Growth and Life by Julia Kasten

Essential Ingredients to Inspire Growth

The life-changing and substantial ingredients that inspire growth aren't the most significant events or the most dramatic changes. They're often simple acts and choices that we make each day. I know this isn't an uncommon idea, but when you experience growth that turns into consistency and habit, it becomes a foundation for beautiful things to develop.

I have been working at the Casa Cuna infant orphanage since we received our first child. I have witnessed how quickly kids ages 0-2 develop. Everything sticks with them. From learning the daily routine and knowing that washing our hands means it's time to eat, to talking to them in well-spoken language, we must be mindful that they indeed soak it all up and mimic us. We see them begin to imitate our practices in church. They now know how to kiss icons and recognize a cross.

The other day, we got them all in high chairs and at the table ready for a meal. Queadan (my coworker) and I made the sign of the cross, in preparation to eat. Three of the kids were very watchful. They clumsily copied our motion while only looking at us. It made me think about the foundation and way in which I was raised. Always going to church on Sundays, praying before meals, asking forgiveness, and living in the community. It is a way of life that pushes me to grow and seek my faith.

The position I have found myself in now creates opportunities for me to foster the same foundation for children. But much of the work is in the everyday. Taking the babies for walks and telling them that God created everything they see and or allowing them to kiss the same icon 15 times in a row. Even if they aren't aware of our action, they feel it. It is part of that foundation.

This has made me see where my own spiritual foundation can be improved and learn how to grow. I’ve noticed the change isn't to read a Bible chapter every day but to say "Lord have mercy," during those quiet moments. My work with the infants reminds me that whatever effort I put into growing my relationship with Christ, it will in turn cultivate a foundation in Christ for the children.

Faces of Hope: Homebuilding in Mexico by Anna Cunningham

Minerva and Jose met in Chihuahua, Mexico while working on neighboring ranches. The young couple moved to Tijuana to be closer to family and lived with Jose’s mother. The young family grew with the arrival of a son. They lived in a small 10’x20’ home with eight other family members.

Shortly after giving birth to their second son, Minerva was informed by a doctor that she had cancer. A caring neighbor recommended Minerva’s family of four to our Homebuilding program. The neighborhood kids went running to fetch her for our initial interview. Most families Project Mexico builds for are interviewed several months in advance. But in this case, Minerva’s new home was scheduled to be built in just two weeks by a group of volunteers from a parish in Louisville KY.

Minerva visited the site every day with her newborn Edgar, and her 7-year-old, Jose Jr. They were amazed at how quickly the house was completed. Upon receiving the keys to their new home, they were filled with hope and excitement. Months later I returned and asked about Minerva’s health. She laughed and pointed at her infant son, Edgar and said, “There’s my cancer walking around on two feet.” The doctors had misdiagnosed her.

When I returned a few years later to conduct this follow-up interview Minerva smiled and moved her sweater to show me that a third baby is on the way. Edgar believes that the new arrival will be a little sister but Jose Jr isn’t convinced.

Those four days Project Mexico volunteers built a new home were life-changing for her family. She still remembers volunteers by name, and Jose Jr still has the coloring books and toy cars that were given to him that week. Jose Sr now works in a factory, and Minerva makes pinatas while watching the kids. They have been able to save little by little and make improvements all over the house. She smiled and said, “We can’t do things as fast as you all did, but we are getting there, bit by bit. It was a great blessing that came to us.”

In Christ,

Anna Cunningham, Homebuilding Coordinator

Are you interested in volunteering to build homes for unhoused families? Every year our Homebuilding program welcomes hundreds of volunteers from around the world to build a home for a family in six days. To learn about our homebuilding program, tap the button below.

Homebuilding 2021 and the Future of Service

Christ is Risen! 

I hope you all had a glorious Holy Week and Pascha!

Thanks to our faithful friends and fabulous fundraisers, our first-annual Push-ups for Hope Campaign raised over $18,000 for St Innocent School! If you missed the Livestream, you can watch it here on YouTube (scroll forward to the 8:00 min mark). It was hosted by Luke Andruchow and Faeli Heise and we smashed through our goal of 1000 push-ups in an hour!

We realize the Project Mexico experience is unique. Nacho nights at the Tiendita. Spending time in communion with our fellow Orthodox Christians, praying and working together and getting to know the boys in our care. There are elements of the experience that will forever remain unique to our 16-acre ranch in Rosarito, Mexico.

