The Los Embajadores experience is grounded in service work. However, this work, important as it is by itself, ultimately serves as a conduit through which the entire program flows. It is through our work that we build relationship with and share in the lives of the communities of Tijuana and Vicente Guerrero. Los Embajadores emphasizes that our service work is an act of working with the people of Mexico and not for them – sharing our labor as they share their food, their homes, and their lives with us. Serving in this manner is often a humbling experience.

As Robert Nolan, a missionary priest living in South Africa, stated in his article, "Spiritual Growth and the Option for the Poor:

We are inclined to think that we can, or must, solve the problems of the poor... We must go out and rescue them because they are helpless. There may even be some idea of getting them to cooperate with us. There may be some idea of teaching them to help themselves. But it's always 'we' who are going to teach 'them' to help themselves. There is a tendency to treat the poor as poor, helpless creatures... Real solidarity begins when we discover that we all have faults and weaknesses. They may be different faults because of our different social backgrounds and our different social conditions. We may have very different roles to play, but we have all chosen to be on the same side against oppression. We can work together and struggle together against our common enemy, the unjust policies and systems, without ever treating one another as inferior or superior, but having a mutual respect for one another while recognizing the limits of our social conditioning.

When service programming is done well, the results can be life changing. We experience a bonding and identification with the people we serve, and we realize how meaningful a life of service to others can be. Whether this is sorting bread for a soup kitchen, digging a hole for a foundation, or mixing concrete by hand, direct service shows that our Christian faith requires sacrifice and commitment.

Finally, and as importantly, Los Embajadores seeks to do works of service that best meet the needs and interests of our host communities. We do work projects designed by our host community, supervised by local individuals, and executed using the methods of our local partners. This process reinforces that we are not going into Mexico, as Albert Nolan says above, to “solve the problems of the poor.” Rather, we seek to enter into solidarity and learn from them as we work with them.

I could go into endless details about that we did and why, but it all boils down to a very powerful but simple component. My words do not do the trip justice, but we came to help those in need and in turn, we were helped. I gained a community and a bond was forged between us. In other words, we were blessed. We workd hard and lived simply and gained wisdom.
~2008 Los Embajadores participant

In Mexico we were the workers but we not only had to spread the cement, first we had to make it. We had to get the dirt, add the cement mix, get the gravel, and pour on the water. Then came the hardest part which was mixing it. We didn't have a truck but we had the next best thing..........shovels! We spent hours mixing the cement and the days that followed we felt pain in muscles we didn't know we had.
~2008 Los Embajadores participant