How do you suppose the early church thought about “membership”? Or did they? Of course, the New Testament doesn’t mention anything about it. There are a number of references to specific house churches, which were identified by the owners of the houses (Rom 16:5; 1 Cor 16:19; Col 4:15; Philem 2). This doesn’t tell us much except that the owners were fixed members of particular congregations.
CUDA News: October
Another month, another update. There's been some big news that you may not have heard so get ready. Before I do I'd like to remind you all to pray for the safe travels of Greg and Megan (their kids too). They get back to Arequipa on the 28th and its fair to say that the work has missed them.
I'll start with Cafe Connection. After eight months of being open we were faced with an emergency situation. For months, we had been receiving notices from various banks and stores concerning the outstanding debt the owner of the building had accumulated. Well, at the end of September, a letter came threatening repossession of the building but, more important, it advised us that a bank had received authorization from the courts to enter the building by force and remove the possessions therein. This was understandably a serious concern, so we began to look for a new location in case the situation worsened and the cafe’s belongings were seized. One week into our search, Alfredo happened across an option downtown and after two or three visits we decided to sign the lease. We really like the new location and think it has a lot of potential. It is downtown, one block off of the main square in an old-style sillar building. We hope to reopen by the first of November, though this is still Peru, so we will see.
The micro-loan program is rolling along nicely. Paty is now in charge of more weekly group meetings than I am and she is running them better than I ever could. We are currently at the interviewing stage with one new group and a good number of loans are still available on the website with four more to be added soon (so go check it out (cudaperu.org/loans)! One new development in the micro-loan program is the addition of a new type of loan aimed at low-income homeowners in newly founded, under-developed communities. We hope to offer home-improvement loans at very low (or no!) interest for construction costs on their homes. I plan on posting more about this, including our reasons for offering these loans, but I hope you'll prayerfully consider helping these new borrowers improve their homes. More info coming soon!
As you may have read the public school teachers of Peru went on strike shortly before the McKinzies left for their furlough. About two weeks ago the strike slowly began to lift and Neil Cantrall, who was left in charge of the program, has began to get back to work in the schools. While he has not had a lot of opportunities to be with the kids this month he has had a lot of time to prepare, and to work with the volunteers of Put Them First, the NGO we partner with at one of the schools. Pray for the kids at the schools we partner with. They missed two months of school and must make up that time in order to move on to the next grade. As the school year winds down Megan will begin to meet with Neil and the other library workers to develop strategy and plan for next year. It should be an exciting one and we'll have a lot of things to announce before the year is out.
Well that seems to be all the big news to share for now, with more to come soon as there are some very exciting things in the works. Keep praying for the Peruvians we are trying to help, the CUDA staff and volunteers, and our stateside partners who help make this possible. We are grateful for all of you and your continued, prayerful, support.
In the Hard Times
As we wrote about at www.teamarequipa.net, our church has been hit with pain recently in a variety of forms. We have seen the brokenness of the world claim lives, friendships, marriages, and peace. I have watched fellow Christ-followers self-convict for not living in confidence, in trust and in faith - as if showing emotion and experiencing pain were somehow betraying the gift of grace.
We came at it head-on at our women’s meeting this month. In our final meeting at our first cafe location, we dug in our heels with our group of women and sought truth. Truth that would speak life into dark places. Truth that would dispel the fear and doubt of fearing and doubting. Truth that would remain when emotions and pain and struggles threaten to steal our security.
Why do bad things happen? Does God make them happen? Does God merely use them? How can we deal with it? Why does He feel so far? How do I keep from succumbing to my feelings? What do I do without my mom/sister/husband in my life?
But at the base of it all, where can I turn?
To Jesus. The One who wept at the sorrow of his friends and the loss of their brother even though He knew the outcome would be life again. The One who struggled with the temptation to use His power to control His difficult situation even though He knew the final goal was worth a more difficult road. The One who feared the plan He helped make even though He loved us enough to go through with it. The One who developed a friendship with Judas even though He knew that he would betray that relationship.
He understands. Loss and pain. Desire to make it all easy. Fear of hard things. Risk in openness. He felt it all.
Feeling, struggling, hurting, weakness, doubt, need, sadness, weariness - not sins.
