MAS Ministries and Partnerships
Adult Ministries
The Adult Ministries program focuses on senior citizens, the developmentally disabled, and individuals who are chronically ill. These people often a forgotten part of our society. Students have the opportunity to serve in settings such as the San Dimas Retirement Center and VITAS Hospice Care.
San Dimas Retirement Center
San Dimas Retirement Center (SDRC) is a wonderful place for APU students to build meaningful relationships. Participants share food, crafts, entertainment, and most importantly, listen to one another. Take the challenge to serve at SDRC and experience the joy of building relationships with these wonderful people. An annual favorite includes the Senior Prom.
VITAS Hospice Care
VITAS provides APU students a unique opportunity to build wonderful relationships with individuals facing the end-of-life. Through providing weekly counsel and a listening ear, students can discover deep and enriching stories from those they meet. VITAS requires a significant commitment. Call the MAS office at (626) 812-3028 for more information.
Environmental Ministries
Our Environmental Ministries program focuses on the importance of community development and environmental stewardship. Students participate in activities that help improve the community, including teaching educational classes at local schools and working together to grow plants and vegetables in the community garden.
S.E.E.D. (Students for Environmental Education and Discovery)
S.E.E.D. focuses on issues of the environment in collaboration with the San Gabriel Mountain Regional Conservancy. Through educational classes at local elementary schools and participating in field trips and special events in the Azusa Unified School District, students highlight God’s creation and the importance of environmental stewardship. This is a great way to get your hands dirty doing ministry that encourages others to take care of the earth’s resources.
Azusa Community Garden
The Azusa Community Garden draws from community resources through a partnership with Ann Croissant, coordinator with the Glendora Community Conservancy. This plot of land serves to bring community members together to grow plants and vegetables.
Student Clubs and Organizations
Many students participate in a club or organization that addresses important issues, such as environmental stewardship and social justice. For a complete listing of Student Clubs and Organizations, visit the Office of Communiversity.
Mentoring Ministries
APU’s goal to train Christian workers who are "others-focused" finds fertile ground in the mentoring ministries programs. Students pair with others on a one-on-one basis offering friendship and guidance with those who are overlooked. These friendships often last far beyond the completion of the service requirement, changing the hearts and lives of the APU students as much as the ones they serve.
Best Buddies
In 1987, college student Anthony Shriver realized that people with mental disabilities lacked the opportunity to socialize with non-disabled peers. Recognizing college students’ energy and commitment to positively transform their communities, he brought the two groups together, creating Best Buddies International. Through Best Buddies, college students and people with mental disabilities (buddies) team up, providing a wider social circle and offering buddies a chance to explore a new way of life.
W.A.Y. Ministries
This exciting ministry connects APU students with Azusa middle and high school students for tutoring and mentoring focused on individual needs and abilities. W.A.Y., which stands for Walking with Azusa’s Youth, encourages APU students to walk alongside local students as they seek to excel and persist in school. As APU students tutor Azusa teens, they share more than just math or science, they share life together. W.A.Y. Ministries offers a great opportunity to learn about someone from a different background while sharing with that young person the love of Christ.
Young Life
This relationally focused ministry is an outreach based in local high schools throughout the San Gabriel Valley. Through weekly meetings, participants interact with students, build relationships, and present the Gospel in a relevant way. Visit their website at www.younglife.org.
Ministries with Children and Families
The needs of the community drive APU’s local ministries. Through these programs, the university develops relationships with churches and service agencies that strengthen the community’s connections and serve its people in a relevant and meaningful way. With the enthusiastic support of local pastors, APU students partner with their neighbors and work to establish continuity within each ministry.
Cerritos Kidz
This ministry gives APU students the opportunity to participate in community development through relationships with Azusa’s youth. Volunteers will have an opportunity to tutor local children, lead a wide variety of activities, facilitate an on-site library, conduct language classes with families, and participate in community meals. This program is an excellent way to live out the mission of Christ through relationships with others.
Our Neighborhood Homework House
Serving from two locations in Azusa, our Neighborhood Homework House is an opportunity to be a light for Christ in a neighborhood that has experienced much darkness. This community partner utilizes local apartment communities to provide ongoing support through tutoring, relationship development, Teen Night, and other special events throughout the year. Tutors touch the lives of young people academically, socially, and spiritually. For more information, visit their website.
Peach Factory
A long-standing APU tradition, Peach Factory is an after-school opportunity that provides a fun and safe environment for local children in the Slauson Park neighborhood. Through crafts, group games, tutoring, Bible curriculum, and snacks, APU students build consistent relationships. Peach Factory is a great way to positively interact with the children and families of Azusa.
A-Town Kids
Join with families at the San Gabriel Apartment Complex for tutoring, activities, and special events built around community care and relationships. Modeled after Cerritos Kidz, A-Town Kids seeks to come alongside residents to design a mutually beneficial experience for all participants. Focused on education and recreational activities, A-Town Kids creates opportunities for consistent relationships.
¡Viva Azusa! Soccer
Children in Azusa love to play soccer. This is an incredible avenue for promoting cross-cultural relationships and reciprocal learning between the youth of Azusa and APU students through the game of soccer. The children also learn important life lessons in teamwork through mentorship and coaching. Students also have an opportunity to take children to L.A. Galaxy games through the Kicks for Kids program. A growing partnership with the Azusa United Soccer League allows students to participate in coaching kids throughout the year.
Urban Ministries
Through agencies that have a constant presence in the greater Los Angeles area, students get to know others who may have different perspectives on life through their experiences in the context of the city. Agencies like SAY Yes! and Loving Hands give students an opportunity to gain tremendous insights into the complexity and promise of various urban centers in Los Angeles.
Azusa Food Bank/Centro Esperanza
The Azusa Food Bank at Centro Esperanza Church provides quality meals for families and individuals in the local area. Every Saturday, families gather for a meal and are provided with weekly groceries while children participate in activities with APU students. Students also can participate in one of the five food banks serving families throughout the week.
Door of Hope
At the Door of Hope, located in Pasadena, students will have the opportunity to serve and build relationships with families who are transitioning out of homelessness. Through after-school tutoring, free babysitting, work projects at the facility, and other activities with those living at the Door of Hope, volunteers will be challenged and encouraged in their life, faith, and concepts of love and justice.
Loving Hands
Through Loving Hands, APU students partner with families and children in the city of Pomona to build positive and consistent relationships. Loving Hands promotes change, well-being, and consistent care by pairing APU students in one-on-one relationships with children. These relationships are fostered through activities such as tutoring, recreational activities, and art.
S.A.Y. Yes! (Save America’s Youth)
Approximately 300 children live on skid row in downtown Los Angeles. Families in that area struggle daily to find food, shelter, and clothing. In the midst of this needy and broken population, children are looking for stable mentoring relationships that give them the strength to keep going. S.A.Y. Yes! participants invest themselves into the lives of young people in need of these types of relationships. Through tutoring, nutritional meals, recreation, and character development, children develop the tools to contribute to their community and to their families. To read more about S.A.Y. Yes!, see “How APU Has Been Saying Yes.”
