Senior High Mission Trip - Mexico - July, 2008
Twenty four youth and 10 adults invested time and talents in a small village on the Yucatan peninsula in July. Our mantra was, “Building more than a church… building up the Body of Christ!” Yes, we built a church, but we also (and perhaps more importantly), we built up the Church which is the Body of Christ, not with concrete, but through relationships with each other and with the people of Chican. Our youth and adults alike returned with a new and renewed perspective on our responsibilities to our world.
The group traveled to the village of Chicam, a very small village of less than 500 people. They are primarily seasonal farmers. You might find it on a map if you look for the nearby city, TEKAX in the southern part of Yucatan. Our youth worked in the church building roofs for the class rooms and they taught VBS. Our church has worked with Accion to set up this trip.
Accion is directed by its founder Rev. Oscar Dorantes who has been serving Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula for over 20 years. Accion Ministries was officially founded in 1989 as a Christian relief effort in the wake of Hurricane Gilbert. The organization embodies Rev. Dorantes’ vision of bringing Americans to partner with Mexican Presbyterian Churches to further their programs and needs of the people. The vision continues to expand to help provide educational opportunities to the children – especially those from the rural Mayan communities served by Accion.
The primary objective of Accion is to share the love of Jesus Christ by serving those in need. Tis service can take many forms, including:
- Construction projects for new churches (e.g. patios, roofs)
- Construction work at Villa Infantil Maya (VIM)
- Construction of one-room homes for the poor
- Doctors and nurses who work to provide medical services for the poor
For more than 25 years, Accion has hosted over 225 work team projects. The first Accion work team was Chapel Woods Presbyterian Church of Decatur, Ga. in July of 1981.
