Category: Newsletters

Library Wish List

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Library Now Open at Amigo Fiel

Speaking with children at the after school program, most of them like to read. Something that is normal for most of us.In America, normally there is abundant access to books. But for the kids in Juarez, this is not normal. Almost 80% of the children who attend the after school program do not have books at home. The handful that did have books at home only have three or four books, and rarely have the opportunity to expand their library.

We heard over and over again how they liked to read but did not have any books. A few children had their favorites, like The Ugly Ducking (Kevin, 8) or Robin Hood (Alex, 10).

However, most children have not discovered their favorite book yet. According to a study by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 2018, Mexicans read an average of 2.94 books per year. This puts Mexico second to last on a list of the 107 countries polled.

We are building a library at Amigo Fiel so our children can explore other worlds, expand their vocabulary, and reach further in life.We would love your help to stock the shelves.

Head over to ourAmazon Wish Listto see which books we need. Who knows, you might even find your favorite childhood book on the list that you could now share with the children of Amigo Fiel!

Buy a book today

Categories: Newsletters

Fall 2018 Newsletter

Friday, August 31, 2018

Fall 2018

(please click here to view the entire Fall 2018 Newsletter.)

We welcomed a medical team from Calvary Albuquerque in July for a weekend of wellness. Dr. Jen and her amazing team spent an entire weekend doing checkups on people of all ages and provided much needed medical attention. These free clinics are such a blessing to a community who normally go without basic checkups. The people who attended also received the medication they needed.

In addition to providing medical attention to our local neighborhood, we were also able to donate supplies to three local hospitals in Juarez. Many of the hospitals run by the government are in dire need of supplies. These hospitals operate within a very limited budget. They are overcrowded with many patients not even given a room, but instead line the hallways. The medical supplies that we receive come from the generosity of people like you, in The United States.

We are always humbled when we look at the intention we started Amigo Fiel with and how it has grown and evolved over the years to have a greater reach in our community. God has been incredibly faithful in allowing our cup to“runeth over”.

We use everything that He has given us to bless others. This concept of blessing others with what we have been given has been something that we strive to do day after day, year after year. Even when Amigo Fiel started 25 years ago, that in itself was God working through Carlos to bless others with what he had been given in America. He had found eternal life through Jesus, he had been blessed with his own business, and in turn he started to use those resources to reach the city he grew up in. We are all able to bless others with what we have been given, and it doesn’t always mean financial blessings. You can bless people with kindness or by lending a hand. Or even just by being others oriented. Life is about giving dear friends.

Enjoying play time at vacation bible school with a little foosball.

We had three evangelistic outdoor concerts this year.

Carlos praying for Jesus Manuel, who got baptized in August.

The youth group snuck away to the pool one hot day in July.

Please keep Amigo Fiel in your constant prayers. The drug related violence has started again in our neighborhood, with many of the young men who grew up at AF being targeted. We lost seven young men in a three week period. As we were reeling from the news of these deaths all we could think was “why?” Why were these young men targeted? Why didn’t they stay off that path? Many times the choices for advancing or making money can be so limited in these neighborhoods. Where our role models are pastors, police officers, and firemen, theirs are the drug lords in their neighborhood. They live a flashy life and seem to have power and money, two things that there never seems to be enough of. The young men who were killed and the remaining on the hit list are just pawns in a giant territory war that is beginning to erupt again. Some are kidnapped and tortured because of association with someone that is involved. There is always room for grace and our prayer is that somehow the remaining young men on this hit list will find safety and genuinely turn their life around. Pray for these cartels. They are taught to be ruthless. Pray for their salvation. We know how God can take a “ruined” life and turn it around.

Another highlight of our summer was the incredibly generous donation of baseball gear that went to help local teams. This donation was a huge blessing to these teams who otherwise cannot afford new or current equipment. These local teams serve as a way to keep kids and young adults off the streets and away from cartel involvement. Thank you!

