In part one of this series, Aaron shared that his home church had traveled to the Dominican Republic to answer three questions about microfinance: Does group solidarity really work in the repayment process? How are the spiritual needs of the individuals addressed? How can we impact our local community using the principles of microfinance? This week, Aaron continues to describe the community bank repayment meeting they attended.

Maybe sometimes the Lord just plans it out like this, but in our second loan meeting of the day, located in Hato Mayor, a member was missing from one of the solidarity groups, and so, consequently, was her biweekly repayment. Some of the American bankers in the group perked up at the announcement with eager anticipation to see the dynamics of group solidarity play out. The loan officer, Carmen, announced the situation to the entire bank and prayed:

We pray, Lord, that you would help our sister with the difficulties in her family, with the difficulties in her business, and we pray that you would bless her family, that they would trust you, and that you would bless their business.

I’m not sure if you pray in your local bank, but we do here in the local Banks of HOPE, a lot. It is the responsibility of the loan officer to set the tone of the meeting and, along with the president, treasurer, and secretary of the bank, to maintain the solidarity of the community. Loan officers always encourage a daily practice of prayer when they talk to their clients. Continue Reading…

“We stood there praying for her loan as one Church, even though our places of worship were thousands of miles apart, as brothers and sisters in Christ, in English and in Spanish.”

I wrote this in my journal during a HOPE Trip when my home church in America came to visit the work of HOPE and Esperanza, HOPE’s partner in the Dominican Republic. My name is Aaron Roth, and during 2011, I have been volunteering as a HOPE fellow, working with Esperanza in the area of microfinance operations.

That moment in prayer was one of those moments when I felt like I got a taste of Heaven: a moment of unity between Christ-followers where the Holy Spirit moves within us, breaking down the walls of language and culture. It was like a worship service of praise and a celebration for all that the Lord is doing in places like this around the world. Continue Reading…

As many as 40 percent of the clients served by Esperanza, HOPE’s partner in the Dominican Republic (D.R.), come from Haiti. Lingering discrimination, as well as language barriers, can prevent Haitians from finding decent employment in the D.R., and immigrants are frequently marginalized or even taken advantage of.

In some communities, called bateyes, companies seek low-wage laborers to harvest sugarcane. The vast majority of these workers are of Haitian descent, leading to higher concentrations of immigrants. The back-breaking labor generates little income—but HOPE is at work in many of these communities. Small business loans and basic business training give many the opportunity they’ve been seeking. Continue Reading…