistas – we were mobbed by the children there every day, and several FBC members, some of whom were part of the team, sponsored kids there; hearing their voices shouting “Padrino, padrino!” while we were working was a sound I will never tire of; it was also pretty cool to work with the Wilsons, who had just moved to Guatemala 4 months before from New Hampshire (their home church is FBC).

This year, the team, which included our 13-year-old daughter Emily, worked at Verbena painting the English Department in the beginning of the week, and painted the wall and did landscaping at Las Vistas for the last three days of the week, finishing the project begun by Riverside Christian Church in February, and continued by the AMG Guatemala maintenance crew; it was another great example of God’s people coming together for a common purpose, to bring Him glory.

We have so much for which to be thankful, and we have been privileged to be a part of God’s work in Guatemala through AMG International.  It’s funny how, when you seek to be a blessing to others, you always end up being much more blessed yourself than you ever thought possible.

Serving overseas on a Mission Adventure can change your life.  You never know what God has in store for you when you follow His leading.  God wants to stretch and grow you to help grow His Kingdom and bring Him glory…don’t you want to be part of that?

Posted by Karen Farney in Mission Adventures   |  0 Comment(s)

Mission Trips: Mission Adventure Update
April 4th, 2012 8:00 AM

Spring and Summer are the busiest months for the Mission Adventure department.  At the beginning of each month Pete Lafakis, Mission Adventure Coordinator, will give an update and how to pray: 

AMG Mission Adventures has had one of its busiest first quarters since its inception in the early 2000’s.  Since January there have been seven Mission Adventure teams sent to the field: One to Uganda, Two to Peru, and Four to Guatemala.  The next three months will be just as full with trips scheduled to Uganda, Peru, Guatemala, and Haiti.  

The next Mission Adventures short term trip is scheduled for April 15^th – 22^nd to Guatemala and will be led by Ken Ivins.  Pray for those who are participating in this ministry that God will provide, protect, and accomplish His perfect will in Guatemala and in the lives of these people.  

Posted by Karen Farney in Mission Adventures   |  0 Comment(s)

Mission Trips: The Privilege of Serving
March 12th, 2012 8:00 AM

I had the privilege of leading a group from Westminster Christian Academy to Huaraz, Yungar, and Lima, Peru, in February 2012.  This was a trip that was filled with painting two rooms of the Huaylas Valley Childcare Center in Huaraz, as well as painting a beautiful mural of Noah’s Ark on an entire wall.  While painting and doing work, part of the group also spent much time with the kids telling Bible stories, performing songs and skits, and helping them do crafts.  A very interesting note is that Tuesdays in February are to be treated with caution!  In most cities, they have what they call Tuesday Wars.  This is a time where anybody from 15-21 years of age has water fights all day!  It is very comical and fun to watch, especially when Pastor Andres sets the team up to get soaked by some Peruvians! 

On Wednesday of the trip, we had the opportunity to go to Yungar.  This was one of the highlights of our trip.  We were able to do childcare again, but there were two things we did there that really stood out to me.  First, we were able to minister to a lady named Maria.  She has 2 daughters.  They are 2 years old and 10 years old.  She has no place to live, so she is staying with another family.  She collects plastic bottles and recycles them to try to get money to buy food.  They have one small bed that they all sleep in.  We were able to give her about 2-3 weeks’ worth of groceries and a bed, but we also shared the Gospel with her and told her that Jesus is a gift that will never run out!  She was very close to accepting Christ, but she did not accept Him when we were there.  We prayed that God would give her the grace of having a tomorrow until she accepted Him, because we are not promised tomorrow.  We also told her that we would pray that every time she lies on the bed that she would remember that this is a gift from God, not from man.

The next thing we did in Yungar was make the very first soda bottle light bulb in Peru.  You take a bottle and fill it with clean water and just a little bleach and seal it.  Then, cut a hole in a piece of tin roofing and cut some notches around the hole.  Slide the tin over the bottle and seal the bottle to the tin with 1/3 of the bottle above the tin.  Then, cut a hole in a roof and slide the bottle in the hole.  Seal the tin to the roof, and you have a 50-watt light bulb!  You see, the light hits the top part of the bottle and the water refracts the light through the bottom creating a light bulb.  This is a great way to meet the needs of the poor and share Jesus as the light of the world with people!

