Phoenix, Arizona

JUNE 5 - 11

Register
  • This trip is ideal for all ages, especially if you are interested in learning how to best serve our community.
  • Non-US-citizens will need to have their valid passport and visas to show at checkpoints
  • Team will lodge in a safe and secure hotel close to our serving areas.
  • Language: English
  • Logistics: Travel in church van
  • Maximum group size: 15 participants
  • Cost: 450 approx. (All expenses included: Transportation, hotel, baseball game, all meals)
  • Flexible payments options: a deposit of $50 will be due by Sunday, April 6th along with registration. Make installment payments as able. However, 50% of the trip cost ($225) is due by May 4th and the full payment ($450) by June 1st. We have sample letters for your personal fundraising.
  • We will have several prayer, planning, and training meetings and a fundraiser luncheon activity where you can participate. So please be on the alert.

Overview

Phoenix is a great community in the heart of Arizona—approximately 430 miles from El Paso with a strong local economy, home to one of the largest municipal parks in North America, with over 20 colleges and 10 baseball stadiums, and the epicenter of the computer chip industry. Like many communities, it also faces some challenges. As the state capital and largest city in Arizona, it struggles with problems like housing affordability, the condition of transportation infrastructure, homelessness. Likewise, mental health and substance abuse are major problems in healthcare. Besides, as the Phoenix Rescue Mission recently published, “There are over half a million people facing hunger across the Valley. They include school children, working parents, seniors on fixed incomes and other struggling individuals. Their hardships are fundamentally tied to poverty, and poverty is rampant in Arizona. 

Partners

For this year’s GO, SEE, SERVE & LEARN mission trip, we are partnering with St Vincent De Paul Ministries and Alhambra Beloved Community Church. St Vincent De Paul is a community outreach ministry that works to feed, clothe, house, and heal individuals and families in need and to bring authentic change and renewal in the Phoenix urban community. Alhambra Beloved Community Church is a small congregation located around the Phoenix canals led by pastor Miguel and Gladys Perez, whose mission, in their own words, “truly starts with the heart. With a deep love of God, His people, and the city of Phoenix, our lead team sets the table with compassion, empathy, and the passion to see and serve the unseen in our communities.”

Serving alongside these two amazing ministries will help enhance our efforts to implement principles and values in Christian Community Development. We look forward to gleaning best practices that we can implement here at Grace Place, Church Under the Bridge, etc., and improve what we currently do.

What will you be doing?

  • We will GO and SEE what St Vincent De Paul Ministries does in their outreach programs such as:
    • Dining Rooms where individuals experiencing homelessness or food insecurity can come not only for a hot, nutritious meal and a smile, but to find supportive wrap-around services such as shelter, clothing, medical attention, food boxes for hungry families, thrift stores throughout the region, housing and shelter for vulnerable unhoused individuals, general assistance for families and individuals living in poverty.
    • Washington Street Shelter is a program serving unsheltered homeless individuals through intensive engagement, shelter, and services all oriented toward resolving homelessness and integrating people into a community.

  • We will GO and SEE what Alhambra Beloved Community Church does in their outreach programs such as:
    • Tables. Where members gather across the Valley to engage in intentional community living, meeting in homes, collaborate on service projects, and collectively attend monthly classes.
    • Beloved Children. Welcoming children from birth to 5th grade during our Sunday service with age-appropriate classrooms, our Buddies Ministry for special needs, worship, activities, lessons, snacks, prayer, and more.
    • Starts With The Heart. Their outreach ministry feeding and loving on the marginalized, unhoused and those battling addiction that hangout around the canal area.

  • We will SERVE in various activities such as:
    • Volunteer serving meals, room preparation (setting up tables, greeting guests, plating food on a hot food line, waiting on tables, sorting, and giving out essential items to guests (hygiene kits, clothing, etc.), clean up (bus tables, mop, take out the garbage, wash dishes), engaging & praying with guests and residents, etc.
    • Worship with Alhambra Beloved Community Church on Sunday morning & leading worship on Sunday evening at Washington Street Homeless Shelter.

  • So, we hope to LEARN best practices in how to best:
    • Serve individuals and families in our community by providing basics like food & clothing,
    • Provide opportunities and programs for people of all ages in our community to encounter Jesus and to grow in their faith journey.
    • There will be a Q&A time with the pastors, staff, and volunteers at both locations to share ministry experiences and insights.

  • We will have a FUN Time at an MLB on Monday the 9th Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Seattle Mariners.

Questions?

For further information or questions, please contact Edgardo Martinez at emartinez@fbcep.com