It was a little over five years ago when a mentor sat Emily and I down and said, “You need a 5 year vision with 5 goals so you can communicate your calling to the outside world and help others understand.” We prayed about it and then we sat down together to write a 5 year vision complete with 5 goals, to eventually post on the upcoming (at the time) Casa Chirilagua website (click here to see the original 5 year vision). We based those goals on conversations from the neighborhood and how we felt the Lord leading us to move forward. We recently noted, that 4 of the 5 goals (with the exception of a multi-use community center), have been accomplished!

Over the years we have learned that most organizations call this a strategic plan. The time has come for Casa Chirilagua to write a new strategic plan to help guide and direct the organization over the next 3-5 years. However, this time around the process will be a little different. This is no longer an internal process. Casa Chirilagua is a gift from God that belongs to the community it serves and the entire Casa Chirilagua family. This means we have a lot of listening to do.  We have 40 Kids Club students, 20 Teens Club students, 50 mentor/mentee pairs, all the families these students represent, 4 Bible study groups, 5 parent leaders and a parent committee, 30 partner churches, 7 staff, 11 board  members and hundreds of volunteers.  All of whom we hope will get involved in providing feedback.

Over this summer Casa Chiri staff and leadership will be doing a lot of listening to God, the community and to you. There will be surveys and one to one conversations to identify existing resources and opportunities for transformation in the community. As we reach out for input, we invite you to participate.

Please pray for Casa Chirilagua as we engage in this very important process. Pray for the Lord to guide Every step and conversation. Pray for the community and the greater Casa Chiri family’s participation, to be open and honest and freely share. Pray for the gathering and processing of information. Pray for a clear direction to emerge. Pray for unity of the strategic planning committee as they strive to identify a central focus and create a cohesive, future-oriented vision of community transformation as an expression of God’s love.

We are so excited to engage in this process and hope that you will be too.

To God Be the Glory for All He has done,

Dawnielle

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Proverbs 29:18