When we arrived back in Lima we went to the two childcare centers there.  The team was able to do skits, stories, songs, games, and crafts with the children in both centers.  We were able to make another light bulb in Lima and show Pastor Jose how it worked.  I also had the privilege of giving out some gifts to some children that were sent with me to Peru.  The highlight of the day was giving a gift to a boy named Luis.  His sponsor prepared a bag with some candy, a toy, and a Bible.  When he saw the Bible, he went into shock!  It was amazing to see how much he thought of God’s Word to love it as much as he did!

It always amazes me to see how much God works through short-term teams.  Please consider going on a short-term trip and let God teach you something new!

Written by: Richard Hetzel

Posted by Karen Farney in Mission Adventures, Peru   |  0 Comment(s)

Mission Trips: Solomy's Journey
February 16th, 2012 8:20 AM

This is the personal journey I have had the privilege to be on with Solomy and her mother, Annette.

January 2009 - I first met Solomy when I was visiting the first "send a goat project" in Namagoga.  Her mother Annette was part of the project and she showed the team the goats and pens the women had built.  As the team was leaving we saw Solomy sitting on the ground because she had been born lame and could not walk.  I took her picture and a man on our team and others from where he lived raised money to help little Solomy.  Soon Solomy had a sponsor, so she could now attend school, and she could get the much needed operation on her legs.  

January 2010 - My next visit with Solomy she had casts on both her legs.  Her mother had built her a place to learn to walk beside her house.  Solomy showed us how she was learning to walk by holding onto the wood rails.  She was now in school and doing well in her studies.   

January 2011 - Solomy's legs are getting stronger and she is now using a walker and in her third year of school.

January 2012 - This year I was blessed to once again to go back and visit Solomy and Annette.  Solomy smiled as she sat with me and looked at the gifts I had brought her.  She quickly put on the dress and bracelets my granddaughters had sent her. Annette said Solomy wanted to show us something, and she only had one crutch with her.  She got up and walked to one of our team members.  Then I will never forget how she laid down her only crutch and walked to her mother without any help.  Everyone cheered and shouted and gave praise to the Lord!

What a blessing it has been to watch God work in Solomy and her mother's lives. We even got a couple of video clips of her walking that I have watched many times. I thank God for His goodness each time I watch and see Solomy walk and the smiles on everyone's face.  It is times like this that I stop and thank God for just being God.  I thank Him for being so good to me and for letting me be a part of His wonderful plan.  I love being on this exciting journey with Jesus not knowing what tomorrow will bring but knowing God is in control and knowing He is good all the time!

What a mighty and awesome God we serve.  To Him be the Glory!  Thank you for for AMG International, Mission Adventure trips, and for the work God is doing in Uganda!

Written by: Denise Lavender, who has visited AMG Uganda for the last five years on a Mission Adventure.

Posted by Karen Farney in Mission Adventures, Uganda   |  0 Comment(s)

Mission Trips: Join Us on an Adventure!
February 2nd, 2012 8:16 AM

What are you going to do this year?  Join an AMG Mission Adventure team and be used by God and forever changed.  A Mission Adventure will provide you with incredible experiences and give you opportunities for personal and spiritual growth as you partner in ministry with AMG missionaries and national workers around the world. 

Here are this year’s opportunities for you to go deeper in your relationship with Christ by serving overseas:

Peru – Children’s Ministry – May 25-June 4

Join what God is doing through AMG in Peru by spending a week sharing the love of Christ with sponsored children at the two AMG Childcare Centers located in the slums of Lima, Peru.  The team will also provide much needed maintenance at the centers and minister to the children’s families through home visitation, etc.  Team members will also have the privilege of encouraging the Apon family, who oversee AMG’s childcare ministry in Lima.

Approximate Cost: $1850 – Only 9 Spots Left!

