What a ride is has been to see all the work happening through CUDA since it began in 2008! We initially identified specific needs for which we saw solutions and have been pursuing a closing of those gaps ever since. We have dreams of transforming education with a city full of schools that have functioning libraries, raising children who love to read and are encouraged to learn well every day. We envision small business owners who are passionate about their work with ideas of how to grow it being able to access the little boosts they need to take a new step and establish a reliable source of income for their families. We hope to see doctors able to teach the right patients how to prevent serious illness instead of barely keeping up with the emergencies and diseases that present themselves at the bustling clinic every day. We want to be more than a band-aid or reassurance, but to actually address the source of the problem and make it better, for real.
We love that you are part of it, that this network stretches across the hemispheres and around the world, and every hand that lends a few dollars or buys a book or helps pay one of our workers their salary for the month helps hold that network together. Even the people who come into the coffee shop or take a language class build more sustainability for this organization, so that we can dream bigger instead of scrambling just to keep the commitments we’ve already made. We need our workers, our supporters, ourselves, our target populations and our customers - the interweaving of them all keeps us afloat.
The reality of running an NGO is that it’s hard to keep all those connections taut. Interest wanes or the program hits a rough patch and makes everyone nervous. Tourist activity drops off in the rainy season and coffee sales go down. As Christians, we trust that God will provide even while yielding our own hopes and dreams to Him. It’s a tough place to be, to know when to let go of an effort that is not proving fruitful or when to be faithful to the vision when we can’t see how we can afford to serve those people. Yes, our experience is beautiful. Yes, we’ve learned a great deal. Yes, it’s been frustrating to navigate Peruvian red tape and time frames and international fundraising to keep things going. Yes, we are hopeful and excited about every new opportunity. Yes, we always need help to make it happen.
Development work is by nature slow, as we address the underlying systemic issues that restrict education, business advancement and health. In a numbers game, we won’t ever win. But in terms of long-term solutions, we are confident of our approach and the ways real change can happen.
We ask your prayers as we continue working, that there will be the right intersection of support and opportunities and willing participants to keep it all going.
- Pray for the success of our local coffee shop and language school.
- Pray for coffee sales in the US of A to continue growing, so that alongside donations, we have the solid foundation we need to build a lasting organization.
- Advocate for us, spreading the word and sending interested parties our way to fill in the gaps in our know-how or manpower or funds.
- Pray that we will see God’s provision so clearly that we press forward with renewed strength and courage.
- Pray for our workers to have wisdom in all their interactions, to learn to see the world with new eyes and have hearts like Jesus toward those who come to us for help.
And we pray that you recognize your value in this far-reaching web, as we each do our part and see it build together toward something else altogether, looking forward to His kingdom and the true healing that will fix every broken thing that we haven’t yet been able to reach.