Like many, COVID-19 has altered the way we operate our ministry. The US/Mexico border remains closed to non-essential personnel. Because of the risk posed to the children in our care at the Orphanage, our staff, and the local community in Rosarito, we cannot safely host large groups of homebuilders on site at this time.

While we pray for the potential of limited late summer trips to the ranch and to build for a select number of families in Rosarito, we must continue our critical work this summer. Through service and works of mercy by our dedicated interns and volunteers, we honor our commitment to our boys at St Innocent Orphanage, the food and resource-deprived and the unhoused. We must continue to fulfill our mission even in the midst of these challenges.

This year is an opportunity for our ministry to aid those affected by the crisis of the past year. It also presents an opportunity to our volunteers to make a positive difference and most importantly, for you to live out your faith by putting the gospel into action and redeem these unusual times.

For the last year, we've strived to create the best possible experience inspired by our 33 years of homebuilding. We are blessed to offer our unique spiritual programming you've come to expect in Mexico at a number of locations across the United States, including in Boston, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado, Texas, Florida, California and in Puerto Rico.  

Additionally, by serving this summer at one of our new sites, you are directly supporting the Orphanage.  Our homebuilding trips provide 40% of our annual budget for the operation of the St Innocent Orphanage and School.

We have 30 interns who have been training all Winter and Spring to serve throughout these locations from June - August. They will support your volunteer trips with our unique service-learning program. We have selected service opportunities in community outreach, humanitarian housing, and disaster recovery that you and your group can participate in close and far from home. Our programming is adapted for each location to guide each volunteer in how to Serve Christ in the Other no matter where we serve. 

In Christ,

Fr. Demetrios (JP) Andrews
Executive Director
Project Mexico and St Innocent Service Works

Everyday Saints: A Reflection by Faeli Heise

COVID and other life events made me realize how comfortable I had become with my life. Small things—perhaps even insignificant things—were pressing, panic-worthy, and rocked my world in a way they definitely didn’t need to. My endurance and my ability to have faith were barely being tested in the grand scheme of things. And yet, I felt like I was coming apart at the seams and like I had nothing to hold myself together with. I didn’t know how to even cry out for help...or rather, to Whom I should cry out for help. 

I’ve had a perspective shift since then, and I can look back and see just a few of the ways that I was being prepared for where I currently am. God was making room in my heart that I didn’t know I had.

My endurance—my resilience—is perhaps greater than it was because of that process and the work that was being done in me. Thank God! I know Who to ask for help, now. And while I have so far yet to come, I am convinced that St. Innocent Orphanage is the best place to learn by example. 

Have you ever met someone and then learned something shocking about them after getting to know them? A part of their history, something they’ve been through, something out of the ordinary? It probably changes your perspective of them. Perhaps you think of it every time you see them, or instead it just molds itself into their makeup and who they are to you. 

But have you ever heard something shocking about someone and then met them later on? Maybe without having known you would ever meet them at all?

These are two different scenarios. 

In my experience with the latter, the “shock factor” quickly wears off after you hear it. But then you meet the person it pertains to and you get to know them, and though it may take some time, it all comes back. And it comes back hard. 

This has been my experience with every one of these boys. 

It’s so easy to hear and say words like “abuse” and “institution” and “homeless.” It can even be easy to hear second hand stories about these things. It’s easy to watch the news, isn’t it? But if you ever live alongside those flesh and blood statistics and stories and they become like your family, things get very real very fast.

My experience has not been easy. I did a lot of questioning at first. I questioned my ability to be resilient in the face of these kids who have faced actual evil. As I have come to know them better, the mostly-faceless-mostly-nameless boy has become my neighbor, my playmate, my little brother, and my friend. The stories have sunk in deeper, stuck and sometimes I still question my own abilities. 

But I continue to get to know them, and I continue to hear stories every now and then. Mostly I continue to pray that I will--one day-- be able to emulate their ability to accept the grace of God and to be resilient in the face of evil. Without knowing the stories or the facts, you wouldn’t guess what they’ve seen and endured. And if you guessed, you simply wouldn’t know. It’s truly humbling: I feel like I’ve come so far in my own journey, but I know now that everything is relative because their ability to endure puts me to shame. These eighteen boys will never know how much they influence and teach me.

