Join us next year:  May 26-June 1, 2013.   

Go here for information about the 2013 trip.

Looking back one month later by David Armas

Afterthoughts

When the opportunity arises to live in God’s glory, will you take it?

In this day and age, people are less caring about what is going on with the human race than what the latest tweet was about. The fact is that there are people in need of help in the world and we know this, but how often do we act upon it? What do we do to solve the problem of not caring and move forward as a whole people rather than individually?

Upon returning from Tijuana, Mexico, the Newman catholic Community at LIU Post returns with both joyful yet heavy hearts and with the satisfaction that we have helped change a small part of the world.

It's a start. We were blessed to be part of something beautiful, a chance to live in God's glory. From each bruise and scrape we got, from each exhausting day we completed, we learned that one doesn't need much to be happy, truly happy. That a sense of community is found with people that care most about each other and less about what new gadget Apple has released. I recognized that  all material things are reduced to little when you find people that have little but have the very thing that matters, love.  

What type of love is this?

The love for each other that keeps them and kept us going. The moral support that things will work out and that everyone has dignity. With each wall we built as a team, and with each brick we made, we understood that there are more important things in this world than money or power. Community and love cannot be bought, it is built (like the walls themselves) and will never be forgotten.

The people of Tijuana welcomed us and left part of their hearts with us. When we left  they extended a heartfelt invitation to return and visit the home that ultimately will change their lives forever.

Upon being faced with the  task of writing some afterthoughts for the our service trip, I began to worry, how can I sum up the extraordinary things and moments we lived in words? From the building of homes, to visiting lovely little girls in need of parents, and meeting men that gave up everything  for a dream of a better life only to be faced by a wall, we understood how important it is and how fortunate we are to be able to enter and exit the US with such ease and arrive safely back to our families. Many risk and lose their lives to do this, we present a blue booklet with gold  letters called a passport. ..  Where is the fairness here? What makes us so different?

We were all blessed with the opportunity to help make a difference. We were able to understand that there should be no walls between friends but rather invest on building bridges in order to fully understand the we are the reason God came here, that it's our choice to be part of his glory by serving like Christ did.