Hello from 35,000 feet!  I’m en route to the Dominican Republic on our 3rd DurhamCares international trip, and so I have international missions on the mind.

As most of you know now, DurhamCares was founded with inspiration from the Parable of the Good Samaritan.  The Parable has two lessons for us that we seek to apply every day:  1.  the concept of the broader definition of neighbor, 2.  the example of physical love (as opposed to just financial contributions) that the Samaritan provided to the Jew in the ditch.  It’s the broader definition of neighbor that serves as the foundation for what I want to write on today.

The Samaritan, was of course, from a different nation than the man in the ditch that he served.  As an extension of that, we’d like to think that our neighbor is not just in Durham, but across the world, in Nicaragua….in Africa….in India.  Not, of course, that we need to ignore the needs in your back yard, but we have a real opportunity to bless those in other countries as well, and I believe that we’re called by God to do so.  It’s out of this realization that we’ve started the international trips concept of course with vision trips for folks from Durham to see how they might serve other nations together.

As we’ve spent more and more time looking into international ministries (we focus primarily on Christ centered word and deed ministries with our international work) and organizations that we might visit, we found that there isn’t a good resource that inventories and/or reviews these organizations.  Yes, there is charity navigator or the ECFA, but they primarily review financial metrics and accountability as opposed to true outcomes and other than a quick summary of the organization’s efforts, it’s hard to understand what the organization really does or how well it does it.  Sure, some of the large Christian foundations have done some great research on the effectiveness of various word and deed ministries, but by and large, they don’t share that with the general public, or oftentimes not even with other foundations like themselves.  So, the rest of us are left to do our own research.  Most of us tend to give to folks that we might have seen when they visited our church or an organization recommended by a friend. I’m pretty sure that that isn’t the most effective way to invest in the lives of folks abroad.  For this reason it’s thought that there are more than 3,000 ministries in Haiti alone!  Surely, they can’t all be just as effective.  But which ones are really making an impact?  We’re left to do our own research, and that, for most of us is a very daunting task.

So, in the coming months you’ll see the launch of ministryspotlight.org.  It will be separate from DurhamCares,  but we’ll likely have a link between the two.  We’ll share with you some of the ministries that we have found to be most effective, and ask you for those that you think are doing a great job.  We’ll have a function that encourages a discussion on the issue of effectiveness, and what place if any return on investment has in the field of ministry (after all, a kid’s education isn’t a widget…...and qualitative measures are oftentimes difficult to measure).  The format will be partially inspired by the current partner section on the DurhamCares site, where we inventory 9 different organizations in a common template that helps folks quickly understand what an organization does and how it measures its outcomes.  We’ll also have a multimedia function which will allow visitors to see videos and photos that we hope will engage them into the ministry in a way that text, facts and figures misses.  Lastly, we’ll have a submission function that will allow folks to submit information on ministries that they think are worth promoting as well.

Our goal is threefold:

1. By sharing research we hope to increase the effectiveness of the current giving of Christians internationally.
2. By telling information in a way that gives the donor increased confidence in the outcomes/accountability of their investment, we hope to increase the aggregate amount of giving
3. We want to play a role in the transformation and blessing of the donor, and believe that we can do so as we relate the stories of how fellow Christ followers are doing amazing things overseas.

The site might look something like this image - ministryspotlight.org.jpg.  Think this is a good idea?  Have some ministries that you think we should be looking at?  Please let us know.

I don't talk about politics very much, and that's probably a good thing.  For one: I'm not as educated as I'd like despite a PoliSci degree, and two: I love all of Durham and every one in it, and I'm not interested in alienating folks even I was informed enough to do so. But, there's one topic that has been on my mind for quite a while and it's probably time to get it off my chest. And of course, I'd love to get other people's take on this as it's possible I'm missing something, either obvious or subtle.

I pay the federal goverment taxes and then someone in Washington determines how to best spend that money with a chunk of it coming back to Durham in the form of federal aid and investment.

Here's my issue: I think that I know how better to spend and invest in Durham than some analyst up in Washington DC, and I think you do too. I think that the excellent charities in Durham are infinitely more effective and efficient than government agencies. Why? Well aside from a general belief that smaller organizations are more nimble and effective with the decision makers much closer to the people that they seek to serve, there's the matter of incentive. The folks that run Durham charities (most of whom receive no federal aid) are paid by incentive and the analysts and career government employees are not. There is no such thing as a Success Grant (http://www.durhamcares.org/index.php/grant/) for career federal employees. Even without the Success Grant initiative there is plenty of incentive as these charities must prove to their donors that they are effective if they want to raise money.

So what would I propose?:
Well say I owed $30,000 in federal tax. I'd like to pay $20,000 to Uncle Sam and then show evidence of $10,000 invested in some of Durham's best charities. For that matter, I'd be fine if I could get out of the final $10,000 if I could show double that amount invested in Durham charities. If someone wasn't sure which charities were best and wanted Uncle Sam to choose then they could pay the whole $30,000. Doesn't that make sense? In effect, it's not too different from the charter school initiative which allows the consumer to vote with the government's money who is best to educate our kids. Can't we do that with who is best to serve the poor, put kids in mentoring relationships, and shelter the homeless?

I believe that we as individuals know better how federal money should be spent in Durham than the government and that this knowledge coupled with inherent efficiencies from decreased overhead will allow for lower taxes and better care. Do you agree?