As I write this in all my brutal honesty, I realize that I am surrounded every single day by everyday saints. We share meals, inside jokes, a laptop for school.We share the Eucharist, a home, and a family. I dwell among saints. Yes...they’re everyday saints who wipe their hands on their shirts, say “no manches” and fall asleep during catechism. They’re everyday saints that I give a “mom look” to every now and then. But they’re also saints who have overcome more than I will see in a lifetime. They teach me while I muddle along teaching them. 

A wise woman who knows them well once said to me: “These boys are going straight to Heaven before I ever am. I will be asking for their prayers. After they’ve been through what they’ve been through...you just can’t blame them. For anything.”  And I don’t; because you can’t. There is nothing to blame. There is only room for learning resilience and accepting the grace of God who never abandons his children. 

Faeli Heise is a veteran homebuilding volunteer and current Project Mexico & St Innocent Orphanage Intern serving at St Innocent.

Summer 2021 Homebuilding Dates

Summer 2021 Homebuilding Dates for Project Mexico

Below are the dates for 2021. These are subject to change. General registration will open on June 1, 2020. Priority will go to rescheduled groups from 2020 due to travel or pandemic restrictions. Groups may reapply fundraising towards summer 2021 deposits and trip payments (Contact Fr. Demetrios directly).

Intern Arrival May 22
Week May 26-29 INTERN WEEK
Week 1 June 1-7 Tue- Mon
Week 2 June 10-16 Thu-Wed
Week 3 June 22-28 Tue-Mon
Week 4 July 1-7 Thu-Wed
Week 5 July 13-19 Tue-Mon
Week 6 July 22-28 Thu-Wed
Week 7 August 3-9 Tue-Mon
Week 8 August 12-18 Thu-Wed
Intern Departure August 23
Week 9 (tentative) August 20-26 Fri-Thu

Summer Home Building Options

Homebuilding is essential to the operation of our ministry. 

Did you know?

• Homebuilding provides over 30% of our operating budget for our organization

• Homebuilding supports our Orphanage's ability to house, raise and educate our boys

• Homebuilding provides a safe and secure living for 20-25 families every summer for the past 32 years

• Each home gives a family the means to live safely and thrive, educate their children and better their lives

In the event of the following circumstances here are a few options:

Delayed Season: Groups can shift to build weeks later in the summer at a date of your choosing and this includes flexible dates if our weeks on the schedule don’t work for your group

Border Closure: Alternate trips throughout the United States including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are available and we have published these on St. Innocent Service Works (www.sisw.managedmissions.com/OurTrips)

Travel: Deploy to a local site for your group to participate in a regional or local ministry closer to home in partnership with our partner orthodox ministries throughout the country

Physical Distancing: Our interns will establish local contacts in your area to assist with local homeless and homebound food delivery and outreach.  (Yes, your group could work at a soup kitchen preparing boxed lunches or delivering meals to those in need, which can be done in social distancing, with contactless delivery as social services are exempted under most stay at home orders.)

Voucher: Volunteer homebuilding trip later in the summer, fall, winter, spring break, or summer 2021.

Summer 2021: Launches May 1, 2020 with priority to rescheduled groups (reapply your group’s fundraising towards summer 2021 deposits and trip payments)

Charitable Donation: Meet your fundraising goals and dedicate it to the orphanage’s sustained operations

Financial Hardship Refund: Case-by-case, please contact Fr. Demetrios

Finally, you are our most generous supporters! Each volunteer contributes as much as our average donor, despite their young age, because of all of the hard work of our group leaders in organizing and fundraising!  We expect over 500 volunteers this summer.  We humbly ask that even if you don’t plan to join us this summer, that you use your group’s fundraising links to continue supporting St. Innocent Orphanage’s continued operations. 

If you and your group members can hold virtual fundraisers, and continue to send out requests for support for our Orphanage, our 500 volunteers can reach more than 5,000 or more people to help us support our ministry and continue our mission even during these trying times.  

Since we can no longer meet in a parish setting you may use the crowdfunding links in your profiles that are dedicated to your group’s trip! You can ask your priest to mention your home building trip fundraiser after liturgy, or during virtual coffee hour, weekly bible study, or a specially scheduled digital presentation by your group to the parish!

We will stay in close communication with you as the summer schedule develops.