Greece – Evangelism and Camping Ministry – July 8-21

Spend two weeks ministering in Greece alongside our national workers.  During the first week the team will be working with the youth at Above the Street Evangelical Church in Larisa, Greece.  There the team will be involved in outdoor evangelistic skits, songs, testimonies, and engaging people in conversations concerning the gospel.  The second week the team will conduct a three day children’s camp at the AMG Cosmovision Center in Athens for Polish refugee children.  Also, the team will tour ancient Corinth and Athens to learn more about how these two cities influenced the writing of the New Testament.  

Approximate Cost: $3400

 Uganda –Medical & Children’s Ministry – August

Visit Uganda where you will encourage our national workers, love on our sponsored children, and share Christ with Ugandans.  This team will be involved in medical ministry at AMG Medical Clinics, visiting AMG Childcare Centers, home visits of AMG sponsored children, working at Upendo Christian Academy (AMG orphanage and school),  and serving our brothers and sisters in any way possible in the name of Christ.

Approximate Cost: $3200

Argentina – Construction & Evangelism – October 20-30

Serve alongside AMG National Worker, Pastor Jorge Ovando.  This team will help with the construction of second floor classrooms over Pastor Ovando’s church, paint the school building, be involved in street evangelism, participate in local church services, home visitation, and encourage Pastor Ovando and his ministry.

Approximate Cost: $2900

Peru – Bundles of Love – December 1-10

This Christmas join Mission Adventures on a Bundles of Love team!  Share Christ’s love at Christmas time with many needy children and their families.  Team members will share the real meaning of Christmas while helping prepare and distribute Christmas gifts called Bundles of Love to needy children and national workers sponsored through AMG. 

Approximate Cost: $2000

Guatemala – Bundles of Love – December 1-8

This Christmas join Mission Adventures on a Bundles of Love team!  Share Christ’s love at Christmas time with many needy children and their families.  Team members will share the real meaning of Christmas while helping prepare and distribute Christmas gifts called Bundles of Love to needy children and national workers sponsored through AMG. 

Approximate Cost: $1500

Interested? Here are a few things to know:

1.) Team size is limited for most trips.  This means that teams are established on a “first come, first served” basis. 

2.) Trip costs shown are the responsibility of each team member.  These costs are approximated and are subject to change based on actual purchase date of airline tickets, etc.  These are, however, a good working estimate based on past experience and current airfares.

3.) Your $100 deposit, completed application, and airfare payment are due 60 days prior to date of departure.  Your deposit is non-refundable.  Final payment in full is due 30 days prior to date of departure, unless other arrangements have been made.

4.) Accommodations for trips will be comfortable and clean.  Team members will be staying in hotels or AMG housing during their trip.

Email Pete LaFakis or Ken Ivins if you would like more information about any of these trips or the ministry of AMG Mission Adventures.  Or give us a call toll free at 1.800.251.7206 and ask for Mission Adventures.  We hope to see you on the mission field!

Posted by Karen Farney in Mission Adventures   |  0 Comment(s)

Mission Trips: The Word, Not the World
January 30th, 2012 9:40 AM

On January 7, a team of 8 Americans arrived in Uganda ready to begin two weeks of ministry with AMG. The first full week was spent putting on a camp for AMG sponsored youth ranging in age from 15-20. This camp was unlike any other in the past as it was planned, organized, and executed by AMG Uganda alumni. These are adults, some of whom are studying at the University, that have graduated from the AMG program and have decided to step up and help children just like they were once helped.

The US and alumni teams met together Monday afternoon at Upendo Christian School, and from then on they formed one team with one focus – that the students would leave knowing Christ more than when they came. The camp, which ran for 4 days, included time for preaching the Word, small group Bible Studies, games, and time for the team to interact with the students. 

The theme for the week was The Word, Not the World, and focused on passages from the book of Romans. Each small group discussed how it might look to live a life grounded in the Word of God and set apart from the world. 
On Wednesday evening, they held a Dedication Night which included a camp fire and praise music. After hearing the preachers during the day and testimonies from the team members, the students were given an opportunity to dedicate their lives to Christ. There were 12 students who gave their lives to Christ for the first time, and 8 who rededicated their lives to Him.

