In 5+ years in Peru, we have never lacked anything. You have supported us, prayed for us, sent us birthday cards and Christmas treats. You have visited us or sent a representative group to bless us. CUDA, our non-profit, has grown and some of you support that kingdom work there with monthly or end-of-year donations. When it looked like CUDA might not make budget in 2019 and I asked for help at the end of a long newsletter, we had $8,000 by the end of the week. God has been faithful. Your Epaphroditus-style generosity and sacrifice is beautiful and glorifies God.
Every so often we get an email that leads to an unsolicited gift. This time it was $1,500 from a young couple to help the children’s home (Casa Hogar el Amor de Dios) that we help mentor and try to bless as a church. So today I went with Jose Ingalls, the founder and director of the children’s home, prepay 10 months-wroth of beef at the market and to the gas plant to prepay for 24 gas tanks that will help the three homes cook for the year. This children's home takes care of 60 kids on a shoestring budget, and money for this type of thing—especially the gas they need to cook—is very hard to come by. Jose and Gloria had been praying that God would provide a source of income for this. As God would have it, God answered.
Praise God for this gift given in secret. Praise God for heroes like Jose and Gloria who have dedicated their lives to taking care of vulnerable children and doing all they can to make sure their physical and spiritual needs are met. Praise God for friends like Josh and Nicole Wilke who are working in Arequipa so that kids like these in Peru can be taken care of by families instead of in institutionalized care. Praise God—because the mission is huge and multi-faceted, and there’s a place for all of us.
An article about children's homes vulnerability when funding they depend on from other countries seems to be going down.
While we were in the market, we picked up "some fruit donations"—turned out to be about 10 boxes of fruit close to being overripe to take to the homes.