Through the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos and St. Haralambos, we pray that the Lord of the Harvest deliver us from this blight, for truly the harvest is plentiful,

Fr. Demetrios

Executive Director 

COVID-19: A Letter from Executive Director Fr. Demetrios

Operating a Non-Profit During a Crisis

Remain Calm and Minister to Those in Need

Like many organizations, we are concerned and being proactive in our response to COVID-19. Like many non-profits, we are no strangers to crisis, especially operating a home building volunteer program and orphanage in Baja, Mexico. We are responsible for the lives of our boys and staff on the ranch as well as hundreds of volunteers who join us each summer to build homes for families in Mexico. With regard to the current world crisis, we will approach this as Orthodox. Listening to the science and experts, remain calm and minister to those in need and at risk.

First and foremost, the safety of all Project Mexico boys, staff and volunteers is paramount to the successful operation of the orphanage, ranch and our teams on our build sites. At the Orphanage, we are practicing and implementing strict hygiene protocols to limit exposure and contamination. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide additional updates to the trustees as it evolves. 

First and foremost, at this time do not anticipate any change to our summer 2020 Home Building schedule. However, we are preparing contingency plans in the event that travel restrictions and travel bans are still in effect in the summer. As of now, the restrictions seem to point towards a relaxing of restrictions around mid-May, though we know this is correlated to the containment of the virus. 

We are waiving our 90-day cancellation policy. You can, if necessary, cancel your home building work trip up to 24 hours on the day of your trip. In fact, with airlines waiving change fees, and lowering fares, now may be the ideal time to book your flights and retain maximum flexibility. 

Please understand that this is a dynamic and ever-evolving response to the rapidly changing situation around the world and in the US response to COVID-19.

If business returns to normal this will leave us in good shape for the summer home building 2020 season. As we develop contingency plans and opportunities to support our ministry in response to this crisis, we will release those as soon as possible for you to have the options you need to: continue to support our ministry and to address the safety and travel concerns of your group members and parishes.

As the stock market has reacted to the pandemic,  your financial support of the Orphanage is more crucial than ever. We have a loving and dedicated staff caring for 17 growing boys. Our Orphanage may prove more crucial than ever in the event of more children being orphaned due to the Coronavirus.  

We plan to continue our ministry and grow it to meet the needs. This will only be possible through your generous support, prayers, goodwill, and strength of giving to assist us in this time.  We are also coordinating with our partner ministries of the Orthodox Church to mobilize and assist them in their own COVID-19 responses.

While we are all focused on our loved ones and our own health and financial concerns, as Lazarus laying at the door of his neighbor, the poor, widows, and orphaned are always at hand awaiting whatever generosity and humanity we can give, even the widow’s mite makes a difference. In particular, with food kitchens and homeless shelters closing due to restrictions on crowd size, this leaves those most vulnerable at particular risk for exposure and hunger.  

Orthodox have been ministering to the poor, widows, and the orphaned since Pentecost and the Apostles appointment of deacons to minister to the needy. This is our faith, this is our response, this is our way, that in times of affliction and need, we respond by conquering our fear with the hope of the Lord who conquered death by trampling down the ability of death to determine our lives. He freed us from the fear of death and gave us the hope to live more abundantly, both in this world and in the world to come.  

Therefore, it is important that we muster our strength and keep those values and work even harder than before, renewing our efforts through the ministry to those in need in times of great crisis. 

I ask that you please keep all of the boys and staff and missionaries at Project Mexico and St. Innocent Orphanage in your prayers,

With the love of Christ, 

Fr. Demetrios

Executive Director

2019 Summer Internships Open!

Introducing 3 exciting new internship roles for Summer 2019!

Anyone who has been involved in a home building trip with Project Mexico knows that our faithful and hardworking interns are at the heart of everything we do. Interns from across the nation dedicate their entire summer to living in basic conditions in Mexico. They work diligently alongside our home building coordinator to facilitate 600+ volunteers to build homes for impoverished families in Mexico.

They become part of daily life on the ranch, helping maintain and prepare all that is needed for the arrival of volunteer groups. Not least of all, they become family to the boys of St. Innocent Orphanage. Our internships can be a milestone of spiritual growth and maturation. For many it has been both a transformational and life-defining experience.

If construction isn’t your thing but you desire to serve with us next Summer, then we have some great news for you! In addition to our homebuilding intern positions, we have expanded our program to include the following new positions:

Group Facilitator (must have youth leadership experience): Your main responsibility will be to mentor, supervise and facilitate the other interns, conducting debrief and processing groups, provide one to one guidance, assisting in coordination of intern activities and trips and facilitate volunteer group discussions.  Seminary, teaching, youth work, camp staff experience would be very helpful. This position may suit school teachers or seminarian students/graduates.