Why do we turn the Bible into a description of the perfect Christian life and rob it of grace and personality? Why do we use it to paint an unrealistic picture and assume we could accomplish what no one in the history of the world has been able to do in following the rules “right”? Why do we create this persona that a “good” Christian should be this but not that? When did people fall beyond the reach of God’s love for being lost, ignorant or just plain imperfect in their best attempt? When did we stop seeing ourselves as those in need of Him? Why do we change His image into someone glaring down at us just waiting to pounce on our mistakes? Or in the other direction, why do we change His holiness and purity and power into warm-hearted care for our happiness that smooths the path, pats us on the head and sends us along with a lollipop - no challenge, no push for growth, no high standards to strive toward, no real expectation in the “die to self” command?
I get frustrated with the skewed ideas I encounter and the pain they cause to real, flawed people trying to follow such a confusing perception of God. I absolutely love digging for truth with others, not giving up until we find a firm foundation to rest on, finding real food to nourish our souls that simultaneously challenges us to refocus, try again, but with the confidence that He’s okay with our slip-ups in the attempt. To see that look in someone’s eye when they really grasp the freedom we have in Christ - Freedom to be messed up and lacking quite a lot. Freedom to feel our hurts and fears deeply. Freedom to come to Him with not a bit of spit polish work done. Freedom to be angry and disappointed with the way He is directing life these days. Freedom to not know what to say. Freedom to weep and not apologize for not being strong. Freedom to want so much more, but have no clue where to start. Freedom to be utterly exhausted and have nothing to give. Freedom to need Him so deeply we feel we might never be filled. Freedom to feel far, so far, away. Freedom from a list of rules to keep in order to show we really mean this faith walk thing. Freedom to have no idea what the list of rules really should be. Freedom to say the wrong thing. Freedom to do the wrong thing. Freedom to wish things were different.
It’s all covered.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Faith is not easy. Obedience is not easy. But it is no more a burden than a life preserver, or a rope that is pulling us to safety. We still feel the struggle, the fear, the realization of how close we have come (maybe multiple times) to being pulled under. But none of that negates the power of the One who holds on tight and pulls us in the right direction. Ease and calm are not the ideal signs of faith.
One Way to Look at It: Gates
Gates are meant to keep things separated, what is out from what is in. Arequipa is full of gates. People have gates outside their front doors so that they can exit and see who has come to call before actually allowing that person to enter. Driveways are almost nonexistent because car owners prefer a locked door protecting their possession rather than relying on the honesty of all passers-by. People even lock the car doors while they drive for fear that someone will open it and snatch their belongings right out of their hands. As a big city with enough stealing, the society as a whole has become good at circling the wagons and protecting what is “mine” and keeping away what is not.
Gates are meant to keep things separated.
I think we have missed the meaning of this too-familiar passage:
“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”
This is when Jesus declares Simon's name to be Peter, which is almost identical to the word for Rock. Peter is known for his impulsive actions. He dives in before he understands what is going on. He makes grand statements about Jesus’ identity, then chides Him for His actions. He walks out on water just because Jesus said it was possible. I like Peter, because he is anything but idle, even if his gut instinct isn’t right half the time. He was one of Jesus’ very best friends, likely because of his personality rather than in spite of it. But he seems anything but solid, as the basis for a church.
Except that when gates are in place to keep things separated, because then you need courage driven by sheer love and determination.
All too often, the mental image we get from this passage is something along the lines of “Oh, good. If people want to break free from their sinful life, they will be able to. And they know where to find this church built on a rock if they really want out.” Church, that is the wrong way to look at it.
I now picture people being dragged into the darkness, sometimes resisting, sometimes not realizing what is going on, sometimes drawn by their own desires. They are pulled until they are inside that gate and it clangs shut. They are trapped by forces that want them in a bad place. They might want to struggle against it, might even succeed (We love those stories, don’t we?), but we would never point the finger of fault at them for being stuck, broken, helpless, even clueless.
Those gates are meant to keep us separated.
I picture my own friends who still don’t follow Christ. Rather than seeing them as having defiant hearts and weapons drawn should I approach them with the idea of faith, I see them as caught, held, dragged down by all the things that we shouldn’t have to fight against. If I were walking with my friend and an animal attacked her, I would join in the fight to help free her. It would make no sense to wait for her to battle free so that I could help her heal.
I cannot let gates separate us.
