In 2010, Small and Micro Enterprise Program (SMEP) Microfinance Bank, a Christ-centered microfinance institution serving families in Kenya, celebrated a major distinction: It became the third deposit-taking microfinance bank in the country to be licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya. But along with its approval, the central bank issued one caveat: SMEP needed to add investors to its ownership pool.
It sounded like a simple request—yet it proved to be anything but.
Before joining her savings group in Peru, Rina Navarro de la Cruz had to borrow a large loan with a high-interest rate just to pay the bills. Now, week by week, she’s escaping that cycle—and teaching her daughters about God. Continue Reading…
Pictured above: Divya (on right) with other members of her savings group
Divya’s* son, Rakesh, had been sick for years. His coughing, fevers, and colds were nonstop and left him feeling weak. Eventually, he couldn’t walk even a short distance. She’d taken him to hospitals and doctors in their community in South Asia* but never received a clear diagnosis for his worsening symptoms.
Then she received startling news: “One day, the doctor said that my son had a hole in his heart, and he [needed] to undergo the operation,” Divya recalls. “I was shocked.”
But a second blow was soon to come: how to pay for the procedure without falling into a lifetime of debt.
Continue Reading…
When launching HOPE Tanzania last year, Peter Greer, HOPE’s president and CEO, emphasized, “The reason behind every expansion at HOPE is to invest in the dreams of even more families.”
One year later, we’re praising God for opening the doors to do just that. Check out these stories of how savings groups are already impacting Tanzanian families and communities—there’s so much to celebrate! Continue Reading…
Material poverty is a complicated reality, with many causes and perhaps just as many proposed solutions. With this in mind, understanding poverty isn’t always easy and requires a comprehensive approach.
According to the World Bank, 574 million people—nearly seven percent of the world’s population—will still be living on less than $2.15 a day in 2030.
Men and women living in material poverty face many challenges: lack of basic resources like food, shelter, and money; corrupt social systems; poor education; and limited access to health care.
But those who haven’t experienced poverty often overlook one of its most profound impacts: hopelessness and shame. Material poverty can compound the brokenness that exists in our relationships with each other, with God, with ourselves, and with the rest of creation. Material poverty says to those in its grasp: You are not worthy. Continue Reading…
When Leonora Calipay’s children finished school and she came home to the Philippines, she knew there was something more to her life than retirement.
Leonora’s neighbor noticed her desire to do meaningful things in her free time, so she taught Leonora to sew rugs. With this new skill, Leonora started her own small rugmaking business. She hoped to empower her neighbors—especially the single mothers in her community—to make a living through the same craft.
