In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, read HOPE’s top five ways Christ-centered microfinance is an expression of love.

More and more people are coming to understand the financial benefits of microfinance. At HOPE, however, we believe the benefits can be more than financial. We believe the heart of microfinance is reaching out to those in need with the transforming love of Jesus Christ. If we are to model Christ, we need to embrace others with dignity and enable them to facilitate change in their own lives. In this season marked by love, we want to share five key ways Christ-centered microfinance is an expression of love.

1. Financial services are dignity-affirming opportunities.

All of us want the best for those we love, but so often poverty prevents people from fulfilling their potential and steals their dignity. In the Dominican Republic, HOPE’s partner, Esperanza International, has had the opportunity to offer small business loans, basic business training, and a support system to women who formerly worked in prostitution. One group member said her life has been changed. “Before I went out and engaged in prostitution. I feel safer now because I don’t go out. And now I can support my family by selling clothes. I knew about the love of God before, but I didn’t understand it. Now I understand that God loves me.”

2. Group members are in it together.

Members of community banks or savings groups develop a special bond. Meeting week after week, praying together, and sharing triumphs and struggles, groups grow in solidarity. One HOPE India savings group member confessed to her fellow group members that her husband beat her regularly. Instead of merely sympathizing, the other women in her group took action. They travelled to her home, and in a show of solidarity and courage, they confronted her husband. Knowing that the abuse could no longer be perpetrated in secret and that these women cared enough for his wife to hold him accountable, the man stopped beating his wife.

3. Microfinance can promote reconciliation.

In one small Rwandan village there were two feuding brothers and only one savings group. Both valued the opportunity enough to tolerate one another, but neither planned to reconcile. As the savings group began to rotate its meeting locations to various members’ homes, the first brother was forced to decide: Would he skip the meeting and forfeit this opportunity or would he enter his brother’s home? He attended the meeting. A few weeks later, his brother attended a meeting at his home. This second meeting opened with a reading from John 3:16 and a discussion of love. The brothers began to cry, pleading with one another for forgiveness. Faith, finances, and community united in such a way that two enemies became reconciled brothers.

4. Microfinance offers opportunities to share God’s love.

Again and again we hear from our loan officers that the best part of their job is sharing the love of Jesus. This was just the message one HOPE China client needed to hear. He had always been a family man, but after his wife passed away, Liu saw little meaning in his life. He became addicted to alcohol, grew distant from his daughter, and let his business slide. He wanted a change, so he sought a loan from HOPE China, but life still seemed empty. When his loan officer shared the Gospel, Liu said Jesus was exactly what he needed. His family and his community have seen the difference. Once heartbroken, Liu is now filled with joy. He sings while he works, and he says his prayers are prayers of gratitude. Seeing Liu’s genuine transformation, both his daughter and mother have come to put their faith in Christ as well.

5. Microfinance enables clients to show love to their communities.

As a mother of a special needs child, Xiomara longed to stay home with her daughter to give her the care she required - but her income was also needed to provide for her daughter. Living in a community in the Dominican Republic where many of her neighbors left their children behind and travelled to resort towns to work, Xiomara realized that she probably wasn’t the only mother facing this difficult choice. She wanted mothers and fathers to know that their children were well cared for, even while they were away at work. She opened a school and daycare center using a loan from HOPE’s partner in the Dominican Republic, Esperanza International. Parents pay Xiomara to care for their children as they are able, enabling her to provide for her own family, but Xiomara’s love for children and her community extends beyond her business interests. “I will never turn down a child because of a parent’s inability to pay,” she says.

Want to show love by supporting microfinance? Give a heart-felt Valentine’s gift of HOPE here.
Think there are other ways Christ-centered microfinance can be an expression of love? Share your thoughts!