This Friday, DNA friends in Curitiba, Brazil will inaugurate the new School of Opportunities Darrow Miller: a place where children labeled by public schools as “challenging” or “problematic” can receive mentoring through programs including the arts, sports, technology and a greater knowledge of their own rights.
“We decided to name this project after you as a way to honor your influence over our ministry since 1993 … and your dedication to the kingdom of God,” Mauricio said to Darrow. Darrow will attend the school’s inauguration on October 11.
“We are working for a new reality in the lives of these children and the manifestation of the kingdom of God in their lives,” says Mauricio Cunha, the founder of this school and of the Center of Integrated Assistance and Development (CADI), a Christian ministry with eight bases throughout Brazil serving in the areas of education, health, arts, sports, technology and advocacy. In 2012, he left his job as World Vision‘s national program director for Brazil to return to CADI.
![Teachings from DNA co-founders Darrow Miller and Bob Moffitt provided the foundation for the establishment of CADI in 1994. "Darrow's teachings [first heard by Mauricio in 1993] were crucial for the definition of the vision and purpose of my ministry," he says.](http://dnaglobalnews.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/cadi.jpg)
- Teachings from DNA co-founders Darrow Miller and Bob Moffitt provided the foundation for the establishment of CADI in 1994. “Darrow’s teachings [first heard by Mauricio in 1993] were crucial for the definition of the vision and purpose of my ministry,” he says.
“I had the desire to serve the poor communities of Brazil as I could not stand to see poverty in this country with such a strong church doing almost nothing about it. Darrow helped to establish in me a strong, Biblical foundation for this call. It was the first time that I had heard about the importance of a worldview, and specifically, a Christian worldview. I knew that I wanted to be this kind of missionary: a missionary that not only saves souls for Heaven, but a missionary that changes lives on earth. That’s when I decided to come back to Brazil and start a ministry in a poor community outside of my city.
The whole teaching on Christian Worldview and comprehension of Christianity as a total system of life and thought was very important for my life. Specific teachings such as the Biblical theology for vocation, the perspective of woman in the Kingdom, “Occupy Till I come,” “Reviving the Reformation,” and others, were also fundamental.
I learned that we should apply Biblical truth in the different areas of society at the community level. I learned that it’s much deeper than just using external needs as a platform for proclaiming salvation. It’s about practically asking, “What does it mean to be a Christian and demonstrate God’s love in the field of education or politics or the arts?” These teachings provide us with answers to these questions and the Biblical and theoretical foundation behind them.
“I am surprised and honored by this news,” says Darrow. “My heart’s desire is that those who hear the DNA messages and respond will take them and run with them. Mauricio was one of the first to hear Bob and me speak together. We mentored him in the early years, and it is a delight to see what God has done through Mauricio’s life and ministry. I am honored to call Mauricio a friend and to co-laborer with him in this new endeavor.”
- You may contact Mauricio at mauricio.cunha@cadi.org.br
