BPW_0373
One Manzana - Logistics. Brandon joined Amigos for Christ in 2020 with his wife, Anna. As a member of the Business for Transformation team, Brandon uses the experience he gained as an Army Officer to coordinate logistics for the 1 Manzana Project. With Amigos, Brandon seeks every opportunity to allow the blessings that he has received from Christ flow through him to others.

Complete My Joy

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

In his letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul makes an interesting request: “complete my joy.” What is even more peculiar about this request is that Paul did not seek to find his joy in being paid back for his work, but rather in seeing his work be paid forward. He connects his own personal joy to the unity, humility, and love shared among those he cared for.

In March, several of our partnering communities answered this call and paid it forward. Due to a particularly long and difficult dry season, the community of Rancho Pando has been battling severe drought. This drought depleted their harvests, forcing the community members to go further and pay more just to keep food on their tables.

After hearing of these problems, leaders from neighboring communities were determined to help.

Working with Amigos’ community advocates, the people of La Grecia, La Danta, and El Pedregal collected hundreds of pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms and gardens to deliver to their friends in need. On March 24th, a team collected these generous offerings of bananas, papaya, mangos, and more. Deliveries were made to over forty families in Rancho Pando, where each bag was received with a smiling face and a joyful heart.   

At Amigos for Christ, it is our mission to serve, so that Christ becomes more visible. This means following the example of the One who emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant and loved those who could never pay Him back. Jesus came to this world to love and to serve, and He has called us to do the same. Our goal is to follow this great example, and in so doing to share the incredible love of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

As an organization, our objective is community transformation. However, our joy does not end there. Rather than experiencing the joy of a favor returned, out ultimate hope is to have our joy made complete in seeing each favor multiplied. It is our vision to see transformed communities continue to transform other communities. We hope to see unity, humility, and love of Jesus shared and multiplied throughout Chinandega and beyond. Yesterday, the people of La Grecia, La Danta, and El Pedregal sparked this hope by giving generously from that which the Lord had blessed them with. Today, the people of Rancho Pando anxiously await the day in which they will have the opportunity to do the same. 

BPW_0213

Read More Updates!

Share this story

Related Posts

1 Manzana Project
Ivette Rivera

Leading the Way

On a small farm surrounded by vast sugar cane fields, William Matamoros continued to lead the charge of bringing transformation to the community of El

Read More »
Amigos Academy
Paola Montalvo

Dreams of Excellence

When we first met Jimmy, he was a young student in a small makeshift primary school in the rural community of La Chuscada. Living just down

Read More »
Leadership
Danny Duggan

Abundant Generosity

The first goal of our community development model Plan 7 pertains to leadership: that in every community we partner with, local leaders are the owners

Read More »
Life Transformation
Ivette Rivera

The story of Mayocunda

Working JUNTOS The community of Mayocunda has always struggled for access to water. They collaborated with another organization six years ago to build a water

Read More »
Amigos Team
Paola Montalvo

The Proper time

It’s the summer of 2017, and my time as an intern for Amigos for Christ is hurtling to a close. These final days are bittersweet,

Read More »
Christ More Visible
Guest Author

Retirement

Written by Susan Frego, Summer 2023 Intern At this point we begin to wonder, “what’s next?”Presumably, retirement is a time when we have a little money

Read More »