Jesus said the gates of Hades (which represents death) can’t handle His Church. If His Church were like Peter, we would hear those words, draw our swords and storm the gates. I can just picture Peter declaring “These people are NOT YOURS!!!” and charging at the gates to break them wide open. Why? Because Jesus said it was possible. And Jesus said He could build a whole church on this attitude, and when that church takes action, there’s no stopping it. It’s not about being available. It’s about being determined that sin and death have been stripped of their power and there is no way that we are going to sit idly by and watch them continue wielding it.
Jesus died to remove the veil that separated us from God. We should not let gates trap any of His created children from being able to follow Him.
CUDA News: September
Our work here can be hard sometimes; and not for the reasons you might think. Sure being away from family and friends is hard. Learning a new language and culture (and learning how to survive in it!) is very difficult. Adjusting your thinking and work habits to be completely self-starting and constantly motivated is tough to be sure but all these things can be overcome with time and dedication to a vision. The part of working here that I have found hard lately is that I am constantly in contact with desperate people. People with little to no hope, people who have been hurt before, people can’t (or don’t want to) trust anymore. This isn’t the desperation of watching your children die while being unable to help - that is happening as I type this article and as you read it - but it is still desperation and I can feel its effect on me.
The lives of the people we work with have been hard. Unless their parents were able to afford a decent private school, they were educated in a system that is underfunded, understaffed, and underperforming. Bending or breaking rules is the norm. The police can be bribed at any and every opportunity which only helps to reinforce the generally vague feelings about the laws the government enacts. I mean, when your government passes laws in direct contradiction to each other, it is hard to tell legal right from wrong so why bother, right? Machismo still holds some sway in the lower classes so while a husband may spend his afternoon watching the soccer game, drinking with his buddies, his wife spends the day taking care of the kids, house and her side business with little thanks and no voice in her own home. This side business is the only income the wife will see as generally incomes are kept separate with each spouse taking individual responsibility of the various needs of the household. And when either one needs capital to help their business the banks are ready to step in and charge 50% interest (or more) per year, but that sounds pretty good because the money lenders down the street start out around 100% and go up from there. When that loan becomes too much to bear the individual, or family, will simply not pay because they know that, usually, the banks won’t actually take away their collateral and instead will just write the loan off. That’s good, but bad also because the next time they’ll have to borrow from friends, family, or that moneylender with his 100% interest.
I’ve only listed a handful of the situations we find ourselves facing and working in. When all of that comes together in a person I can’t help but see them as desperate. Desperately hoping that we will provide a small loan to keep their business going, or add that one little thing they never can save up enough to purchase on their own. Desperately waiting for someone to give them the time of day and listen to their words, to give their voice a place. They are desperate to receive a small solar panel in their home so that their kids can do homework with good lighting and not get candle drippings all over the homework (not to mention the damage being done to their eyes). Desperate and in need of friends that will build them up instead of tearing them down. This is what we do and I don’t mind admitting that it is hard. It is hard to connect that often and that deeply with desperate people because once they realize that we are willing to connect with them, and once they feel safe, they are all in. Filling in those gaps, sharing our beliefs, building up, encouraging, teaching, lending, learning. That is what we aim to do in Arequipa, to see desperate people and (acknowledging our own desperation) live in community with them.
Crossing Cultures: On Strike
Growing up, I remember hearing about strikes, but only through movies that were portraying times past, when forming a union and going on strike was the only way to combat those in power. Now, with all the employee protection laws and regulations, it kind of feels like stuff like that doesn’t have to happen anymore. Maybe it still does and I’m just unaware.
But here in Peru, strikes are still an active part of an employee’s life. The political structure is such that many businesses are run by one department of the government or another, so it is not uncommon for there to be country-wide strikes among employees of this or that office. Recently, they’ve been on a roll and one of our friends was involved in it, so we got a closer look at what it is all about.
Peru has socialized healthcare, which is handled by two groups. The larger group is the Ministerio de Salud (or the Health Department) and a smaller group is Es Salud (It is Health). They employ everyone, from nurses and technicians to surgeons. People can choose one or the other and purchase their “insurance” which means they will be seen at a minimal cost by the selected medical care provider.
