In the Gospels, Jesus likened the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed that grows from the smallest of all seeds to the largest of all herbs: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." (Matthew 13:31-32).
By the Grace of God, our humble organization has grown beyond the seed phase and into the large tree phase. In the post-COVID world we have witnessed numerous people re-think the course of their lives.
Many faithful have answered the call to service and have committed their support on a long-term basis. Because of this growth, we are in dire need of shelter to accommodate these young Orthodox leaders of the future.
We’ve broken ground on a new dormitory for our long-term missionaries and volunteers. These volunteers commit hard work and sweat to keep the wheels turning at the ranch and I’m honored to work on their new home.
Our most immediate needs are for building materials like toilets, fans and faucets. But we can’t make this happen without your prayers and support. Below are two simple ways you can help bring this project to fruition.
In Christ,
Charlie Boardman
Operations Officer
Project Mexico
Amazon Smile for Project Mexico and St Innocent Orphanage
AmazonSmile and Amazon Charity List for Project Mexico
Below are a couple of easy ways to help our ministry!
Choose Project Mexico and St Innocent Orphanage as your Charity on Amazon Smile.
AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon that lets you enjoy the same shopping experience as on Amazon.com, but with a benefit to Project Mexico and St Innocent Orphanage. Shop as you normally do on Amazon and at no extra cost to you, Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchase back to our organization!
Visit www.smile.amazon.com
Login with your amazon account or create a new one.
Search for PMSIO and select us as your charity or click https://smile.amazon.com/ch/33-0521448
Shop Amazon Smile!
Show our Boys your support by shopping amazon smile :)
Support Our Organization by Purchasing Items from our Charity List
AmazonSmile Charity Lists is a meaningful way for you to shop and donate items directly to charities in need. We’ve created an Amazon charity list of the supplies that are needed between now and May. Simply click on the button below and order from the list. Make your purchase and the items will be shipped to us.
Another beautiful part of this supply drive is that any surplus food or supplies we receive will go directly to the orphanage program.
Christ in Every Eye That Sees Me by Eliza Corder
When I arrived at St. Herman’s House, the first thing I encountered was an inebriated homeless woman. The second thing I encountered was the Theotokos.
I’ll explain.
I reached Cleveland after an eight-hour drive, parked in front of St. Herman’s House—the men’s shelter where I would spend the rest of my summer working—and walked up to the gate.
On the front porch stood my soon-to-be boss and soon-to-be coworker. Between us, just inside the gate, swayed a woman in her mid-fifties. I could tell just by looking at her face she’d had a hard life, and I could tell by the way she moved she was under the influence—probably of a less than legitimate substance.
I’ll admit I was startled. Even more so when she asked my boss for a cigarette.
Even as this scene unfolded, I glanced to the right and noticed St. Herman’s beautiful garden and, nestled within it, an icon of the Theotokos. Her presence was as unexpected as it was familiar and a wave of comfort washed over me. I remembered then that the woman who stood before me was my sister and an image of Christ; in fact, she was the very reason I’d come to St. Herman’s to serve.
Before I had time to reflect further my boss talked the woman out of a cigarette and ushered me inside. And just like that my summer had begun, with all the chaos, joy, hard work, friendship, and memories it would bring.
Now, several weeks into my internship and with a little more time to contemplate, I realize that my first moments at St. Herman’s were a timely summation of one of my greatest challenges this summer. Every day at St. Herman’s I engage with dozens of homeless people. Sometimes the interactions go well, sometimes they go less well, and often they’re just strange—this morning, for example, someone aggressively and incoherently explained baseball to one of my fellow interns, seeming to mistake him for someone else.
It’s easy for me to see the painful outward dysfunction of the people we serve and mistake it for the people themselves. But that moment in the garden, my very first at St. Herman’s, reminded me to turn to Christ and the Theotokos and that, through their aid, I can perceive the image of God in every human person and love them as myself.
It’s hard, and I suspect I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to get it right. But if anything is worth attempting, this is.
