In late 2011, we asked for help in funding a new facet of our work here in Arequipa, Café Connection. Thanks to your help we were able to obtain a building for not just the cafe but that would also serve CUDA in a variety of ways. We opened the cafe in February of last year in what we thought would be its home for a long time, but plans often change unexpectedly here and this was no exception. Due to problems with the building’s ownership, we were forced to look for a new place, resulting in our current location in downtown Arequipa. Strategically, this location is far superior and we feel blessed to have found it, and to have gotten such a good deal from the owner. After only three months of regular operation in the new location, we are seeing more clients and higher sales than we had begun to have at the previous location.
This is important because we didn’t open the cafe just to have a place to hang out, nor to drink delicious coffee. We opened this business to begin generating income for the organization as part of a long-term strategy of sustainability, and to open new avenues for spreading news of our social justice projects in Arequipa. It is quite rewarding to see how far the cafe has come after a year in operation, especially considering that four months ago we changed location. Already the cafe is nearing self-sustainability and with the added traffic of being downtown, the cafe workers are having lots of opportunities to share about CUDA projects. Just today, a couple from Florida, who had visited the cafe yesterday and learned about us, dropped off books for the library program. They had brought books with them to donate to a voluntourism agency, but after learning about our work yesterday decided to leave them with us. We’ve made contact with other NGOs, tourist agencies, and businesses with whom we might partner, all thanks to the cafe. The cafe has also served as a place for our churches to host events such as women’s meetings, parenting seminars and college student gatherings.
So a big thank you to all of you who have prayed for Cafe Connection to be a success both financially and ministerially. Keep praying! Soon we’ll officially launch a language school, our next step toward keeping CUDA as self-sustaining as possible. You can stay in the know by following CUDA and Cafe Connection on FB or Twitter.
Creating a Culture of Literacy
This March has been an exciting month for the Living Libraries leg of CUDA. One must understand when working in Peru that patience is key. If someone tells you that it can happen in a week, just go ahead and expect a month. If someone schedules a meeting for you “first thing in the morning,” expect to wait the majority of the morning to be seen. This can all be very frustrating, but God knew that I needed five years of living here to expect this four years into the program. I have had to demonstrate a lot of patience this month, but things are slowly coming together, and it is so exciting to see it unfold...
Church in Arequipa: Commitment
One Way to Look at It: Light vs. Fire
If you ask a Christian what their responsibility is toward the world, many would use the image of light. Thanks to the popular children’s song, we all know we need to let it shine and not hide it under a bushel or let the devil blow it out. Jesus used this idea to clarify for his followers their purpose, which is the same for us now.
Be a light.
What does that mean? Well, what does light do? It touches everything nearby, showing the truth of what it is. Only in darkness can anything hide; light defines and causes nothing...it serves to illuminate the existing reality.
The problem is when we attribute tasks to ourselves that have nothing to do with that task. What does light not do? It doesn’t cause change. It doesn’t purify. It doesn’t harm or benefit whatever it shines on, besides the natural consequence of being shown.
Fire does that. Fire changes whatever it touches. Fire purifies. It does cause harm or benefit, depending on the substance. Light is the result of fire, not the other way around.
God presents his power through fire throughout the Bible, as He led the Israelites through the wilderness as a pillar of flame. The Bible describes God as a consuming fire when the Israelites are about to enter the Promised Land. His power over Baal is shown by the sheer force of the fire that He sent down to Elijah’s soaked altar after Baal failed to show up. The Psalms use imagery of purification by fire. Shadrach, Meshac and Abednego are unharmed by an extremely hot fire thanks to a holy presence.
Being fire is God’s sphere. Being light is ours, and even in that, we do best when we remember that we reflect Jesus and have nothing to show without Him.
And yet it is easy to spend our effort and attention on trying to do God’s job. I get it. It’s natural that we would want things to be better, more in line with His kingdom. But He gave us our part to play and we would do well to trust Him with the rest.
“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ.”
Development and Relief
The Christian Urban Development Association. That is the name of our NGO. This is where you consider skipping the rest of my article. But seriously, have you stopped to consider what we decided to say through our name? We are Christians who have, as a formal group, decided to work towards development in an urban setting. Our urban setting is obvious (Arequipa) and our Christianity is worked into the way in which we carry out our work. The hard part of our title to really capture is: Development. Now there are a lot of definitions for what development (in our case international development) means: freedom, good change, advancement technologies and many many more. What I find we have the hardest time explaining sometimes is why we’ve chosen development over relief, and if we will ever partake in relief work.
