All Souls Team at Dedication of Students Residence

The dedication ceremony of the Students residence was poignant. The beautiful Oaxacan mountains surrounded a large plane, the sun beat down and for the 200+ who gathered - neighbours, local dignitaries and children from the Summer Course and their parents - a feast was served. Saul and Pilar Cruz shared their vision for the Students residence, and the Community Centre to be built there.

The residence for young indigenous students had taken 2 years to complete, and we felt privileged to contribute in just the last two weeks. Our team of 23, in itself cross cultural with 9 nationalities represented, found ourselves forming strong relationships with the students through our common tasks together – running a Summer Course for about 50 children each afternoon – and painting the Students residence. Despite little language in common, we had become a wider family as we walked alongside Armonía and tried to understand the meaning of true community in Christ with others around the world.

We pray that the residence will continue to be a welcoming home for generations of students as they develop intellectually, socially and spiritually – building possibilities for their future and avoiding the need for illegal migration. We also pray for funds for a second residence.

Back in Mexico City, we were challenged by widespread urban poverty, and in the same way by our own preconceptions of poverty. We participated in another Summer Course, visited Armonia’s three Urban Transformation Centres and also spent time with the Hornos community, who were displaced because their fragile shacks had been built on the side of a steep, sandy cliff and had began to collapse. In re-housing the community, the government provided one small room for each of the families, with up to 8 people. Some in this community had much praise for God, though little material comforts. For us it is often the reverse.

We are deeply grateful for all the support given to us in order to make this trip possible. Each team member returns with their own story enriched in some way – friends made, thoughts about poverty alleviation challenged, holistic gospel emphasised, dependence on God reinforced, serving others tangibly modelled and a new sense of becoming a community and family in Christ. Our adventure isn’t over. The challenge now becomes applying what we’ve learnt in our own contexts.

We've finished the Residence!

The new AIMS Students’ Residence ‘Casa Margarita’ is now open in Oaxaca!
The new students’ residence was officially opened and dedicated in a celebration in October 2009. The ceremony was attended by Saul and Pilar Cruz, the International Board of Armonia, students, volunteers, local residents and other staff from Mexico City. The Wetfoot team of volunteers from All Souls Langham Place were also present, having helped put the finishing touches to the building (see previous story). Celebrations included a Feast, a Sermon, a blessing for the local community and local traditional dances performed by the students in their traditional dress. Saul says a huge THANK YOU to God and for the support from Armonia International and its world wide community.
The Residence provides a safe environment for the students aged between 14-18 in which to live and study. With the “Older Siblings” overseeing it during their pre-university year of service, it is a place where ‘Community’ and loving others are given a strong focus; a place where the Gospel is lived and preached, and the students are equipped with books and uniforms. They are given ongoing daily support in various forms: basic living skills including hygiene and communal living, Spanish lessons and bible studies to name but a few.
Selection is two fold: Students selected have to be among the best in the Mexican state School system (that is achieve 9’s and 10’s in their final exams) and they need to be committed to the ongoing activities of the AIMS community.
At present, the students love the new residence so much that Saul and Pilar have arranged for two groups of students to alternate between the residence in Oaxaca city centre and Casa Margarita (about a half hour outside town) so there is no favouritism. The new residence is proving to be very popular indeed.

Armonia Directors UK Visit

March 1st-23rd Saul and Pilar Cruz will be visiting churches and groups -
if you can host them please Email us!

Here is where we think they will be at various dates :



Tuesday 2nd March
7pm Manchester Cathedral
Exchange Station Approach
Victoria Street, Manchester, M3 1SU

Sunday 7th March
Carley Evangelical Baptist Church
Wharf Street North
St. Matthews
Leicester
LE1 2AB
10.45am & 6pm

Saturday March 13th
2pm-6.30pm
MEXICO PARTY

The Upper Room
St James the Less
Thorndike Street
off Moreton Street
London
SW1V 2PS

volunteers or visitors who have been in Mexico over the years – here’s a chance to meet each other and celebrate the ministry of Armonia, discover what are the current challenges and opportunities.

Sunday March 14th
(NOT YET CONFIRMED - open to offers! )



Sunday March 21st
Manchester - (Details not yet confirmed)

London 14 year old does Mexico Trip

I think that one of the amazing things about a trip like this is the way that, however much you give, you receive so much more in return. I went to Mexico thinking that we would be teaching the Mexicans and that they would be learning from us, but in reality it was completely the reverse. During those three weeks, I learnt so much from everyone there about humility and what it is to have a servant heart and I really feel like God was changing me through those individuals.

Mexico is a beautiful country full of beautiful people. Everywhere you go you see colour and vibrancy and, between the people, there is a sense of community which you often don’t find in central London. This really challenged my perception of poverty because, despite being poor and coming from very broken backgrounds, many of these Mexican Christians have a joy and contentment that all our money hasn’t been able to bring us. So, in some ways, they are richer than we are.

I feel very fortunate to have gone on this trip, particularly as a teenager, and I know that I learnt so much while I was there, things that I can hopefully bring back and apply to my life. Being a similar age to many of the students was lovely because I got to know them really well, but at the same time, I often felt like I could never understand where they were coming from, as their situation is so alien to me. In their villages, these girls would be expected to marry and have kids at an age as young as 14.

But it was incredible the way in which God worked through our team. Firstly, to think that He chose each member of our group for a reason and a purpose is hard to comprehend, but very beautiful. It is such a privilege to have been used by God in even just a tiny part of His huge plan and I am very grateful to have had this opportunity.

Victoria Gallagher, 14 years old, went to Armonia Mexico with the ‘WETFOOT’ team from All Souls Langham Place, London in August 2009

Sergio - sheer Grace and virtuosity

Sergio has a story which deserves to be heard all over. The sounds of an old busted clarinet, a boy with a lot of hutzpah, and an intervention from Christians in the USA with the arrival of a heavy package just in the nick of time... read all about it in our last newsletter. To be sent your own copy in future (January, April, July, October) please Email us! giving us your name and address.

To view our newsletter on-line click here

SPRING UPDATE

Please click here to see the latest SPRING 2009 update from Armonia Mexico

SWINE FLU - RISK LEVEL NOW ZERO

Armonía friends-

We are very glad to inform you that the flu epidemic level has gone back to zero here in Mexico. A week ago, both the World Health Organization and Mexican National Health secretary officially declared that Mexico is no longer under any level of alert. Therefore, we are glad to see that tourists, and even the cruise ships, can come back to all the wonderful Mexican destinations. Mexico is struggling to recover from the financial effects of this problem, to which Armonía responded by providing food, once a week for a month, for 120 of the poorest families in Armonía’s Transformation Centers.

With the flu scare behind us, Armonía is open, ready, and willing to welcome all group and visitors for the summer. We look forward to the ways that we will partner together with you in the coming months!

Blessings-

Saul and Pilar Cruz