Stationed in Cleveland, OH with our partners at St Herman’s House in FOCUS Cleveland, Eliza Corder is a Media Intern for summer 2021. You can directly support her and our ministry work by clicking the support button below.
Building in Mexico This Summer!
Homebuilding in Mexico 2021 - by Anna Cunningham
Project Mexico started 2020 just like everyone else, carrying on as normal, planning for the year to come. In that planning stage, we interviewed and accepted 17 families to receive houses from our summer Homebuilding program. But as the entire world shut down, we saw our US/Mexico border limit traffic as well. No volunteers were able to come that summer, and no homes were built. We had high hopes for the summer of 2021, but as the first week of June rolls around, the border limits have not been lifted, and the summer program is still suspended.
As Work Trip Coordinator, my primary goal and responsibility are to provide homes to families in our local community. Project Mexico has always relied on volunteer labor to build the homes and volunteer participation fees to buy the homebuilding materials and fund the orphanage. As 2020 ended and we trudged into 2021 the border remains closed.
After months of border regulations I realized that if these families were going to get homes this year, it would have to be done in a different way.
Because volunteers are still not permitted to travel to Mexico, we found ourselves with a labor deficit. This season we will implement a new building plan that involves the local community. As the need increased everywhere, our ability to help disappeared. This inspired the creation of our Community Build Initiative.
I have been meeting with each family asking them if they can gather people to do the labor if we provide the materials. The response to this idea was received very positively and the families immediately began to look for help.
I am working with the families and our material providers to organize dates and building plans but the missing piece of the puzzle is sponsorship of the materials. Because we are not receiving participation fees from visiting volunteers, we do not have the budget to fund these homes.
This is why we are calling on our community to participate remotely and sponsor the homes of our selected families.
This is new. Brand new. In our over 30 year history, we have never used this model, but current circumstances forced us to adjust our plans so that we can continue fulfilling our mission and provide homes to the families who we promised houses to almost 2 years ago.
Each time we encounter adversity we have the opportunity to succumb to it, and let it defeat us, or we can rise above, adapt, and handle it with grace. Homebuilding in 2021 will not, and cannot, look like it has looked in the past. This does not change the fact that we have committed ourselves to provide shelter to those in need.
We are doing what we can with what we have and ask for your support in our new initiative so that we can continue providing homes for those in need.
Hope Rising in Detroit by Niko Deffigos
When I told people that I would be serving as a missionary in Detroit, Michigan this summer, I received a nearly unanimous response: a look of confusion and uncertainty followed by a mixture of, “Why would you go there”, “Isn’t it dangerous” and “Don’t get shot.” To be frank, my perception of Detroit was very similar. I tried to approach my service with an open mind, but I harbored doubts about both the safety of the work and the impact that a couple college students could have in solving the deep-rooted issues the communities of Detroit experiences.
I have only begun to scratch the surface of this city and the mission we have been called here to do after the first week.
On the east side of Detroit, there is a street called Alter Road. Alter Road separates Detroit from Grosse Pointe. Grosse Pointe is a picturesque Midwest suburb. Well-manicured parks and quaint well-kept brick homes line the streets, unthreatening and inviting. When you cross Alter Road heading west into Detroit, the beautiful parks are replaced with abandoned lots, garbage dumps, and dilapidated homes near collapse.
The difference between the two places, separated by one single street, is like stepping from one world into another. The suddenness with which you can transition from one side to the other is unnerving. There are numerous reasons for this drastic disparity, one of the most prominent is race related. Decades ago, the city of Grosse Pointe placed physical barriers along certain roads that intersected Alter Road, and forced one-way streets, so that it was difficult to enter Grosse Pointe for people living on the Detroit side.
These barriers separated white from black, suburb from neighborhood, and wealthy from poor. The last of the barriers were removed in 2014. And even though the physical barriers are gone, the effects of the barriers and what they represent are impossible to ignore.