E-mail us at info@amigofiel.org if you feel there is something you’d like to contribute to Amigo Fiel, whether that’s through time, money, donations of goods/services, or prayer. We’d love to hear from you!

As always, thank you for keeping our team in your prayers. AND thank you to everyone who donated school supplies! The kids were so thrilled and ready for their new school year. The generosity we receive constantly amazes us. God always provides exceedingly and abundantly!

We loved seeing so many of you on your summer mission trips. We hope every single one of you have an amazing rest of the year and that holidays don’t sneak up on you too quickly!

Much love,

Carlos and your Amigo Fiel Team

DONATE

Forward

Categories: Newsletters

Summer 2018 Newsletter

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Summer 2018

(please click the “display images below” link to activate any pictures or videos contained in this letter.)

Something that never gets old at Amigo Fiel is seeing the kids we work with grow and become adults. The environment that most of these kids grow up in is tough and while we do everything we can to keep them on the right track, sometimes life hits hard and takes them in another direction. However, we have noticed that when hard times hit, the kids we’ve worked with show up at our door. In our opinion, this is the best thing ever! Why? Because when we’re at our lowest, when life is just kicking us down, we are more receptive to God’s solution. This has been the case with Jessica.

Jessica, her mom Paty, and her sisters were with Amigo Fiel at the very beginning. Unfortunately, home was not the happiest, safest place. Jessica’s mom has a lot of pain and hardness from the life she’s had and would unfortunately take this out on her kids. We remember several times when her precious twins, Ruby and Esmeralda, would come through the doors of Amigo Fiel with massive bruises on their face. At only 16 years old, Jessica started doing drugs to escape the emotionally, mentally, and physically abusive environment. Through her drug use she met her boyfriend and moved in with him the same day they met. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t exactly what relationship dreams are made of. He was her ticket out and he gave her the love and validation the she had been lacking her whole life.

Fast forward 5 years and 4 kids later and prince charming decided that this wasn’t working. At the time Jessica, him, and their three kids were living with his parents. He threw her and his kids out with no money, no food, and nowhere to go. With mouths to feed, no job, and nowhere else to go, Jessica reluctantly returned to her mom’s house. Now that she was back home, she was also closer to Amigo Fiel. We were thrilled to see her walk through the doors one Sunday morning, with her precious kids. Brian (5), her oldest, stayed close to his mom almost as if to protect her and hide behind her.

After a few weeks of coming to church and getting some one on one counseling, Jessica is working her way out of the muck. , She was at her lowest point, but the beautiful thing is that God isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. He will get in there with us and lift us up! As his followers, that is what we are meant to do as well, lift others up in time of need. He is the Spirit, we are His hands (“somos las manos”).

Her oldest son Brian is attending our daily after school program. Our Director Luvia said at first he was skeptical, defensive, angry, was always taking things that didn’t belong to him, and had quite the sailor’s mouth. After just a few weeks, his behavior has improved immensely. Hold on to your hats people, he has become one of the best behaved in our afterschool program. He is learning to trust, how to respect others and their things. Brian’s teacher is Eli, who is giving him a beautiful example of what a REAL man is: kind, honest, slow to anger, generous, joyful, and full of God’s light and presence.

Jessica and her family are still in the building phase. She found a job that pays $70 per week and stopped using drugs about 3 years ago. She needs to build a strong foundation of Christ-centeredness for her and her kids. We are so thankful that she’s back and that when things went south, we were the one’s she came to. Amigo Fiel is helping Jessica with clothing, rent money, food, and schooling for her kids. You can help her too. If you want to make a special donation to help Jessica get back on her feet, just put the name “Jessica” in the comm

ents box when you make your tax-deductible donation to Amigo Fiel.

Please keep Jessica and her whole family in prayer. They need hope. They need freedom. They need help. Most of all, they need Him in every area, everyday, for the rest of their lives.

Our women's group celebrating the completion of "Lies Women Believe"

Pastor Joel enjoying some time with children from the orphanage our youth group visited.

