Proyecto Abrigo was founded in 1996 by Rev. Jose Luis Portillo in Tierra Nueva, Mexico. Since then, over 7,000 homes, two churches, a medical clinic, and a vocational school have been built to serve the poorer communities outside of Juarez, Mexico. Every year we send a team of 40-50 people including children, youth, and adults, to build 4 homes for families in Juarez. The houses, built of cinderblock, measure 12′ by 24′ and have a cement floor. Each team is aided by maestros, who show the team how to mix the mortar and cement and lay the blocks. The family, when able, often helps the team with the building of their new home. At the end of the week, the team and family participate in a house dedication.

UPUMC’s tagline is “a neighborhood church with a global heart.” But how does the church show that its heart extends past our walls, past the Park Cities, past Texas and America? How do we behave to show that our Christian love is global?

Perhaps the most obvious way is to set out to a foreign country to serve its people. A mission that is near and dear to my heart is our Guatemala mission. Every year, our church sends a team of 10-12 volunteers to spend a week in San Juan la Laguna, Guatemala to work with ODIM, an organization that strives to improve the lives of rural Guatemalans through education and healthy living. There, we have helped build community clinics and homes. By continuing to work with the same group, we have been able to build personal relationships, and more importantly grow in our understanding of what life is like for our Guatemalan friends.

For almost 100 years, United Methodists have responded to the need for a quality education for those Hispanic students that face tremendous challenges obtaining a quality education. What began in 1913 with Mrs. Lydia Patterson, a Methodist laywoman acting through the Women's Missionary Society of her church, noticing that young Hispanic boys in el barrio had no school to attend began to setup schools in the homes of some Mexican Methodists.

Her spirit and vision is still alive today at Lydia Patterson Institute where over 400 young men and women, a majority of whom are from Ciudad Juarez, continue to be educated in a challenging academic environment while being nurtured in Christian values. LPI was one of the first schools in the US to emphasize the teaching of English as a Second Language in 1921 and to then merge students into the appropriate grade level to put them on the path toward graduation from high school.

Excellence and outstanding achievement has been the trademark of LPI students. Graduation rates of students exceed 95% of those entering as freshmen and over 98% of the graduates continue their education at colleges across the US. The graduation class of 2010, for example, earned 2.1 million dollars in competitive college scholarships.

With the support of the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church, LPI is positioned to keep faith with its historic commitment to academic excellence and intentional spiritual nurture. LPI is also extending its horizons to the limitless possibilities of cross-cultural enterprises by which she aspires to serve the general Church.

The Staff and Administration see themselves as strategically situated geographically, demographically and historically to serve as a bridge that will span the social, cultural and spiritual realities of a very diverse population. Today's conditions offer us an exciting and challenging moment in which to serve God as we serve mankind.

For more information, contact Richard Hearne, rbhearne42@gmail.com.