Alter Road is an important landmark in beginning to grasp the generational trauma of this city. No human or assemblage of humans, has the capacity to heal this city on their own. No politician, legislation, or social justice movement is capable of healing this city alone. New politicians with new policies have come and gone and nothing has worked. Neighborhood outreach organizations drop in and dry out just as frequently as it rains here in Detroit (which is nearly every day as I’ve learned). Despite their good intentions, they struggle to achieve peace in Detroit.
For us as missionaries it can be overwhelming to face this challenge where many have failed. I want more than anything to help people heal, but oftentimes I feel that on my own, I am wholly incapable of reaching them. I find beauty in that, as Orthodox Christians we are called to allow God to work through us to serve those thirsting for His grace and love. In this way, Christ provides us the strength we need to properly serve. The knowledge that He is by our side in our effort to help His people provides immense encouragement. St. Paul writes,
“If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11).
Christ provides us with hope even in the darkest of circumstances, and with His strength we can reach peace in the communities that have been abused and neglected. The Detroiters I have met are wonderful, kind, and generous. Many have been born into difficult circumstances, but they continue to exude a joy and exuberance for life that is a clear sign of God’s presence within each of them. The work we have been doing in service of Detroit has been both humbling and enlightening.
In our short time here we have cleaned up abandoned houses, sorted and organized donations to the FOCUS Detroit Outreach Center—so that people in the community can come grab what they need, whether it be canned foods, sweaters and hygiene items. There is a garden we have been tending with the hopes of harvesting fresh fruit and vegetables to distribute to the neighborhood. These are small and simple forms of outreach to the community, and through them we are hoping to weave God’s love into the fabric of the community.
Detroit is a beautiful city, one of the greatest metropolises in America. Although Detroit has struggled through decades of decline and neglect, it remains vibrant and steadfast. God has not abandoned Detroit, and neither will I.
I ask for your prayers that us interns at FOCUS Detroit may humbly give ourselves to God and that He may work through us to reach those who desperately need what only He can provide: hope.
Stationed in Detroit, MI with our partners at FOCUS, Niko Deffigos is a Media Intern for summer 2021. You can directly support him and our ministry work by clicking the support button below.
Strength by Gabriel Fahling
From June 2021-August 2022 Gabriel will be serving as an intern with FOCUS through the St. Innocent Service Works program. Gabriel will be working with FOCUS Orange County to help distribute food to those in need in the Orange County area in southern California.
For the better part of my life, I believed that service meant helping those who are less fortunate than yourself. As time has passed, I’ve come to understand how service can look many different ways and be many different things. This summer I am interning for St. Innocent Service Works because I want to dive deeper into following Christ’s call to serve others, to learn how to humble myself to be least among my brothers and sisters.
In autumn of 2020, I was an intern for Neighborhood Resilience Project, a non-profit in the Hill District of Pittsburgh that offers community support and free resources such as food and clothing. My fellow interns and I spent two and a half months moving and breaking down boxes, putting together lunch bags, sorting clothes, cleaning, and working the front desk, among many other things.
Most of the work was not glamorous and the days were often quite long. You had to be ready to serve someone at almost any time, as it would happen frequently that there was help needed with something at practically any time of the day. Most days we were running around making sure all the essential tasks were completed and everyone was served. Arriving home from work both meal preparation duty and house cleaning were also ways in which we ministered to each other.
It was exhausting. There were other challenges I encountered during my experience in Pittsburgh, however, I learned a very important lesson in regards to service: no matter what you are doing, you can make any simple act one of love and service. Even when we are not tangibly doing something for someone else—such as the time we take for ourselves to wind down—all of our life we can offer to God.