One afternoon, a girl named Leilah shared how much the camp meant to her. She said, “I praise God for the youth camp because I come from a Muslim family and when I am here I can worship and pray freely.” It was a week filled with both joy and tears. By the last night, no one was ready to leave. But eventually it came to an end, and it was time to send the students back to their respective homes. Our prayer is that they will not only remember what they learned, but also live it out every day.

Written by: Alyson Houser

Posted by Karen Farney in Uganda, Child Sponsorships, Mission Adventures, Camping Ministry   |  0 Comment(s)

Mission Trips: Forever Changed
January 12th, 2012 9:00 AM

“You are going where?” was the question most frequently asked when I told friends and family that my daughter and I were going to Uganda over the Thanksgiving break.  This question was quickly followed up by a puzzled look and simply… “WHY?”

Well, cause Jesus said so, That’s why.

More than 3 years ago, myself and the other mission team members of Sherwood Christian Academy began praying about an opportunity to send a team to Uganda.  Our team leader Jason Schultz, who has worked with AMG, had been to Uganda several times before.  He knew this ministry was one that we needed to partner with.  Then, in God’s perfect time, we were granted approval and planning of the trip began.

Our 12 member team was an unique  combination of  high school and college students, parents and teachers and those who had been on mission trips before as well as newbies.  We visited several AMG childcare centers, but our primary focus was the Upendo Christian Academy and the Bundles of Love program.

The Ugandan children were so thoughtful and gracious receiving their BOL.  We were charmed by their curtsey’s and bows as they were given their gifts.  Our team felt blessed as we hugged each child wishing them Merry Christmas as we gave out the bundles.  The bundles were full of different items depending on the needs of the children.  At one childcare center the BOL contained flour, rice and soap while at another center they contained blankets, school clothes and toiletries.   At each of the BOL celebrations, we cut a Christmas cake, sang songs and listened to guest speakers.

In addition, while at Upendo the team set up Christmas craft stations and put on an American styled field day for the kids at the school.  The children sang and danced for us and we performed a Christmas skit and shared the gospel with them. In addition, the team attended two local churches and had opportunities to both preach and to teach Sunday school. In the evening, we were able to share about our day and our experiences as we studied from the book of Philippians. 

Uganda offers the removal of the distractions of our typical American life. Gone are the schedules, the materialism and technology that often clouds our hearts and minds.  This allows us to connect with one and another and focus on God.  We imagined that this is what the early church must have been like, sharing the gospel, loving God’s people, studying the word, singing praises.  Living life simply and with purpose.

Our time in Uganda was unforgettable.  God’s glorious creation all around us and the beautiful children we met touched our hearts, permanently.  We are forever changed. 

Our team verse summed up our mission to Uganda best:

Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  James 1:27 

Written by: Lisa O'Connor

Posted by Karen Farney in Uganda, Bundles of Love   |  2 Comment(s)

Mission Trips: Grateful
January 10th, 2012 9:00 AM

On December 3, 2012, ten Americans converged onto Guatemala City to begin a week of ministering to the many children being served at the AMG Child Care Centers.  The trip was our annual Bundles of Love trip where the team is challenged with the responsibility of handing out bundles to hundreds of children in just a few short days.

As I encourage my team members, I will limit my story to one key scene.  Imagine you are riding with us on our way to the first child care center.  You have never done this before – handed out bundles.  The van makes its way into a small village and you see children collected at the doorway of a building up the road.  As we approach you are told that this is the AMG center.  The van stops.  You are excited, scared, bewildered, anxious, etc.  The emotions are garbled in your spirit.  The children split like the red sea and you are ushered into the front of the church building.  They clap for you as you walk.  By now you are overwhelmed by their enthusiasm to see you – someone they have never met before.

After a brief introduction and presentation of the gospel, you are asked to go to a room full of bags with names on them.  You wonder what is in the bags, but you don’t have time to look.  Kids are just outside the door, and the names begin to be called.   It’s go time.  You are handing kids bags. You are hugging on children. You make faces and laugh to help them smile as you take a picture together.  They smile and return your laugh as they are thrilled that you have come to give them their Christmas gifts.

