On Sunday, March 1, 2020, Amor Ministries celebrated its 40th anniversary on the Fullerton campus of Hope International University, the place where it all began. Hope International University was honored with the Angel Dominguez Award for “faithful support of Amor Ministries the families we serve in Mexico.”

Amor Founder and HIU alumnus, Gayla Congdon (BA '77, MA '89), and her husband Scott developed a passion to serve poor neighborhoods in Mexico while they were attending Pacific Christian College (now HIU). What began as two students’ passion to help the poor has grown into a dynamic and sustainable ministry that has made a significant difference in the lives of thousands. When the Congdons launched Amor in 1980, then-President Knofel Staton allowed the Congdons to launch and operate Amor from the PCC campus rent free for its first seven years.

For forty years now, Amor Ministries’ purpose and focus is to provide adequate housing in order to keep families together. In addition to building homes, volunteers and staff share the grace and love of Jesus by providing security, safety, and stability to families who would otherwise be without.

Since their humble beginnings in 1980, Amor has built 19,890 houses, planted and built 374 churches, and had 390,668 participants join their organization on short-term mission trips. In rural Mexican pueblos, having a house provides safety, opens doors for children to go to school, and provides hope for families in unthinkable poverty.

// For more information about Amor Ministries, click here.