From my time at Neighborhood Resilience Project and my time as an intern at Project Mexico, I have been inspired to pursue service to others and to God. This summer, through God’s providence I am in Orange County, California helping distribute food and household items to those in need. It has been a surreal and somewhat intimidating feeling; not knowing what each day will look like but only knowing that I am here to give myself over to God’s will, and to do the best that I can to serve those in need and my fellow interns. It is something I feel very ill-prepared for, but my comfort lies in knowing that Christ gives strength to those who lean on Him. (Philippians 4:13)
To support Gabriel and the work we’re doing in the US and Mexico, please use this link: https://sisw.managedmissions.com/MyTrip/GabrielFahling1
Update: US/Mexico Border Remains Closed
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the US/Mexico Border remains CLOSED. 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.
There are a number of alternative service trips available at locations across the US and in Puerto Rico.
Please check out the St. Innocent Service Works website: www.stinnocentserviceworks.org/service-trips/
There you can Pick Your Own Location and a Date that Works for You.
We look forward to your service with us. If you have any questions, please reach out to our Volunteer Coordinator, Father Gabriel at frgabriel@sicafoundation.org
215.278.1087
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
A Role for Everyone by Anna Cunningham
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11
My second summer as an intern I began site-leading. Previously each site I had worked on had been run by someone else and I was one of the assisting interns, but my second summer duty called and ready-or-not it was my turn to be in charge. To say I was nervous is accurate, but by the glory of God the house went up despite my mistakes and short-comings. That week was stressful for many reasons both internal and external and I was relived to be on-site building, but not in charge during the build week that followed.
A few recovery-builds later it was my turn to site-lead again. This time I knew the build far better and prepared thoroughly in an effort to correct my earlier mistakes. However, when the group arrived new worry struck me down again. One of my group members was a professional contractor, and had been for many years.
“Oh no,” I thought. “This guy will know I’m a phony.”
This group was interesting because instead of it consisting of one or two parishes that brought 10-20 people, it consisted of at least 4 parishes all mixed together. Among those volunteers from at least four different states, besides the contractor, there was a priest, two doctors, a handful of accomplished professionals in various fields, the wife of a construction specialist, and at least one person who had built homes with Project Mexico over ten summers in a row. That’s a lot to live up to. These people from all over the country took time out of their busy schedules and traveled to Mexico to build a home for a worthy family. They deserved excellent expertise and leadership, and instead they got me. Some 21-year-old from Ohio.
I studied, and I prayed and I prayed and I studied. Once again God blessed me with far more than I deserve, and the week went incredibly well. No one questioned my requests or disagreed with one-another. 30 strangers from four different states (6 different states if you include staff members as well) became a small family. As the outsider, I quickly forgot who came from which state and while I watched everyone work and interact, I couldn’t tell who had known each other for their entire lives and who had only met days prior. Two men who had only known each other for 48 hours were carrying on fluently in Greek and when I watched in amazement, a third man from a third group assured me not to worry because they weren’t talking about me.
The contractor took two kids under his wing and taught them all his tricks. The kids from all the groups laughed and took photos together. I walked inside at one point and found the priest, despite language barriers, working with the father of the home to install the door. In that moment and to this day I look back fondly on that week, and thank God for bringing that group of people together.
At the end of each build we come together to discuss and decompress. I sat in wonder as each of those accomplished, experienced professionals thanked us profusely for our work as interns. I had, and still have, so much less to look back on, so few years of experience compared to them, but it never showed. They treated me with the utmost respect and approval and I never felt as if I was lesser than anyone. They taught me humility, kindness, and servitude, not by speech, but by example. I hope and I pray that I can bestow the kindness and respect everyone that I meet that that group showed to me. I was assigned to be leader of that site, and through my experience on other sites and by watching them interact, I learned how to become a true leader from their examples, and their love.
Anna Cunningham is the Homebuilding Coordinator for Project Mexico and St Innocent Service Works
Crazy Faith: Building Hope in Tonga
My name is Michael Jones. I am an Orthodox Christian living with my wife and four children in Eagle River, Alaska. After listening to a podcast about the extraordinary missionary efforts of the Holy Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of New Zealand, I felt a strong calling from our Lord to reach out and see how my family and I might be able to assist in their holy work. Because I am a building contractor, the Archdiocese invited me to assist in completing a temple that has been started in the Kingdom of Tonga.