A few months ago, Es Salud organized to demand pay raises that had not happened in over 15 years even though the cost of living has spiked. They wanted to fight for fair scheduling and equality, meaning that even those who worked less and made more wanted to strike for justice, to free their overworked and underpaid coworkers from the discrepancy. They knew that prices had risen for medical care, but weren’t seeing that money distributed toward actual patient care. So they did a warning strike, much like a sit-in. They planned (and warned their patients of) two days in which everyone came to work, and did absolutely nothing. They just sat there. They were warning the head honchos that that meant business, and that if this little strike didn’t have an effect, they would plan and execute an indefinite strike.
The two days didn’t work, so a few weeks later, after organizing and filing the required paperwork with the government to prevent job losses, they went back on strike. And it was not that they just stopped working. They held marches all over the country. They met frequently to give feedback and encouragement to the representatives that were handling meetings with the authorities. They spread awareness. They scheduled shifts to man the emergency and intensive care units to ensure patient care, but refused to sign in as attending work so as not to get credit for it.
Nothing happened for weeks. The last steps would be a hunger strike, then a thirst strike, where they rallied together in the city square, camped out in tents to wait it out; first without eating, then without even drinking. Luckily it didn’t reach that point, but they were on strike for almost a month before the government intervened and told the executives to figure it out and make it stop. They finally came to an agreement and everyone began scrambling to catch back up with the backlog of patient needs that had gone unaddressed for a month.
About 10 days after their strike ended, the Ministerio de Salud started their, for the same purposes. This has directly affected some ill friends of ours who are in need of surgeries to remove a gall bladder and a spleen. Since they are not emergency situations, they have to wait until the strike is over.
Additionally, in the middle of all of this, the public school teachers went on strike and have been for three weeks now. There are numerous private schools that are still in session, but the effect is still widespread, reaching even to the public universities. We have seen times that taxi and bus drivers will go on strike to argue the price of gas, demanding that the government subsidize so that they can do their jobs.
It has been interesting to consider how all of this plays out. For one, it doesn’t make sense to me why the decision makers in these businesses wouldn’t just come to the table ready to talk. They haven’t had pay increases in 15 years? Did they think it wasn’t coming? Allowing your services to go unused, dragging out the process, seems like bad business to me. And while I can appreciate that the doctors made sure the critical cases were handled, not leaving people without any care, there were still plenty of moms whose kids had a fever or elderly who struggled with a problem that had to deal with it alone or at extra cost.
And I know that the public schools are a place of struggle, for teachers and students. Peru has very poor public education, and if the teachers are battling for the ability to do better, I applaud that. But in the meantime, the little kids who were on the brink of learning to read have lost their momentum, and the parents poor enough to use the public school system, who relied on having a school day to work for income are stuck finding Plan B.
It highlights to me the brokenness of this world. We are created to work together, filling in where someone else cannot, encouraging and supporting one another. And it frustrates me that we must turn to battles and strikes to work together toward something better. That those stuck in the middle who want to care for or teach others must leave that work to throw down the gauntlet and force the hand of the powerful. It makes me tired of power struggles and abuse of control and long for the day when everyone will realize how futile their silly grasp on their limited world really was, when it finally all changes and becomes obvious just Who holds every key. And He heeds the concerns of the world and works for our good...no strikes necessary.
One Way to Look at It: Recovery Takes Time
I spent the better part of the month of July taking care of sick kids. Stomach bug followed by a random fever followed by a head cold that led to a cough and passed to the baby who quickly developed bronchitis and required shots and breathing treatments. And I went through a few of those myself. Needless to say, I didn’t get out much.
But I did spend lots of time calming ill children, trying to help them be comfortable enough to rest and heal, fighting them to get down another dose of medicine. They were unhappy and resisted my efforts, not understanding the benefit that would come if they would trust my intentions and let the prescribed solution work. They were exhausted, stuck in a vicious cycle of not resting well due to feeling bad, leading to feeling worse due to being extra tired. I knew they needed sleep, but they struggled to relax. I was fully focused and invested in their well-being, but they weren’t experiencing well-being at the time and didn’t understand why I wasn’t fixing everything faster.
Have you made the metaphoric jump yet?
It hit me one night as I tried to soothe a flailing baby who was just tired of coughing and needed real rest:
I’m the baby and God is the parent. He’s working to make it better and I’m just crying my eyes out that life is hard and if this is His concern for me, why does it sometimes seem all wrong? I end up frustrated with God for not snapping His fingers like Mary Poppins and having everything swoosh right back into place.