Eventually the room is empty.  The kids are outside looking in the bags, and your curiosity gets the best of you.  You have to know – what is in these bundles that they are so excited to get?  Toys, candy, games, balls???  You visit with the kids and they show you’re their gift.  New shoes – the only pair many of them will get all year, new pants, a new shirt, some food for them and the family, a book bag for their school books.  They are thrilled with the gifts.  You are bewildered at their excitement because it is foreign to our culture.  They get gifts that are really necessities for the following year, and they are ecstatic.  You can’t help but think about how thankless you tend to be when you get gifts of the same quality.

As your time at the center draws to a close, you have the privilege of going to a home of a child.  It is then you really understand why they are so excited.  They do not have much, but they are very thankful.  The gift you have given will last them through the next 12 months, and they are thankful to be receiving it.  You are humbled by their gracious response to the gift that you gave them.

When the time comes to board the van, you have to ask yourself, what did I see here?  What did I experience here?  What can I learn from what happened today?  How has my life been changed by what I have seen today?  Until you have been here, until you have seen this, until you have hugged the neck of a young person who just received their “Bundle of Love” from you, you will not wrestle with these questions at this level.  I know I didn’t. 

You head back to the hotel to wrestle with what you have seen and heard.  You look at God differently, you look at your teammates differently, and you look at the world differently as you recognize the part you played in sharing the love of Jesus with the children today.  You begin to understand that while you came to share Christ and bless these Guatemalan children they too have showed you a picture of the graciousness of Christ and have greatly blessed you. 

Written by: Ken Ivins 

Posted by Karen Farney in Guatemala, Bundles of Love   |  0 Comment(s)

Mission Trips: Peru Bundles of Love
December 27th, 2011 8:30 AM

Imagine a 32’X40’ room brimming with 130 energetic, eager school-aged children. Sound exciting? Believe me, it was! Each year in December there is never a dull moment on the “Bundles of Love” Christmas trip to Peru.

The 2011 team was composed of a woman and her 2 teenaged granddaughters (from Wisconsin, Illinois, & Tenn.), a man from Baltimore, a woman from Tenn., an AMG co-worker, my wife, and myself. We had the joy of ministering to approximately 450 children in 4 AMG Child Care Centers. We got more hugs and kisses in 8 days than the average person gets in a lifetime! It was an enormous blessing to see the smiles and sparkling eyes of the children as we expressed the love of God through crafts, music, gospel illusions, gift-giving , and Bible teaching.  In each location we had a birthday party for Jesus (what a treat for the kids to get cake!) and sang “Happy Birthday” to Jesus, first in English, then in Spanish.

This year our Bible lesson came from 2 Kings where God causes an iron axe head to float.  We stressed to the children that because God cares so much about each of them, He cares about every, single need they have, regardless of how small it may seem. The remarkable thing was that God repeatedly demonstrated this specific truth to the team members all week. An example was when Denise twisted her ankle and fell on a rocky pathway. We knew that proper care included elevation and compression. We got her foot elevated right away; then we put our heads together to figure out how to apply compression in the absence of an ace bandage. Denise remembered that she had packed a pair of panty hose, even though, as she said, “I never wear panty hose, so I don’t know why I even brought them.” Kim came up with a roll of masking tape, which she had tossed in her backpack at the last minute, thinking “You just never know when you might need masking tape.” With the panty hose and masking tape, we were able to create a very effective makeshift ace bandage! God provided!

In closing, let me introduce Eric. He is a 10 year old we met, who lives in Yungar. His mother contacted the pastor and asked him to please do what he could to find a sponsor for her son. Eric has leukemia and must make a nine hour trip to Lima every 6 months for treatment. (Thank God, his condition is being controlled by these treatments.) While a federal program is covering the medical costs, the travel expenses are a major strain on the family. If someone sponsored Eric for $28 a month, it would provide a nutritious, hot meal for him every day and also pay for him to go to school, which would give considerable help to the family budget. Please prayerfully consider sponsoring Eric. For more information, contact me at peterl@amginternational.org

The 2012 “Bundles” trip to Peru is scheduled for Dec.1.  Do yourself a big favor and sign up to join us! I promise it will be life-changing. 

Posted by Karen Farney in Mission Adventures, Peru, Bundles of Love   |  0 Comment(s)