[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]A little over a year ago Church Missions Network met Bob de Groot from the Netherlands and learned about his incredible non-profit ministry, Project Dare to Dream. We partnered with Bob de Groot and Project Dare to Dream in 2015 to provide micro-financing and business training for our pastors and churches. Since partnering, Bob has been a vital part of our team. Not only has he helped several of our pastors start their own businesses to support their families, he has also served on our summer medical teams. Keep reading to find out how Bob’s vision for Project Dare to Dream came about.
My dream started when I was in a youth meeting in Holland. The person speaking was sharing his experience of his latest travels to Uganda. He shared many stories, but one changed my life.
He started talking about his visit to an orphanage in Uganda. He went in and played with the children. At that orphanage there were also babies who were left there. The parents passed away and a lot of the babies were infected with the HIV-Aids virus. He was telling us how he was able to hold a baby in one hand and how his heart broke, and that’s when my heart broke.
All I was able to think of was how terrible it is that there are children, babies who do not have parents to take care of them, provide for them, LOVE them.
I come from an amazing family where I always have received love from my parents. Thinking about living life without it makes me sad. Every child should grow up in a family who will always love them.
When I knew that I couldn’t just sit around any more, I started to look at why it is that these children are in orphanages. And found out that most of these children do have family left, but the family already has a hard time to provide for their own children, so taking care of a child who isn’t really theirs is very unlikely.
Knowing this, I thought; ‘well if we can do something about their income, educate them, make it more stable and self sustaining, these families will be able to provide better for their own children and also the orphans around them.’
My dream was started in 2005 and since then has shaped to what Dare To Dream is now. My dream is to see families empowered and dreaming again. Through the provision of business training and micro loans we are able to support families to a more stable, knowledgeable and higher level of income, so that they are able to provide for their own children and take care of the orphan when necessary.
I’m able to do this because I wasn’t afraid to dream. I hope that with what I do, I will be able to encourage families to dream and to pursue their dreams. But this isn’t just for families in Africa, this also counts for people from the ‘West’. We tend to push our dreams away to make ourselves fit into our culture. I hope that those people will also be encouraged to dream, and pursue those dreams.
We couldn’t be more proud of the work Project Dare to Dream is doing and couldn’t be more thankful that God brought CMN and Bob de Groot together. Interested in finding out more about how Project Dare to Dream works? Check out their website at www.projectdaretodream.com or follow them on instagram, @projectdaretodream.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]