Where development generally carries a long-term outlook on it (community planning, basic services acquisition, health care provision, economic development, empowerment, etc.) relief is a here-and-now enterprise. Handing out food in a famine-stricken country, rebuilding homes after an earthquake, feeding/housing families displaced by natural disaster or war, etc. In any city like ours you will find groups dedicated to both causes. In the poor neighborhoods surrounding the city, groups will hand out food, clothing, clean water, school supplies and other items to families that spend each day just trying to get to the next. In these same neighborhoods, some groups will instead dedicate their time to community development and planning, training unemployed husbands and wives in skills to help them land a job, advocating on behalf of communities with no running water that the city would see their need and respond. As an NGO we’ve chosen to focus on improving the education system in individual schools by teaching teachers how to teach (Nice, right?) and through empowering small-business owners with small, no-interest loans to help them take one step forward, and then another, and then another. We have other long term projects in the works but they all fall into the long-term development spectrum and we have not had any desire to branch out into relief.
It is no surprise that often our desires are swayed by what we experience. On February 8, the city of Arequipa experience its highest ever recorded rainfall of 4.8+ inches in just 5 hours time. For a city that can go a whole year without receiving such a small amount of rain you, can imagine the consequences. Slightly sloped streets became swiftly-flowing rivers two feet deep that could knock a grown man off his feet. Car sized holes ripped open in the streets and, not surprisingly, cars fell into them. The waterways/spillways throughout the city designed to keep streets clear ended up filled with mud and stone, causing water to spill out and the roads they were protecting to crumble and vanish into the flow. We experienced this in my neighborhood where streets were “well-paved” and protected from rain. In the poor neighborhoods on the mountainside where they have no paved roads, no drainage system and usually no electricity, the damage was less expensive but no less devastating for some families. Houses filled up two or three feet high with mud ruining possessions and at times carrying them away completely. Water and sewage pipes broke as the water took apart the ground itself, making it look like an earthquake had split the earth. Some families came out of that storm just wet and cold. Some families came out wet and cold realizing they had no food, clothing, blankets, or shelter.
In the face of this emergency situation, our organization is left trying to decide what we do. While there is a way to “do relief” well, very often that does not happen. While there is a way to do it well, we have no experience in this area. Even still we are being stirred to some response for certain neighborhoods where we have a connection and would ask for your prayers and support as we assess what help we will provide to these families. Since we have no money budgeted for emergency relief we will be seeking people to partner with us in our response. I ask you to be praying, now, for how you might help one of your global neighbors in a time of need. More information and details will be forthcoming and I appreciate your patience, prayers, and the support you all are always so faithfully extending to us.
Coming to Faith
This morning I finished reading the book of Mark with a dear friend that is in a journey of seeking. I cannot explain how exciting I find it to share the end of Mark's story with others. After reading the section of Jesus on the cross and his final words, I always turn the reader to Psalm 22 where Jesus is quoting, “My God, my God, Why have you forsaken me.” If you haven't read the Psalm in its entirety, take the time to read it. The final two verses always give me chill bumps in the context of sharing Jesus's story with someone:
“Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.”
He has done it! Booyah (pardon my English expression from the nineties). There is a fire in my bones when I truly understand what it being communicated in those words.
We imagine hearing God's voice of authority at the baptism of Jesus. We read through the life of Jesus and imagine what it would be like to be a disciple following after this soon-to-be-King. We are in awe of Jesus's power over demons, sickness, nature, and death. We shake our heads as the disciples fail to get it time after time. We question what type of soil we are as we read through Jesus' parables. We internalize the message for ourselves as the man exclaims to Jesus, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” We sympathize with the followers as their leader is led away like a lamb to be slaughtered. We mourn with those women at the foot of the cross after they have witnessed a horrific death to a man of humility, compassion, and honor. We discuss the freedom we have in Christ and the barriers that have been removed when the curtain is split in two. We are in awe that the centurion, a Roman Gentile, is the first to confess Jesus' name after he breathes his last, but then we rejoice with the women that proclaim the news of the resurrection. We cling to hope that he does what has been promised since the days of old. For he has done it!
I explain to my friend that I want her to make a commitment to God. But I don't want her to commit from pressure she feels from me. I want her to feel the pressure from the Holy Spirit. It is her decision, and it is not a decision to take lightly. Taking up your cross to follow is not a walk in the park. We discuss making covenant with God in front of the family of God, and through the act of baptism that is such a powerful symbol of dying to self but being raised in Christ. We discuss the Holy Spirt and the meaning of circumcision of the heart. We mention “the kingdom of God” being here and now and not yet. I share why the phrase “freedom in Christ” is so special to Christians. She tells me she is so close to making this decision. She tells me she needs to read and reflect. We pray; we hug; we plan our next time together.
Coming to faith is the work of the Spirit. The Spirit transforms us. But he only is able to do his work completely when we are seeking. My friend is seeking. It is my prayer that I call her sister very soon, and then I will rejoice. For he has done it!
