AMOR Ministries, Inc.

Summary

AMOR Ministries, Inc. ("AMOR") is a nondenominational relief and development agency which specializes in facilitating short-term building projects in Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez, Puerto Peñasco, and Yucatan, Mexico. AMOR has served in Mexico since 1980. The mission is to strengthen the local church in Mexico. AMOR is the response to a need communicated by Mexican pastors from various communities for adequate housing. Because of this need, AMOR's emphasis is on house building. AMOR pursues the need for adequate housing by arranging short-term mission trips. The trips are one-to-five days long, and are available 365 days-a-year. Since 1980, over 83,000 people making up over 2,900 groups have been on AMOR mission trips. These groups have built over 4,000 homes, helped plant, build and expand over 100 churches, medical facilities, and schools.

This organization is a nonprofit, contributions to it are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. It is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).

Contact Information: [ Back to top ]

Organization Details [ Back to top ]

Purpose [ Back to top ]

AMOR Ministries, Inc. ("AMOR") is a nondenominational organization that works with Mexican churches to improve their present conditions through spiritual and physical assistance. AMOR specializes in facilitating short-term building projects in Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez, Puerto Peñasco, and Yucatan, Mexico. AMOR has served in Mexico since 1980. The mission is to strengthen the local church in Mexico. AMOR is the response to a need communicated by Mexican pastors from various communities for adequate housing. Because of this need, AMOR's emphasis is on house building.

AMOR pursues the need for adequate housing by arranging short-term mission trips. The trips are one-to-five days long, and are available 365 days-a-year. Since 1980, over 83,000 people making up over 2,900 groups have been on AMOR mission trips. These groups have built over 4,000 homes, helped plant, build and expand over 100 churches, medical facilities, and schools.

The AMOR mission trip is a short-term mission trip based on serving the local church in Mexico, while creating cross-cultural understanding through direct exposure to the Mexican culture. AMOR doesn?t just want a group to build a house in a developing nation. It wants a group to understand the conditions of poverty through immersion. A group will bring their camping gear, hand tools, and prepare their own meals. The ministry will provide a secured camp ground, trained staff, and unlimited administrative assistance to make a group?s trip a total success. Over 10,000 people, making up over 300 groups a year now come to Mexico with AMOR, and the predominant reason is that a friend told them about their Mexico mission trip experience. It is not an easy experience, but it is life-changing and life challenging.

This organization is a nonprofit, contributions to it are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. It is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).

Mission Statement [ Back to top ]

AMOR expresses its mission as follows:

The AMOR mission trip philosophy was established in light of the uniqueness of AMOR Ministries and has been refined over time. The philosophy is threefold:
(1) To serve the local church in Mexico by providing homes, facilities and outreach ministry according to the standards and needs of the various communities in which we work.
(2) To serve the local church outside of Mexico by providing ministry opportunities to work groups according to the standards and needs of the various communities in which we work.
(3) To work and minister according to the goals, objectives and ministry strategies established by the Mexican Ministry Planning Board and in the best interests of our mission trip participants and donors.

Program Accomplishments [ Back to top ]

Since 1980, over 83,000 people making up over 2,900 groups have come on AMOR mission trips. These groups have built over 4,000 homes, helped plant, build and expand over 100 churches, medical facilities, and schools. In 1999, over 14,000 mission trip participants, mostly teenagers, built over 700 houses for poor families in Mexico.

Statement of Faith [ Back to top ]

AMOR express their beliefs in the following way:

We Believe...
- that God, as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are one.
- that God guides, inspires, and strengthens us through His Holy Spirit and Word.
- that as Christians, we live by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that we consider this the Good News of the world.
- in His commandments to love God above all, and our neighbors as ourselves.
- that God impels us to make a difference in our world.
- that we should always act out of love, considering all men and women as our brothers and sisters.

History [ Back to top ]

In 1980, AMOR Ministries was incorporated as A.M.O.R. (Aiding Mexican Orphans and Refugees). A board of directors was assembled the same year as a means of accountability for the ministry. The first AMOR office was located in a small trailer on the University of California campus and moved in the fall to a donated office space in Gardena. The work projects from 1980 through 1984 consisted of building and refurbishing local orphanages in Tijuana and developing inner city programming in the United States. The name of the organization was officially changed to AMOR Ministries and the offices moved to Pacific Christian College in Fullerton, California in 1982. It is also this same year that AMOR recognizes the importance of recruiting volunteers and interns to help Mission trip participants complete their projects. By the end of 1984 more than 1,200 people from 50 mission trip groups were attending AMOR mission trips yearly.

The first AMOR home was built in 1985 at the request of local pastors in Tijuana. That was also the first year that AMOR had a new vision for the future. AMOR determined to work to improve the conditions of the local church in Mexico through spiritual and physical support. In the U.S., AMOR began a joint effort with Pacific Christian College, called Project Lovetide. The Christmas outreach that year far surpassed the goal of 200 baskets by distributing more than 1,000 baskets of gifts and food.

A Foreign Ministry Planning Board of ten Mexican pastors was formed to assist AMOR field staff in 1988. The board selects the sites for building AMOR homes within their respective communities and presents their nominations at a twice-monthly board meeting. Those families selected will then be visited by the Planning Board to verify need, and upon approval, receive an AMOR home built by mission trip participants. More than 100 homes are built by close to 3,700 participants.

The offices of AMOR Ministries moved again in 1989 to Lemon Grove, California. The satellite office in Fullerton remains open for volunteer recruitment and Project Lovetide, which has now expanded to San Diego County. The AMOR home is redesigned and now more than 200 homes and six churches are built using cement floors and a stucco finish. More than 3,000 participants from 141 churches contribute to AMOR, receiving the Disneyland Community Service Award for the second year in a row.

The AMOR offices move one last time in 1991 to San Ysidro, California, just two miles from the border of Mexico. A second field office opens in 1992 in El Paso, Texas accommodating trips to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The AMOR board of directors recommends that AMOR should discontinue all inner-city programming and focus on house-building in Mexico. They believe the focus of AMOR needs to be on a single mission. AMOR branches farther into Mexico in 1993 by taking groups to Puerto Peñasco, located six hours south of Phoenix, Arizona. The trips are marketed to churches in Arizona and offered only in February and November, because of staffing and logistics. The Foreign Ministry Planning Board?s name is changed to the Mexico Ministry Planning Board and a food bank is started to support the poorest members of the board?s congregations.

Ministry Needs [ Back to top ]

You can be involved with the ministry of AMOR in two ways: through programs that support a group's mission trip or financial support of the ministry.

Research Analysis

Transparency Grade [ Back to top ]

MinistryWatch.com 5 Star Financial Efficiency Ratings [ Back to top ]

Ranking Category	Rating	Overall Rank	Relief and Development Sector
Overall Efficiency Rating		218 of 352	44 of 54
Fund Acquisition Decision		322 of 352	51 of 54
Resource Allocation Decision		83 of 352	30 of 54
Asset Utilization Decision		202 of 352	42 of 54