One of my favorite movies of all time is Fiddler on the Roof. It’s a story of a Jewish man named Tevye and his family in a small, turn-of-the-century Russian village. It’s cheesy and it’s a musical, but the reason I like it is that Tevye’s whole life revolves around God. He’s a peasant milkman, not a rabbi or a priest, but every facet of his life is shaped by his relationship with God, with whom he’s constantly talking. I want to be like Tevye.
“Jóven” translates to “young” or “young person” and this has been our latest project since about September last year: working with the young people of Arequipa. We had noticed that a lot of young people only had the option of drinking and going to clubs as a hangout but also found that a lot of young people do not have a space where they can explore their faith, ask questions, and be young. We were inspired to help some of the younger people in our church to connect in a way that was more real for them, to build future leaders, and encourage strong faith and community among these youth.
What began as four American missionaries sitting around a living room with one Peruvian listening to his ideas for development projects has grown into something much bigger. In 2009 we had one library functioning with an impact of around 20 people, in 2015 we will impact at least 650 lives in the library program alone. We have helped over 200 small business owners through loans, business management training, technical training and private management counseling...God has done more these last six years than we ever imagined, and shown us that there is so much more to come.