Part 10: Theological Education as Missional Equipping
No one is really in a position to say what missional means—it’s still under negotiation among those who care about the precision with which we use words connected to important ideas. The ideas to which missional is connected are very important, in my opinion, but the discussion of the word for the last decade or so has been especially fraught because it is also about a movement. Local expressions of Christianity are changing, and some (hopefully much) of what is emerging is about a realignment with God’s mission. In part, this means recontextualizing the gospel, and therefore the church, in Western postmodern subcultures. And in part it means correcting some of the assumptions and structures that have long prevented congregations everywhere from participating in God’s mission to the extent they might have.
One Way to Look at It: Prayer
From where I stand at the kitchen sink, I can see into the laundry room through a window. It is a clear view to where we have set up a small table for arts and crafts for the kids. They color, cut, and draw to their hearts’ content. I can see their work and hear their conversation. I basically know what they’re up to anytime they are in there while I work in the kitchen, even without them telling me about it.
I have heard criticism of the practice of of listing out prayer requests to then pray about, likening it to a family conversation around the dinner table, where the children discuss amongst themselves what they will say to their parents, then turn to deliver the information to them, even though the parents were present through the entire conversation already. There is no need in this situation to delineate which part of the discussion was intended for them; they got the whole thing. So why discuss prayer requests and follow it with a prayer that repeats it all? Can God not hear the entire time?
I have heard the opposite, that any discussion of prayer needs and life struggles deserves the blessing of purposeful prayer, to distinguish the need and response beyond a basic conversation between two people. In this instance, it is not about being necessary, but about lifting the conversation to a different plane, not for the purposes of informing, but of offering.
But there’s something else that is easily forgotten. It is not just about what we say or how we say it, or if we frame it with a beginning and end or not, or if we use formal language or not. It is about to Whom we talk.
I watch my kids do their projects and create their masterpieces. I neither need information from them, nor do I need them to demonstrate the importance of their efforts. However, I love that they value me enough to want to show me. At my simple request to tell me about it, they are off and running, describing their choice of form, color, image, material, folding, staple placement...they love telling me, and I love hearing it. It’s neither necessary nor merely holy. It’s relationship. I show them how I value their contribution by listening, and they show me how they value my knowledge of them by opening up and sharing. Whatever they have done is made more real by our sharing of it.
And God is our Father. Prayer should not be limited to informing Him of our troubles and our suggested solutions to them, with the caveat that He choose otherwise if He sees fit. Nor should it be limited to a verbal sprinkling of holy water to deem a life experience officially handed over. These two approaches focus too narrowly on what exactly we do and how we do it.
Remembering why we do it can make a huge difference.
It’s about conversation with Someone close to us, eager to hear what we have to say, uninterested in eloquence or efforts to impress. Just talk to Him, discuss life, questions, frustrations, exciting experiences...everything. Will you choose to include your desires and requests? Sure. Will you hand over your daily life as an offering as you share it? Absolutely. Those are good parts of prayer. Just remember that He wants to hear about what you are drawing and what it means to you, too. And as a good conversation with a close friend can result in us gaining clearer insight and understanding into our own experiences, so can a good, personal conversation with God help focus our vision and align our hearts more with His.
Hiring and NGO Sustainability
People sometimes ask us why we, as a development organization seeking sustainability, hired three full-time Peruvian employees last year. Sometimes they ask us this to lead into a follow-up question: Does CUDA intend to hire more full-time national workers? The short answer is yes.
Our Peruvian directors (Alfredo, Abraham, and Paty) have begun the search for our next full-time worker who will be trained and then placed in charge of the library program. We are quite excited at the potential candidate for this position, and for the sustainability and growth it will mean for our program.
As an organization we have had to make many decisions that not only affect our current situations but also will help direct the course of CUDA and its projects for many years. One primary decision we made was to not take on high cost, short-term projects. We believe that development requires time, dedication to goals, and expertise. Instead of deciding to make our yearly budget project-heavy we decide to invest in experts. To that end we hired our three Peruvian directors - Alfredo, Abraham, Paty - who have years of experience in their fields and a desire to promote the projects and goals of our organization. By hiring them, we made an investment in the future of CUDA. Instead of those high cost programs our goal is to create long-term yet low cost projects. We want them to be easily reproduced in any Peruvian context so keeping costs low is important. Our full-time employees ensure we have the manpower to reproduce our programs in multiple areas of our city without the need to seek non-experienced volunteer help.
In order to ensure the future of the library program our Peruvian directors determined that hiring a full-time director of the the program was the way to go. The selected individual will be trained by Megan and eventually take over the planning and execution of the program. The library director will be hired by and will answer to CUDA’s Executive Director, Alfredo. At the moment we have a presence in two schools but with dedicated employees promoting the program that number can and will grow. We see many opportunities for growth with a full-time, empowered, passionate, Peruvian employee heading up the program.
