Guest Post by Team Mentor Bill Richardson

Guest Post by Team Mentor Bill Richardson

Since 2002, Holly and I have had the privilege of accompanying Harding University students to Peru and Bolivia.  That first summer we were in Arequipa for the very first time!  It is encouraging to see all that God has done in Arequipa since then!  We have taken the occasional summer off from travels to do other things (we were in Greece in 2008) but I believe we’ve traveled to these South American nations ten times, accompanied by students on all but one occasion.  In 2014, we faced our greatest logistical challenge, traveling with up to sixteen other individuals to Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile.

Learning as a Full-time Job

Learning as a Full-time Job

It took me 15 years to realize I went to school to learn. That’s right—only as a junior in college did that profound truth dawn on me. When I decided to start learning (and that that was part of the point), everything changed. I found out it was more than just a classroom activity and more so a way of life that enhances everything from coffee and snowboarding to relationships and travel. 

ProCED: New CUDA Health Initiative for Diabetics

ProCED: New CUDA Health Initiative for Diabetics

CUDA’s health branch, Pura Vida, is launching its newest initiative this month. We’re calling it ProCED (Programa de Cuidado y Educación para Diabéticos), a play on the Spanish word proceder, meaning “to proceed”. We are proceeding from and building on last year’s work done mostly by Andrew and Bethany Gray in the clinic in Arequipa’s district of Hunter. The Grays started doing free Diabetes screenings for patients in this clinic a little over a year ago and have established a great reputation for CUDA there. Finger-stick blood glucose readings allow us to see who has abnormally high blood glucose. We’ve screened over 850 people thus far. 

Wrestling with God

Wrestling with God

In eight months on the mission field I have already been challenged in so many ways. I felt fairly well-equipped to come here and do what we set out to do. But it’s been one of those things that the more you get into it, the more you realize how inadequate you are. I heard a man once talk about his father who was a master stonemason. He recounted how his father could read the stones knowing the exact right place to put the chisel and precisely how hard to swing the hammer so that the stone would fit just right. I often feel like one of those stones. The chips are flying. It hurts, but hopefully after it all I’ll fit where the Master wants me in his house.

New Series: Making $ense of Short-Term Missions

New Series: Making $ense of Short-Term Missions

So it’s that time of year again. Summer is upon you, residents of the Northern Hemisphere. The sun, sand, and Sonic all bid you, come. In addition to your normal summer routines of work, camps, vacations, and a little R & R, many will embark on summer mission trips. A question I have is: are short-term mission trips a culturally appropriate model for evangelism or community development?

Kickstarting the Charlas

Kickstarting the Charlas

Part of CUDA’s philosophy is to foster programs that are sustainable and holistic in nature and avoid paternalism and dependency. The medical branch of CUDA, called Pura Vida, is still in its beginning stages. We chose the name Pura Vida to communicate that our aim is for people to attain wellbeing in all facets of life: physical, mental and relational (also part of CUDA’s philosophy) and that this way they may be blessed by a pure life. We hope in time to be able to recruit Peruvian volunteers who will partner with us, become passionate with the work, and will continue the work once we have gone. For now, we strive to be culturally contextual and get input from local Arequipeños in all we do.

When Little House Churches Send Off Veteran Missionaries

When Little House Churches Send Off Veteran Missionaries

Katie and I were “sent off” by the Central and Cedar Lane churches a little over seven months ago. We loved getting to spend the summer with these two churches so goodbyes were hard. But we said goodbye knowing we were headed to the place for which we had been preparing for years. In January and in April of this year, the house churches in Arequipa had their own two send-off Sundays.