Had a full house for the Easter celebration "He Lives!"

Celebrating Dia de los Niños (Kids Day) with Kids UFC

It is with great Joy that we share with you that earlier this year Jennifer graduated from her nursing program. It is now Jennifer, RN. Jennifer has been with us for a number of years faithfully attending youth group and being a great joy to all of our lives. Elizabeth, Jen’s mom had an accident and has not been able to work for a number of years. Amigo Fiel stepped in to help them with home repairs, food and most importantly a full scholarship for her nursing education. Now Jennifer will be able to earn 3-4 times more than the minimum wage in order to support herself and her mom. We rejoice at God’s faithfulness and provision! To Him alone be the Glory for the good things He as done!

Thank you for all you do to support Amigo Fiel. If it wasn’t for your prayers, support, and time, we would have never met Jessica, her family, or Jennifer and Elizabeth. Nor been here to help them all these years later. YOUR support is our lifeblood and we are humbled to serve with you.

We have something very exciting to share with all of you! To keep celebrating Amigo Fiel’s 25^th anniversary we have designed a special t-shirt. You can purchase these on our website for a suggested donation of $25 dollars. Simply go to AmigoFiel.or g./GetYourGear to get yours!

All our love,

DONATE

Forward

Categories: Newsletters

Spring 2018 Newsletter

Thursday, February 1, 2018

2018

(please click the “display images below” link to activate any pictures or videos contained in this letter.)

We know 2018 is here but we feel like 2017 went by in a blink! Some of you may already know this year marks the 25th anniversary since we started taking weekend trips to Juarez. 25 years feels like a gift. We are incredibly grateful and humbled to be able to do the work we do, and to have made so many beautiful connections over the years. There have been many lessons in this time, but a couple have been prominent: love and serve. True, our love is rarely ever going to be perfect, and we often feel too tired to serve, but as we press on toward the goal, beautiful things happen in our lives and in the lives of others.

One of our biggest accomplishments from 2017 is the National Recognition for Excellence we received for the after school program from the Mexican Government. Despite this recognition, we continue to seek ways to improve because Jesus makes everything He touches better. One project we would like to start doing on a regular basis is recycle-centric crafts with the kids. There is so much plastic waste here in Juarez, and we want to teach our kids more about recycling and being mindful about waste. For Christmas the kids used old newspaper to make ornaments that adorned the Amigo Fiel tree. Many of the children showed dedication and a special creative flair when doing this project that we had not seen before. Our next project will involve plastic water bottles… stay tuned to see the final product. Should you have any craft ideas for using recycled materials we would love to hear about them, please send them our way to info@amigofiel.org.

A special highlight from December and January were the multiple visits to nursing homes throughout the city. Each group that comes from the United States brings gifts to give to the residents to help keep them warm and comfortable during the winter season. One reason we are passionate about working with children and the elderly is because they are often a forgotten part of society. Some of these nursing homes reflect just that. The funding is often nonexistent, therefore the living conditions are cold and uncomfortable, with food being scarce at times. People like you come on a mission trip bringing joy and the hope of Jesus Christ to these people. Taking time to share a smile and a gift bag filled with things like shampoo, blankets, warm sweaters, socks, and slippers. Simple things that bring a world of physical and spiritual comfort to the residents of these nursing homes. Love and serve.

Thank you for helping us make 2017 a year of growth and blessings. There are many changes in store for 2018 and we hope you will keep Amigo Fiel and our wonderful team in your prayers. Please do not forget to connect with us on Facebook to stay up to date on all the happenings south of the border!

Festiniño 2017/2018 was wonderful!
The play this year had superheroes, here we see Batman sharing the gospel.

Left: Amigo Fiel's youth group praying before an outreach.
Right: Amigo Fiel church members enjoying buñuelos (similar to a donut) at year end service.

P.S. You can now easily partner with Amigo Fiel financially by using CaringCent, a rounded giving solution, click here to learn more. How CaringCent works:

Forward

Categories: Newsletters