Who we are? ¿Quienes somos?

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Sobre Nosotros

​El Programa de Jóvenes al Voluntariado (YAV) de la Iglesia Presbiteriana (PCUSA) brinda una oportunidad para que los jóvenes, de entre 19 y 30 años, trabajen junto a socios locales en comunidades de todo el mundo. Los jóvenes responden a la pobreza, la violencia y la injusticia, compartiendo el evangelio en palabras y hechos. Los voluntarios practican una vida sencilla en una comunidad intencional y exploran el crecimiento espiritual, la justicia social y el discernimiento vocacional a lo largo de su año de servicio.

El sitio Tucson Borderlands (Las Fronteras) está abierto a cualquier persona de fe o de buena voluntad que desee caminar en solidaridad con nuestros socios y experimentar las alegrías y los desafíos de la vida en una comunidad diversa. Como un@ YAV en Tucson Borderlands, usted se hace parte de una comunidad más grande de  jóvenes que vienen de Norteamérica, Centroamérica, Sudamérica y Europa. 

Nuestra misión se centra en construir relaciones y comunidad en ambos lados de la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México para enfrentar las barreras del racismo, la injusticia social y la alteridad que existen en las zonas fronterizas. También vivimos esta misión construyendo deliberadamente asociaciones en la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México que brinden una respuesta de múltiples niveles a cómo las barreras en nuestras sociedades dañan particularmente a las comunidades inmigrantes y pobres para amplificar la respuesta de bienvenida y refugio de la iglesia. Por lo tanto, muchas de nuestras organizaciones asociadas están comprometidas con el trabajo humanitario de dar la bienvenida a inmigrantes y refugiados.
The body of Christ is represented in two peanut butter sandwiches eaten in a dusty yard, on the job with Community Home Repair Projects of Tucson, Arizona.  O unas tazas de café llenas con el amor de Dios que se comparte en la cafetería de Cafe Justo en Agua Prieta, Sonora. 

About the Program

The Presbyterian Church (USA) Young Adult Volunteer Program provides an opportunity for young adults, age 19-30, to serve alongside local partners in communities around the world. YAVs respond to poverty, violence and injustice, sharing the gospel in word and deed. Volunteers practice simple living in intentional community, and explore spiritual growth, social justice, and vocational discernment throughout their year of service. 
The Tucson Borderlands site is open to any person of faith or good will who has a desire to walk in solidarity with our partners and experience the joys and challenges of life in a diverse community. As a YAV you become a part of a larger community of young adults who come from North America, Central America, South America and Europe.

Our mission is centered around building relationships and community on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border to confront barriers of racism, social injustice and otherness that exist in borderlands. We also live out this mission by purposely building partnerships on the U.S./Mexico border that provide a multi-level response to how barriers in our societies particularly harm immigrant and poor communities to amplify the church’s response of welcome and refuge. Therefore, many of our partner organizations are committed to the humanitarian work of  welcoming immigrants and refugees.


What's unique about this borderlands site?

  • Biking! Tucson YAVs use bicycles as their main mode of transportation. This keeps us close to our community, is better for the Earth, and helps us live simply (cars are expensive!). Not sure biking is for you? Let's talk -- we can figure out what will work. 
  • Binational Partnership! Tucson is only 70 miles from the U.S./Mexico border. Each year, some YAVs are placed with Frontera de Cristo, a binational border ministry of the PC(USA) that works in the Mexican town of Agua Prieta. This partnership means that YAVs in Tucson share community with people who are living and working in Mexico. We're the only national YAV site with this kind of international partnership.
  • Bocational Discernment! (Okay, it's actually vocational  discernment, but we have this "B" theme going...) YAVs in Tucson spend some of their community time each month in a facilitated vocational discernment session, learning spiritual practices and reflection tools for discernment. Tucson Borderlands YAVs are also connected with a discernment partner from the local community to offer another chance to reflect and be supported as an individual.
Want to be a YAV/Quiere ser un@ YAV?
Know someone?/Conoce alguien? 
Want to learn more?/Quiere aprender más?