Media Intern: Your main responsibility will be to document through photographs, video and writing: the volunteer groups, home builds, families, events and activities of the boys of St. Innocent Orphanage. You will also be responsible for hospitality of Volunteers both on the build site and ranch.  Depending on your skill you will be assigned to a media role and work with Project Mexico’s marketing team. You will also work in other areas as needed.

Medical Intern:  If you have medical training, such as first aid, CPR, EMT, Nursing, please indicate the experience, any certifications, experience, or training you have.  We hope to have several trained individuals on staff each summer.

The positions above may overlap depending on a volunteer’s skills and experience and the number of suitable candidates who apply.

We are now accepting applications, please submit your applications before November 30th, 2018.

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Summer 2019 Home Building Registration Open Now

Hurry Up and Register Today!

Home Building 2019 

Wow! We’re at 50% full for Summer Home Building 2019 and Weeks are filling up quickly!

Time to gather and register your group before all the spots are gone!

Week 1 Thursday, June 6 - 12 (25% full)

Week 2 Tuesday, June 18 - 24 (90% full)

Week 3: Thursday, June 27 - July 3 (80% full)

Week 4: Tuesday, July 9 - 15 (55% full)

Week 5: Thursday, July 18 - 24

PM OCMC‌ Building A Home For Missions ‌week

Week 6: Tuesday, July 30 - August 5 (90% full)

Week 7: Thursday, August 8 - 14 (OPEN)

Building Homes and Relationships by Olivia Neslusan

As I sit on an old wooden bench, warm Mexican sun beating down on my hair, and the laugher of young boys playing on the soccer field in the distance, I cannot fathom the fact that my time here at the ranch is winding down. This summer has gone by in the blink of an eye, but contrastingly, it feels like I have been here forever. Looking back at this time last year, I was an eager group member dreaming about being accepted into this internship position. One week simply just wasn’t enough for me, and I couldn't wait to apply and spend three months here at this incredible ranch.

I had so many expectations of what I thought this summer would be like based on my past experiences here and what I heard from past interns, but quickly I learned that it is so important when doing mission work similar to this, to have no expectations and have an open mind. The summer was full of laughter and tears, and certainly was exhausting at times. Building a new home every week and having the energy to greet each new team like it was your first is something that is both beautiful and challenging. But more than the build, this place and this summer for me has been about building relationships.

Theodora and I arrived two weeks later than the rest of the young adult interns that would dedicate their summer to leading home building. In my journal on the first day of arrival I wrote about how I was nervous that close relationships and friendships had already formed, and perhaps we wouldn't get to know the other 17 interns as well. This trivial worry quickly faded within the first couple days. It is so beautiful and easy to connect with other young Orthodox Christians. Growing up in the faith and sharing the same values is something that allows us to truly connect on a deeper level, and I know that these will be people I stay in contact with long after this summer is over.

Connecting with the 19 boys here at the orphanage, though, has been by far the most rewarding part of this experience. Boys ranging in age from eight to eighteen live on this ranch, and each of them have their own vibrant and inspiring personalities and stories. Between group activities and home builds, we get the opportunity to spend as much time as we please with them. Despite their backgrounds of neglect, these boys are some of the most loving people I have ever met. They are eager to learn more about you, make you laugh, and if you are lucky, they sometimes share their personal stories about their past.

This summer the ranch was blessed with three new little boys ranging from eight to ten years old. Immediately after arriving here in this new home, the boys were always eager to participate in church and had so many questions about the faith. It was truly something special to see how they transitioned with such grace. It is a challenge, however, especially with these three new little boys, to connect with them without getting too close and allowing them to get too attached. It is so obvious that they need love from the way they run up to almost any female who they are familiar with and cling to them calling each one “Mama.” Although this can be tough at times, it is comforting to know that the family here at the ranch will indeed give them the love and permanency they so desperately need and want.

That is what is so special about this place.

It is a community where everyone is a part of the family that makes up St. Innocent Orphanage and Project Mexico. It is going to be bittersweet to leave this country and its people, but I leave knowing that this was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and also knowing that it was not really me who made it, but rather God who called me to be here.