I must remember that this world is broken, even splintered to the core in places. Kind of like a tire swing that has been given a violent shove, the world got off kilter when sin entered and we are holding on for dear life as our reality flips and spins and sways. If you're facing the right way and holding on well, it can be fun. But then the tire spins and the ground seems to tilt the wrong way and your hand slips and you can't tell which way is down, and it's at least unsettling, if not downright scary.
And the thing is, God isn't doing it to us. He is right there with us, caring for us, fully focused and invest in our well-being, even if we are not experiencing it at the moment. Our fear or loss doesn't change that.
Sometimes I must accept periods of recovery, when things aren't going well for real reasons that need time to be set right again. When I experience unwellness, it's natural to want it all better, right away. But just as I want my children to trust my efforts, intentions and timing, so must I trust God's for me.
Big Things are Happening
I feel like I start every library article this way, but... things are really exciting in the library program. I wanted to write an article on all that is going on so that you are well-informed when I come in for furlough. I have several things to share.
1. I went with the CUDA staff to talk with the directors of the education and psychology departments about our program. My job is to model for the teachers reading comprehension strategies that they can use across the curriculum. But what I have found (among the third grade classes where I am working) is that many of the students we are serving cannot benefit from learning the strategies until they learn to read fluently. In order for the children to work on fluent reading, they need daily one-on-one attention. We went to Alas Peruanas (one of the major universities) to ask for student volunteers to come and read to students. I hope to see this paired reading program kicked off by the end of this month before I leave. The directors were excited about the opportunity, and gave us permission to advertise the need among their student body. Please pray for this program, and pray for open doors to share the gospel message with university students.
2. Along with one-on-one attention, we need to know exactly what reading level these children are on. I feel immensely blessed that God has brought a fellow missionary onto the field here in Arequipa, Neil Cantrall, who is equipped to train us in the ways of evaluating these students. Neil just recently moved here with his family. They are looking to partner with other NGO's and Christian groups where they can be used. Neil taught 4th grade reading in a bilingual setting in the US. It really does seem like God knew exactly what we lacked in the program and sent Neil our way. There really is no other way to describe it. What is even cooler is that Neil will be working with the classes and training my good friend, and sister, Nadia, in the evaluations. They are taking over for me, and they will be leading the volunteer program while I am gone. Please pray for their work, and pray for the evaluation component of the program to help us serve the students' needs even better.
3. The program has some really exciting opportunities in the near future. Greg and I will be talking to different Rotary clubs to raise awareness and initiate a discussion of applying for grant money to go toward our library program. The grant would come from an international partnership between a US chapter and a chapter here in Arequipa. For those of you that don't remember, Alfredo, the executive director of CUDA, is a past president of the Arequipa Rotary Club chapter. Pray for our presentations, and pray for open hearts of Rotarians to see the needs of the Peruvian school children that we serve.
4. I am in contact with the directors of education at both Harding University and Abilene Christian. I am scheduling times to meet with faculty and students in the area of education to plan for future internships, a possible education campaign, and just to bounce ideas off of professors that are more knowledgeable than me. I am very excited to share about the program and meet new contacts to further the good work God is doing among us. Pray for all of those things that I will be discussing.
5. And finally, working in these schools has opened a door for us to become more active in the school culture. We will be offering a series of talks on different topics for parents. Schools want to offer education to parents. We are blessed in our Peruvian church family with many who are experts in different areas. So please pray for the planning of that series, and the ones that will share with others that may have never received the opportunity otherwise. Now do you see what I mean? It is overwhelming to me to think of the potential of this program and where it is headed. God is in control, and he has blessed the work immensely. Glory to his name!
Some of you may have already been thinking this way, but something new struck me the other day. We are serving in Arequipa, trying our best to live out a holistic ministry– serving the whole person. I have reached a conclusion for one end goal of the library work. We are teaching children to read fluently. We are teaching children to use comprehension strategies to better understand and delve into texts. If those children can master those things, what can stop them from picking up a Bible and understanding the gospel story? So many Peruvian adults cannot read well or comprehend the passages we read with them. It is my deepest longing that out of this program, Peruvians will be equipped to read the Gospel message for themselves and proclaim it among their family and friends.
The Better Question
In 2005, Kyle and I flew to Lima, Peru for the Pan American Lectureships. We hoped to gain some perspective on the Peruvian church and meet other missionaries from around Latin America. We were aware that the “marriage-divorce-remarriage” controversy had split the Peruvian church. In fact, in addition to the usual Lectureship activities, some of the visiting missionaries attempted to bring the two sides together for the first time in many years. It was and is an ugly situation.