My hope is that you will be inspired to support and participate in the missionary labors of our Holy Orthodox Church in some way – whether by supporting this project or another missionary ministry that speaks to your heart. As our Lord said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Matt. 9:13).
On January 31, 2020 I emailed Fr. Paul Patitsas, the priest whose interview on Ancient Faith Radio inspired me to reach out to the Archdiocese of New Zealand. My momentum on this project had stalled out somewhat since my first trip in April 2019, and he strongly encouraged me to get a small group together and go to Tonga while the team from Greece was still working on the Church of St. George.
I thought it was a crazy idea. The timing couldn’t have been worse for me. My business is growing, but I’ve had to make some structural changes recently, and as a result money has been tight. We have four small children. Our time and money is extremely limited. Nevertheless, Fr. Paul continued to encourage me, saying it would be really valuable to connect with Ilias and the other men from Greece who have made so much progress on the church during the last four months. With their help we could learn some tricks to navigate the obstacles of working in that remote, developing island nation, plus get an idea of what projects remained to complete the Church of St. George with the hopes of bringing other teams back to finish the project.
Considering his request, I told Fr. Paul, literally, that this idea was crazy. His response moved me, because I know his own life is an example of this: “The church in Tonga would never have been started if the people involved hadn’t been a little bit crazy.” He calls it “crazy faith” – that willingness to step out on faith in response to a whisper from the Holy Spirit. Even if you can’t see the whole picture, you take the leap, put your hope and trust in God, and let Him direct the work.
After a lot of prayer and wrestling with our own hesitations, my wife Meghan & I decided that I should go for 1 week. As soon as we made the decision all our worries disappeared. Meghan & I both felt at peace about the trip. We put it in God’s hands – if He wanted us to go, He would provide the means for the trip to happen. And it happened!
My first task was to assemble a team – primarily skilled carpenters who could get some work done even in the short amount of time we had. The first person I asked was Myles Kelly, who had committed to going on my second trip to Tonga while I was still on my first visit 10 months ago. He has been very supportive and helped me keep up the inspiration about this project, even when I was feeling overwhelmed. Once he gave the “thumbs up” to go, I knew we would be able to make it work.
I contacted two friends who own construction businesses in Colorado, Peter Lynch and David Young, and they both were immediately on board. Unfortunately, Peter wasn’t able to make it this time around, but David found support from his parish and put his work projects aside to join us in Tonga.
We needed someone to handle logistics – purchasing, arranging meals, running errands, etc. – so I contacted Ryan Smith, who had just arrived to join the Project Mexico missionary internship program we are hosting here at St. John’s in Eagle River. I hadn’t actually spoken with him yet, but I figured if he had committed this part of his life to learning about missionary work he’d probably be the right kind of person for the trip. He turned out to be a great addition to our team. Plus, his participation led to the addition of a 5th member who also fit in perfectly – the Executive Director of Project Mexico, Fr. Demetrios Andrews.
When Fr. Demetrios heard that Ryan was invited to go work on a church building project in Tonga his immediate response was: “I want to go!” He called me and explained that he is working to reposition Project Mexico and St Innocent Service Works as an Orthodox youth service leadership initiative and expand building projects – both homes & churches – anywhere in the world where there is a need. This trip was an opportunity for him to jump right into an active church construction project and begin developing a framework for future construction-focused missionary trips. As you’ll discover as you read this blog series, Fr. Demetrios sees the big picture of any situation immediately, and before you blink he’s got plans in motion to get things accomplished that most of us never would have imagined possible.
Thanks be to God, with the support of Fr. Demetrios and the infrastructure of Project Mexico and St Innocent Service Works, I believe now more than ever that this church-building in Tonga will be completed, and other similar projects in Fiji & Samoa may finally get the support they need to be realized.
Stay up-to-date with Michael’s mission work at https://orthodoxyfortonga.com/