If you are new to this blog series, it is a seven part blog “fleshing out” the 7 value statements of the CPR-3 Movement. This blog post brings us to the 4th statement that drives who we are and what we do.

Not only do “we believe in a strengths-based approach to community development” and “wish to be culturally accurate and sensitive while being theologically motivated,” but we will do this by focusing “our influence and resourses on neighborhoods and now generation leaders”.

This brings us to the 4th value (these are not listed in order of importance) that CPR-3 has:

We are committed to the ultimate goal of sustainable projects.

Sustainability is a “buzz word” these days. It’s “sexy” to say that something is sustainable. The issue is, sustainability is often defined connotatively rather than denotatively. There is a reason for this. Sustainability is hard to define and to identify.

A recent blog post by our Director of the #STOPdoingWRONG campaign did a marvelous job of walking through this issue. It’s a complex one. It is one that we wrestle with every day with every decision that we make. At CPR-3 we are committed to balancing sustainable systems while understanding a developing country construct of “now, next, and sustainable,” with a realization that we are blessed to bless others. Yes, that is a mouth full to say and will take a lifetime of small, intentional, daily, maybe even hourly decisions to live out.

How do we help, but not hurt? Is the idea of “sustainability” a biblical concept or a North American business model paradigm? These are the questions we wrestle with. These are the ideas we use as a filter for projects and programs. We at CPR-3 are committed to the ultimate goal of sustainability in all that we do. Easier said than done.