As observers still years from entering the mission field, we did not expect the controversy to touch us personally. Moreover, while the conflict was clearly real, it all seemed caricatured—tales of preachers trained to travel around and insinuate themselves into congregations in order ferret out the false brothers; which is to say, in order to split churches. Fixating on an issue or reducing salvation to a single conclusion is one thing–a historically typical thing—but a country-wide witch hunt was another thing altogether. It was surreal.
Then a young Peruvian preacher who had heard were were planning to work in Arequipa approached us during a coffee break. “I hear you are going to Arequipa,” he said. “Yes, that’s right,” we responded. “What do you think about marriage-divorce-remarriage,” he inquired directly. There was no avoiding the confrontation. It was already pursuing us.
Yet, we’ve had no part in that internecine strife. Instead, our friends’ marriage struggles have confronted us. What Scripture says about marriage has come alive as God’s own wisdom for living well in our most challenging relationships. It is only by contrast that the tragedy of using Scripture as a bludgeon to defend one’s legal verdict. The urgent question that comes from every direction is not whether one is allowed to get divorced or remarried but how to stay married despite the difficulty it involves. The former is a question worth exploring, but the latter is far more important. Jesus himself said that divorce existed because of hardness of heart—the same affliction that he diagnosed in his apostles—which leads me to believe that the more fundamental question in his mind was how to soften hearts. Our friends who ask for biblical guidance to better their marriages are not asking which commandments they must obey but how to obey. They are asking to be discipled; they are asking for softened hearts. Imagine if the Pharisees had asked that instead. Imagine if the Peruvian church had.
Requests for sound counsel led Abraham and me to offer a marriage seminar, which we recently completed. For five Saturday evenings we explored the nature and purpose of marriage. The sixth and final class was cancelled because of José Luis and Miriam’s wedding. Preparations for the ceremony were more than they could manage alone, but the church members worked together to make it happen. It was a tremendous thing to witness the church rally behind Miriam, who is a new Christian, and bless their union with service and love. I much prefer to see the unity of the church upholding a marriage than to see a teaching against divorce dividing the church.
CUDA News: August
Last year we wrote about the “plan” we had for CUDA. That plan included bringing three Peruvians (Alfredo, Paty, and Abraham) on board as paid full-time employees. Like all plans, good or bad, they run their own course and the new year found us only able to bring Alfredo on as the Executive Director for CUDA. Though we really wanted to hire them all at the same time the funding simply wasn’t there so we started with Alfredo and decided to work towards a middle of the year hire for the other two. Well we missed that mark as well but thankfully we found ourselves in a position to hire Abraham and Paty on a part-time basis starting in August. So it is with a lot of joy and thankfulness to God that I can announce, officially, that CUDA now has three Peruvian directors working together to bring about justice, wellbeing, and joy in the city.
Megan’s article gives an in depth update in her article this month so you should check it out and pray over all that is happening with the teachers, volunteers, and students involved in the program. On the micro-finance side things are running better than ever. We have added two new groups in as many months and have one new group that just began forming this week. Bringing Paty on board this month has been a huge blessing to the program. Instead of just diving into the middle of things (which is where she already was) she decided to go back to the beginning and re-familiarize herself with all of our plans and practices regarding the loan groups which has led to some healthy questioning of our policies. Abraham jumped right in this month and began the difficult process of becoming familiar with everything we do, every program we have and every person we work with so he can help make all of what the NGO does more holistic. Sometimes we get bogged down with the details and mundane process of running a program that we can allow the spiritual side of our work to slide to the back burner. Abraham’s job is to make sure that doesn’t happen. One thing he did this month was plan and hold a seminar on motivation (a necessary topic for college students who just began a new semester) at Alas Peruanas, a university where we are making connections. Pray for our directors as they learn to work together as a team, ministering to the city of Arequipa.
One last thing to mention and petition prayers for is our continuing education. While on the field we are always learning. Sometimes that learning happens through books or classes and sometimes (often) through trial and error. In September Alfredo will begin a masters program from a university in Lima (via distance learning) in NGO management and I will begin an online program in international development from a university in England. Our hope is that with further education we will be better equipped to serve the people of Arequipa to whom CUDA reaches out.