Casas por Cristoshort term missions

Driven by a desire to provide tangible expressions of God’s love and provision, we began building homes in Juárez, México in 1993. Casas por Cristo (Homes because of Christ), creates an important partnership among churches across international borders. To date, we have provided over 4,000 families with homes. But at Casas por Cristo we go beyond building. We are dedicated to building Christ’s church one home at a time, by meeting the physical and spiritual needs of our neighbors and His children.

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beyond building:

Casas por Cristo is more than a humanitarian organi-zation. While building homes is what we do, our core mission is to reach the people of México with the love of Jesus Christ. Our ministry is about bringing hope to families in need. And it is about a God that loves people so much He sends strangers to build them a home with no strings attached.

Throughout the Casas por Cristo experience, families receive a renewed trust in God’s faithfulness. Volun-teers gain perspective on the realities of poverty in this world and the importance of sharing God’s love through serving others. The homes are used to con-nect families with their local church body and it is our hope that each individual will come to know the sav-ing grace, peace and joy that comes only through knowing Jesus Christ.

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lives transformed through God’s saving grace

The average family we serve earns around $4.25 a day. Indi-viduals often spend nearly 30 percent of their income on the transportation that carries them to and from work. With such limited income and burdensome expenses, it is near impossible to secure adequate housing. Families are forced to construct makeshift homes made of cardboard, pallets and other acces-sible materials. With summer highs exceeding 100° and winter lows well below freezing, these shelters place many families at risk of heat and cold related health problems and even death.

Most families cannot earn enough to buy materials to con-struct a safe and secure home. But through Christ’s love and the willingness of volunteers, families experience a life-chang-ing event as God’s faithfulness and provision becomes real. The four walls that now surround them are a constant reminder of the God who loves them and takes care of their needs.

created in the image of God

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“We believe in His powerful hand. He provides for our needs and gives us the desires of our hearts.”

-Maria Peña, waiting for a home from Casas por Cristo

Many pastors fi nd that extreme poverty hampers their ability to effec-tively reach out to their communities. When families live in poor con-ditions, it is diffi cult to convince them that there is a God who loves them enough to take care of their needs. We aid the local church by helping to remove these physical barriers so that pastors have a greater opportunity to meet the spiritual needs of their communities.

While they need not be members of a church, each family who ap-plies for a home must apply through a local pastor. This process allows families to have a personal connection to the local Christian community long after the volunteers have packed up and returned home. Each family is presented with a Spanish Bible and a letter encouraging them to become part of their local church body. Our ministry’s goal is to aid the local Mexican church to better care for the members of their com-munities through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

building Christ’s church, one home at a time

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“There is a tremendous strength that is growing in the world through sharing together, praying together, suffering together,

and working together.” – Mother Theresa

Casas por Cristo relies on the labor of 20 full time staff, a board of over 100 pas-tors and community leaders from Juárez and Acuña, México and over 7,000 annual volunteers from across North America. Through the labor and resources of this team, we are able to offer a complete cross-cultural missions experience. At the beginning of this experience, volunteer teams are welcomed by a family most likely living in a house made of cardboard or wood pallets. In four days, these teams transform an otherwise empty plot of land into a safe and secure home – com-plete with cement foundation, electricity, windows, doors, drywall and insulation.

As a part of this experience, volunteers have the amazing opportunity to pro-vide a free home to a family in need. And as a result of this experience, fami-lies receive a tangible symbol of the faithfulness and love of Jesus Christ. And as volunteers gain perspective on the extreme poverty that exists along our own country’s border, so do these families gain a clearer picture of God’s plan for their lives and His desire to take care of their needs.

do justly, love mercy, walk humbly

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“I clearly saw God in the eyes, deeds, and words of myfellow workers and the family for whom we built the home.”

-Jeff FrischOmega Concordia University

They lived in a small structure made of cardboard and pallets with a dirt fl oor. Everything they owned was pro-tected by a chain and padlock wrapped around a makeshift door. This otherwise empty plot of dirt was the place where Gloria and Javier Garcia made a life for themselves and their four-year old daughter, Ana. Javier earned only $57 per week, not nearly enough to provide a better life for his family.

Through God’s grace, a volunteer team from Georgia arrived. Through a hard week of building, Casas por Cris-to provided this family with a home and renewed faith in a God who loves them and provides for their needs. The Garcia family and this small team of volunteers forged a friendship that a border fence and 1400 miles between Juárez and Georgia could never separate.

Four years later, the Garcia family is different in so many ways. Ana is now nine years old and has two younger siblings, ages one and two. The pallet and cardboard house that once stood on this dirt plot has been replaced by a safe and secure home. No more cardboard. No more pallets. Instead stands a solid home that houses a family built on the foundation of Christ’s love and provi-sion.

As for their distant Georgian family, photos hang on each of the volunteers’ refrigerators, as a constant reminder of their neighboring family 1400 miles away. A reminder of God’s children who once lived in an 8x8 room, walled with pallets and cardboard. A reminder that their lives have been changed just as much as their neighboring Mexican family.

Casas por Cristowww.casasporcristo.org

PO Box 971070 : El Paso, TX 79997 7201 North Loop : El Paso, TX 79915phone : 800.819.8014

fax : 915.778.0086