I’d like to touch on two more important aspects of microfinance (MF):

1) How it can be a vehicle for the spiritual message of Christ; and
2) How a US-based church can make a real difference

For those focused on holistic missions, simply meeting temporary, “physical” needs of people in poverty is insufficient. We also seek to meet eternal, “spiritual” needs. That being said, we would be dissatisfied to engage spiritual poverty while ignoring physical needs. Holistic ministry demands care and concern for the whole person, body and spirit.

We realize that it requires a community to carry out such a holistic approach. As the Apostle Paul aptly noted in 1 Corinthians 12, God has designed us as part of a body in which no one is skilled to do the job alone. In faith-based MF, the same is true. Some are gifted to be loan officers; others are managers, and others are accountants. Continue Reading…

My previous post argued that microfinance (MF) is an effective development strategy that:

1. provides more permanent solutions to poverty, not temporary hand-outs,
2. empowers individuals within their local contexts instead of creating dependency, and
3. significantly engages the economy.

These are no small assertions, and some explanation is necessary. First, let me give the layman’s view of what MF is. At its core, MF is a development intervention that targets people in poverty who are shut out of traditional banking services. MF is generally conceptualized and described as small business loans to entrepreneurs living in poverty. This is a key component of MF; however, MF has expanded to include several other important services such as savings and insurance. Continue Reading…

Jesus famously summarized the law and prophets by citing the two greatest commandments: to love God and to love neighbor. To illustrate what it meant to love one’s neighbor he told the parable of the Good Samaritan, the beautiful story of a traveler who, in contrast to a priest and a Levite, cared for an injured victim of robbery by carrying him to a hotel, nursing his wounds, and covering his expenses.

For years this parable has shaped my family’s ministry. We carried gifts to people dying of AIDS and served food to the homeless. Living overseas as missionaries, we strived to serve the poor in meaningful ways whenever and however we could. But something always bothered us. Our efforts, though compassionate, well intended, and modeled after Christ’s story, never seemed to produce the results we desired. We were not irrational idealists expecting that we could single-handedly reverse years and even centuries of defective and unjust social systems. But we gradually realized that when we gave donations to people there were two crucial problems: 1) we only temporarily met their needs — they would soon grow hungry, and 2) we inadvertently created dependency — we were their source for ending their hunger. Continue Reading…