About Cargo of Dreams

 

Core Values

These values will not change over time or alter based on any person or situation. They are, rather, the basis of our work and define the character of our organization.

• Remember that everyone has something to offer, something to give
• Maintain the right order- People then Money
• Remember that locals lead best
• Take a step in faith
• Maintain a teachable spirit while making decisions collectively
• Reverse Missions

Explaining why these are core values for us:

Remember that everyone has something to offer, something to give – God wants to use every one of us and we ALL, donors and recipients alike, have something to contribute. CoD requires an upfront commitment from the recipient community for the work needed to complete the facility at its final destination and long term use and maintenance thereof, thus avoiding a handout scenario and instead provide a hand-up and a “kick start”.

Maintain the right order- People then Money – People want to help and give of themselves and Americans in particular have a reputation for being generous. Asking for money, without an opportunity to be hands on involved, is rapidly getting outdated under the X-Generation (born in the 60′s and 70′s) and especially with the Y-generation (born in the 1980′s+). The increase of “Volunteerism”, the fastest growing phenomena in international travel, also reflects this forming of a new mindset and therefore a new approach is needed. Customizing practical participation options creates ownership and connects the individual to the project resulting in a willingness and desire to help fund the project too.

Remember that locals lead best – CoD has a 50/50 focus with each project. For the donor partner CoD provides proven support tools and encourages them to adjust it as they see fit in order to help reach their internal goals of their organization. Once the containers arrive in the recipient country, it becomes the responsibility of the recipient leaders to see to it that the facility is completed and used according to the intended goals they communicated to the donor during the initially planning of the project. How the project is used to further the Kingdom of God is diverse and up to the leadership of each group – how it is intentionally sought after is the focus and accountability conversation among us all.

(Truly “unreached groups” justifies a more elaborate conversation than the above general statement)

Take a step in faith – If the “problem” was that easy to fix someone else would have fixed it by now or it would not have been a problem in the first place. Every project has success stories that are phenomenal as well as obstacles that are challenging BUT, the overall journey is incredible and simply indescribable in words – it will become part of you and without you others will think it simply won’t be the same.

Maintain a teachable spirit while making decisions collectively – Together we are smarter, stronger, and better than we are on our own and to be all of these things, you must be willing to learn.

“Reverse missions” – If outreach is of value and according to scripture justified, required, and encouraged for first world countries, then that too applies to recipient communities. So, how does someone in a recipient community reach out to the world? … Perhaps they wait for God to bring people of the world to them. The relationship between donor and recipient is a circle of give and take. Powerful compared to a mindset with the recipient as a “recipient” only.