CUDA News: January

For the past few years now one of my primary jobs has been overhauling and then managing CUDA’s micro-finance operations. This sounds really complex, and it probably should be, but for now I’ve kept things simple. Thanks to Greg (research, creativity), Paty (Peruvian connections, business training), and a lot of trial and error we’ve managed to make 31 loans to 29 different Peruvian entrepreneurs. What started out as a useful division of labor has turned in to one of my favorite jobs here in Peru. It has been challenging and frustrating, rewarding and surprising. As I begin the process of searching for a new group (or two) part of me cringes at the time and number of cell phone calls I’ll need to invest to get the groups formed and approved, but a larger part of me is excited and eagerly awaiting the new relationships that will be formed - and that is the most surprising part of our micro-loan program, the relationships.

Going into this project we knew that it would afford us opportunities to meet a lot of new people and make new friends. The potential was there for bible study and converts, but first and foremost we knew that opportunities to bless borrower’s lives (with more than just a loan) would present themselves. I have been blown away by what has happened. Put simply, God has worked. Oh we haven’t had an in-depth bible study with every person or baptized 20% of our borrowers,but we have encountered people struggling to make ends meet, searching for a way to pick themselves and their family up just a little bit, looking for help. On the surface these people, our friends, look like any ordinary person with a business—busy with but a few minutes to spare, if you can find them. Once the loan has been made and regular contact established (via weekly borrower meetings) we discover an incredible amount of openness.

The openness is expressed in numerous ways. Mothers start sharing about their families, both the good and the bad. Group time becomes prayer time as daughters-in-law process the deaths of their mothers-in-law. What starts out as a simple “share about your week” session turns into an hour long discussion on death, heaven, and whether or not we really will have our own mansions in the great by-and-by. A difficult week for a group member turns into a brainstorming session on ways they can improve their business in the coming days. The rainy season and vacationers are blamed for a drop in sales. An upcoming surgery is prayed over. A borderline abusive relationship is counseled against. To summarize, life is shared.

And it is this, life being shared, which sums up our reason for having a micro-loan program. We know it is unconventional. We also know it might not result in overflowing church meetings. What we do know is that it results in relationships being formed and life being shared and in those moments God works. Through this program we’ve been led to a group of Christians needing connection to the family at large and been able to study with a few individuals. We’ve been able to be present and let God work through us to bless the lives of Peruvians. And that is why we are here in the first place.

Chapter by Chapter

What an exciting January!  We have so much going on, and to be honest, I don't see it slowing down anytime soon.  First, this September marks the beginning of our final year in the contract.  Please be in prayer with us over the future of the work here and our families.  Also, both families will be traveling to the states for furlough.  The Smiths leave in early March and my family will leave in mid-August.  We are excited to see our supporters and hug on some people we haven't seen in quite a while.

CUDA seems to have started rolling, and it isn't slowing down.  I am elated that Alfredo Oporto, our brother in Christ and the first person we met in Arequipa, has taken the reigns of executive director.  Kyle, Larissa, Greg, and I are all volunteers now.  I attended my first library meeting early this month to discuss the future of the program.  I was an expert volunteer called in to help with curriculum development for the reading literacy program.  I cannot express how wonderful it is to see the Peruvians take charge of something that we began 3 years ago.  Sustainability has always been our dream for this work, and putting Peruvians in charge is the first major step to making it a reality.

We are planning a team day retreat.  We have a long strategy document listing the goals and dreams we had for this work year-by-year.  The elderships all signed on to it, and as a team, we are revisiting the document to pray and dream further about where we are and what the future holds.  We can plan all we want, but his ways being higher than our ways becomes quite clear when you can look back over four years of the ministry.

This month has also been a month of good-byes.  Anna and Sakari, the Finnish couple that worked with CUDA for 4 months, left on the 21st.  One of our friends that was associated with the mine here left on the 24th (we had a ladies Bible study group in English that she was part of).  And, Rachel Steele is preparing to leave on February 15.  Her two year commitment has come to an end.  So, though sad to say these good-byes, it is a reminder to me that God's story is full of new chapters, and we learn to go with it.