So here’s where I ask you to pray for this process. Alfredo, Paty and Abraham are beginning the process this week of refining our criteria and seeking out candidates. As they work together to prepare and then interview the candidates pray that God would provide the right employee who will not only share our passion for literacy promotion but would also share our passion for the Kingdom of God. We’ve seen Him provide us with the right people so far and we trust He will do so again.
Celebrating Life
This month, I turned 31 years old. It was my 5th birthday to celebrate in Arequipa. I decided this year that I wanted a “night out” with some girlfriends on my big day. I wanted to share a picture from that night, and tell you why each of these relationships are special to me during this time.
Nadia is my neighbor, and if you have kept up with our story here you know that Nadia was baptized last year. She is such a dear friend to me. We both share the same profession. She has volunteered with me in the library program at times, and I love having a Peruvian friend to talk to about cultural differences in the school system. Also, we started our friendship right at a time when I needed someone just like her. She came requesting English classes (I desperately needed those conversations in my native tongue). Our English class turned into a Bible study. Nadia was the first person with whom I shared the story of Jesus. I will never forget that. During furlough, I found a Willow Tree Angel holding a book. I bought it for Nadia and gave it to her for her birthday in November. I told her that she would always remember me when she saw that little figurine on her table. For my birthday, she gave me a little figurine that she bought in the market here. You can bet that wherever I am living in 50 years that little figurine will be in a place that I can see.
Sitting next to Nadia is Areli. What a beautiful personality that girl has! She is Etelvina's daughter. (Etelvina is a dear sister in the church who we absolutely love to pieces.) The thing I love about my relationship to Areli is that we are kindred spirits in laughter. If you know me, you know that I love to laugh. Sometimes, when crossing cultures, it is hard to feel like you understand jokes or are able to be funny around those from a culture different than yours. That is not the case with this amiga. I find such joy in hearing her laughter, and it is contagious. We don't need to sit together in a meeting where no noise is allowed. Ha! Areli and I have been studying the book of Mark together. She is such a good person, and she is earnestly seeking something deeper for her life. It is my prayer that she decides to follow Christ whole-heartedly in the near future. God has blessed me with a friend to laugh with, and I am so blessed by her friendship.
That gringa you might not recognize is named Katie Daggett. Katie and her husband, Jeremy, are part of the team moving to Arequipa in 2014. They decided to come to Arequipa and take 2 months of language classes to better prepare themselves for the field. What is really special about the two of them is that they are where Greg and I were 7 years ago. Jeremy is studying at Harding School of Theology in Memphis, and the two of them are about to work with the same Hispanic church where Greg and I worked during our time in Memphis. It has been such a blessing to get to know them better, to share dreams about the future work here in Arequipa, and to answer the many questions they have about moving here. For me, Katie symbolizes the things to come in Arequipa. I am excited that my family's remaining time will overlap some with her family, but I am even more excited to see what God will do through them and the rest of their team in the years to come. Pray for Team Arequipa 2.0. We are so excited about them joining the work here.
Next to Katie is Emilia. Oh how I love Emilia. She has been a Christian for many years, and she recently moved to Arequipa from Lima. Her joy and fervor for the Lord are contagious, and she has such a passion to work in children's ministry. Larissa and I know that Emilia was a God-send to our church in the realm of working with the children. It is wonderful to see a Peruvian that is mature in faith. She has blood family in the city, but she thrives on spending as much time with her brothers and sisters in Christ as she can. She knows a little bit of English, and we get such a kick out of her practicing and asking questions. She is so much fun to be around. My children love “Bible class with Emilia,” and I thank God for a Christian sister that is equipped to help teach them when the church is together.
You should recognize that other gringa. I told Larissa the other day that it will be so hard to know life without her family in our lives (as in the same city) when the day of our departure comes. We shared our time in Memphis with the Smiths to prepare for our mission work. We shared in the joy of having our first children in Memphis (there is only a 3 month difference between Ana and Shaye). We moved together to live for 6 months in Tyler and 6 months in Arequipa. We have not known this work without the Smiths. We love them dearly, and we have been through so much together in our time here. Larissa knows a part of me that no one else can understand. We have lived, grieved, rejoiced, waited, misunderstood, been confused, and celebrated as missionary wives in Arequipa, Peru. There just aren't too many people that I share that with. I love her dearly, and it will sadden me greatly when the day comes that we separate. But I am so grateful for her service to the kingdom in this city. I am grateful for how she strives to be a good wife and mother. And I am grateful for her friendship as a friend, but much more so as a sister in Christ.
It was a very special group of people that night. It is hard to imagine that I only have one more birthday left to celebrate in Arequipa. But God has certainly given me a reason to celebrate life here.