“CUDA is an organization committed to promoting holistic wellbeing in vulnerable populations, encompassing physical, mental, emotional, and relational aspects—all of which are part of spiritual wellbeing. As change-agents, CUDA channels resources and implements programs that empower sustainable improvements in the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities.”
This renewed description of our mission was the beginning of a committed three-day strategy session with Chad Smith of CI Solutions, Clint Davis of Kibo Group and the Tulsa Christian Foundation, and CUDA board member Easton Proffit-Davis. The CUDA team was incredibly blessed to get to work with this trio and dream toward the future as we worked toward a 5-year strategic plan.
This visit was on the heels of a visit from almost the entire board of the Bobbie Solley Foundation, longtime CUDA partners and all-around amazing people. After visiting Arequipa, we took a special trip to Cusco where Adileen and Kinney got to be special guides for Lilah and Daisy. We are deeply thankful for the time we spent with Bobbie Solley, the Sproles, the Dherdes, and the Fraziers and for the foundation’s ongoing support of Living Libraries.
The outcome of our strategic planning with Chad, Clint, and Easton: a renewed vision and mission, a long-term strategic plan, and a one-year plan with how we start to make progress toward our long-term goals. Chad also walked us through how we work month to month to make progress toward the bigger picture.
It’s essential to underscore that Chad drew this out of the team. It was the Peruvians who did the work of praying through and naming what we see God on the verge of doing through CUDA. Clint and Easton were prayer partners in the background through the whole process and Chad turned things over for the team to work on in Spanish. This collaborative process was incredibly engaging, injected new energy into the organization, and established shared priorities that will guide our work in the years ahead.
Easton Proffitt-Davis, on the daily process to get there
From Easton, regarding Day 1:
The team first looked at the mission statement and made clarifications and alterations that are “still in Jello”— meaning they might want to edit as the process goes along.
They then started building the organization’s 5 year breakthrough objectives by writing down statements on post it notes on what they want the organization to be in 5 years. They then did a silent activity where they grouped these post its into larger “themes” together. They finished by voting on these themes with scores of “1, 3, 9” and they took the top three themes and turned them into statements that are first drafts of the organization’s 5 year objectives. They then re-evaluated the post-it’s to ensure the statements completely captured the ideas in the themes.
Day 2:
Today, they worked on annual objectives that focus on what the organization can be a year from now, that are aligned with the 5 year objectives:
The team decided what was important to measure to achieve their annual objectives (the metrics) and decided which staff member would be “accountable for” ensuring the metric gets recorded and reporting it to the team.
Then, the team developed ”top-level work items,” including responsibility assignments/targeted deadline dates, that need to get done to achieve annual objectives (basically, the “how are we going to get there”).
Day 3:
Today, the team went back to the annual objectives and breaking down when, and how many, of those metrics will happen each month from now to October 2026 and will develop a monthly review process to track progress on the indicators and overall annual objectives. Then, they presented this new vision and strategic plan to the strategy consultants and CUDA board!
For me (Jeremy), one of the coolest parts of this process was hearing Paty, Lucia, Nancy, Nohelia, and Carlos pray for each other, for the organization, and for the process of discerning our future vision. The whole team works extremely hard and this three-day creative work bonanza was such a joy to witness and be a part of. Since that week in October, the CUDA team has already met several times to make the monthly check-in a part of our regular work process and are making progress toward our short-term goals. And the team continues to take turns praying for each other and the work that we’re doing!
The work God is doing:
As we come to the end of the year, we write reports for the grants and foundations that support and prepare an annual report for all of you who make this work possible. You are our partners in this, and for that we are so deeply thankful. Doing this reflecting at the end of the year also helps us zoom out and think about this work as a partnership in God’s mission—what we believe God is doing in the world.
There are some really special things to share, but I want to use one specific story to illustrate just how our work has the potential to overlap with God’s creation of life and light in dark spaces. The woman Paty has been reading the Bible with (who had asked for a more personal, consistent time of reading together), her name is also Patti and she is from the rainforest region and has only ever known life as a prostitute. Paty and Katie are always careful as they talk with this group, not to judge their situation or assume they know what life is like, but our Paty finally felt a nudge to ask Patti about whether she aspired to something different. Patti said that she was only good for sex work and could never do anything else, and in that moment our Paty was able to speak beautiful truth into her life about her potential and giftedness and for the first time Patti is looking at something different!
Paty and Katie’s work with women like Cata and Patti give us a huge amount of hope as we thinking about what God is doing to bring healing to a hurt and broken group of people in our city. May the God who is at work within us do way more than anything we can ask or imagine and we continue to work in community development.
We need your help:
We’re incredibly excited with where we’re headed. Our small team is working with multiple elementary schools to improve reading comprehension. Since 2013 we have worked with 200+ teachers and principals in 23 different schools and have impacted over 10,000 kids! We build community with people from vulnerable communities, especially former sex workers and Arequipa’s marginalized transgender community. In addition to the ongoing work in reading education with public schools and community development with marginalized groups, we’re working toward a future as described in these three future-oriented breakthrough objectives (statements made imagining what we can say about where we are five years from now):
1. CUDA is a recognized research center that monitors and measures impact in reading education, contributing to the community through publications and teaching at undergraduate and/or graduate universities in education and related fields.
2. CUDA has expanded its staff with specialized teams and strategic alliances across various action areas, creating opportunities for individual and group promotion and growth.
3. CUDA specializes in community development processes for vulnerable and marginalized populations, serving as a regional benchmark with a multidisciplinary team that promotes comprehensive well-being.
We do this all because of Jesus. We believe this is all part of CUDA sowing kingdom seeds of justice, wellbeing, and joy through sustainable community development. When God is reigning in the city, people experience reconciliation in sustainable, community-shifting ways.
Where do you fit in? We need strategic partners. If you’re willing to pray for us, we beg for you to do that regularly. If you’re in a position to contribute monthly, would you please join in? If you represent a church or organization looking to expand its participation in God’s mission, get in touch about what this might look like for 2026 and beyond.
