microloans project

In 2004 our team began a microloan program to help the members of our churches. By definition, a microloan is a very small, short-term loan given to those in an impoverished state. This type of loan is sometimes used in inner-city environments in America, but is probably most common in under-developed countries like Uganda.

You may be wondering why we would be interested in starting a microloan program. How does giving loans to people draw them closer to Jesus? What’s the benefit? The Bible gives us many examples of Jesus taking care of people’s felt needs before teaching them or before they followed him. Remember Jesus feeding the 5,000 in Mark 6, and then another 4,000 in Mark 8? How about when Jesus healed the blind beggars in Matthew 20? The list could go on and on. So one of the primary reasons for starting this program was because, like Jesus, we wanted to help take care of people’s felt needs – and those needs are great here.

Another reason we believed this program was beneficial was the opportunity it can provide for our church members to begin a project that could produce an income for them with the hope that they would not only be able to provide for their families, but also be able to give back to God through contributing to their church. On top of teaching them about giving, we are also trying to teach those that receive loans about money management, development and cooperation.

One exciting thing that’s happening through this program is the way we have seen 3 Ugandan men take a leadership role. These three men, all from different churches, are a part of a committee that reviews each application and helps make decisions as to who should receive a loan. Their leadership in their respective churches, their honesty and their willingness to serve gives us great hope that this program will be able to be self-sustaining some day. They have proven to be a tremendous asset to this program!

Although this program is young and has its challenges, we believe it has a bright future. We are seeing those that have received loans being able to take care of their felt needs today and feeling hope for tomorrow now that they have a means for providing for their families. It has been exciting to see God work through this ministry -- and we would like to pass along that excitement by sharing a couple of stories.

SUCCESS STORIES...

Asiimwe Jastina (see photo above) is a 24 year old widow. Her husband died two years ago and left her with three small children. She received a loan to purchase seeds to grow maize. With the money she purchased all the maize seed she had room to grow and had extra money left over. Wisely, she didn’t squander the money, but rather used the money to purchase a small pig. In January Jastina paid off her loan and had money left over from the sale of her maize and she didn’t even have to sell her pig! The small inflow of capital this loan provided gave her the opportunity she needed.

Kanyesigye Prossy (second photo above) is a 58 year old widow that still has several children living at home. Kanyesigye works very hard and is an active member of the church in Birere village. In August of 2004 she received a loan of 300,000 Ugandan Shillings (approx. $150) to buy and raise pigs. She bought a male and a female pig, and a couple months later the female became pregnant. A few months after that this pig delivered 10 piglets! These piglets have now become fairly large and Kanyesigye could sell them and pay off her entire loan easily, but it’s still not due for a few more months, so she will continue feeding them and sell them for an even higher profit. On top of that, her female pig is once again pregnant. Kanyesigye gives glory to God for the opportunity to have this project!

Please pray for Jastina, Prossy, and all the others who have received microloans. Pray that this project will continue to help people in all the right ways!