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MAS Ministries and Partnerships

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Retirement Center Ministries

The Retirement Center 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 Atria Senior Living.

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.

Atria Senior Living

APU students love visiting Atria Senior Living weekly because it is much more than a place for older people to live, but provides companionship, comfort and fun for the residents. Students enjoy getting to know residents through games, activities, and building deep and meaningful relationships. Contact MAS 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.

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.

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.

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.

Open Door Soccer League (ODSL)

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 Church of the Open Door in Glendora allows students to participate in coaching kids throughout the year.

Azusa Renaissance

The Azusa Renaissance is a nonprofit, community cultural development program that creates citywide experiences in the performing arts for citizens from all stages of life from Azusa and its surrounding neighborhoods. Volunteers will have an opportunity to participate in their after-school program and help grade-school students learn the basics of theater and acting. (Participants do not need prior theater experience.)

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

The Azusa Food Bank provides quality meals for families and individuals in our surrounding community. Every week, students aid in providing a variety of services, including child care and food distribution, at one of many food bank locations, partnering with members of the Azusa community in building relationships with those we serve.

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.

Central City Community Outreach

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. Central City Community Outreach 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 Central City and their S.A.Y. Yes! program, see “How APU Has Been Saying Yes.”