As many of you know, Durham played host to the NY Times best-selling (62 weeks and counting) authors of the increasingly famous book, "Same Kind of Different as Me" two weeks ago at the Marriott Convention Center.

Theirs is an incredible story of the most unlikely of best friends: a rich, white art dealer from Ft. Worth Texas, and a poor, black, sharecropping hobo from Red River Parish, Louisiana. The story shatters myths about relationships between white and black, what it means to be homeless, and has a great tale of sin, forgiveness and redemption too.

Ron is handsome, articulate and has a great comfort in interacting with his audience, and his time in Durham was no exception. Denver, however, is the star of the show. He speaks of truth and wisdom with an incredible efficiency of words, and when he tires of telling stories or making his point, he breaks out in song in one of the most amazing voices that I have ever heard.

The story that the title of this blog refers to comes from the early days of their book's release (as with so many best selling books, seemingly no publisher wanted to have anything to do with it at first) when they tried to gain exposure for their book, often by talking about it with very small groups. Some of these groups were men from Bible Studies. After going to a few of them, Denver asked Ron why white people seemed to be so interested in just sitting around and studying the Bible. In his words "I've had enough of these white men talking about the Bible. When you show me a group of white men that are having a 'Bible Doing', then I'll go and talk with them."

How incredibly convicting. Don't get me wrong or Denver for that matter. He is a great man of Christian faith. There is clearly much need in our lives for quiet, contemplative study of Scripture, both alone and with small groups. But when we are doing Bible studies at the expense of actively engaging others in our city, particularly those that we might be able to really bless then I think we are often missing much of what God wants us to hear, learn and know as we seek to faithfully obey his commandments to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Is your ratio of bible doing and bible studying in the right place? I know mine isn't. I thank Denver for giving me a perspective and lesson in a few short sentences that Ron couldn't in 20 minutes.

I spent much of last Thursday and Friday at the DPAC attending the Advance 09 conference. The Advance 09 Conference brought together some of America's best Christian pastors (Driscoll, Chandler, Piper and our own JD Greear among others) to speak on the resurgence of the Church in America. It was absolutely amazing. More than 2,700 folks from all over the country came to Durham to hear what God was doing in the world and what he calls us all to do.

I met lots of folks from places as far away as Seattle and including West Virginia, Louisville, Little Rock, and Grand Rapids Michigan to name a few. One of the folks, that left the greatest impression though, was a missons pastor from Redeemer church in Winston Salem named Francis Smith.

I met him briefly yesterday when he stopped by the DurhamCares table. He talked about how he had grown up in Durham in Braggtown and then moved north to Bahama. He then went on to tell me the origin of the name of this area north of Durham (named by combining the last names of the 3 families who first settled there) and why it wasn't pronounced like the islands off the coast of Florida. When I asked him if he would participate in a new 30-second-video project that we are doing that asks people why they love Durham (he was born here and does love it, so he'd qualify) and what it means for them to love their neighbor, he politely declined. Well, he came back today telling me that he would like to participate after all. It seems that he had told the story last night to his wife who urged him to seize this opportunity during which he might share something with others. And so, he did do the interview. (it and many others like it will be brought online in our new video section which should hopefully make it's debut before the end of the month).

I had told him, of course, all about DurhamCares and how we are working to encourage people in Durham to become engaged in their city through volunteer matching, trips to Durham and Succcess Grants. He definitely got it, and was encouraged by our inspiration from the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I was very impressed with his wisdom, born from many years in the mission field abroad and right here in North Carolina. He had many things to say about engagement, and I'll only list a few here.

I hope that you find them as encouraging and challenging as I did, but I fear that I may not do them justice, and it sure was great to hear them from his mouth, and not my feeble typing:

1. Don't buy a new shovel. I know that sounds a bit strange, but it makes all the sense in the world if you think about it, and no, it has nothing to do with the recession and a desire to cut back on new purchases. Francis said that someone had once told him that it's a good idea to borrow a shovel (or other tool) even if you have one. Why? Well, because that gives you an opportunity to engage with your neighbor. Ask him or her how they are doing and what's going on in their life. Mostly conversations will be short and pleasant, but sometimes your neighbor might even bring up issues that you might help them sort out or encourage them on. Either way, you'll both be better for it. Such conversations might never happen if you have the most complete tool collection out there. By the way, I tried that tonight out of a genuine need for milk, and a strong desire not to go to the store. He's right, I very much enjoyed my brief visit with my neighbor and I think that he felt the same.
2. Is it safe? I know, this sounds like some sort of plug for the movie Marathon Man. No, this isn't about the famous interchange between Laurence Olivier and Dustin Hoffman, it's about confronting your fears as you seek to help your neighbor in an unfamiliar neighborhood. Francis shared with me a story of a woman who he got to know at his church. He had encouraged her to volunteer at a mission in an unfamiliar part of town. She asked, "Is it safe?" His response: "No, but then again in this world now, nothing is completely." Several months later she saw him again in church and she came up to him to tell him that she was indeed volunteering and helping with kids in this impoverished area of town. Francis asked her, "Well, did you find out that it's safe?" Her answer: "No, but I love working with the kids." I found this story to be strikingly honest and consistent with my limited experience. God calls us to honor him in all sorts of ways and stretches us beyond our comfort level, as he did with this woman, but he blesses us (and those we seek to serve) when we do so.
3. Don't just drive through.  Over the course of his career he has been strongly influenced by John Perkins who told him that it's not just enough for us to drive into challenged neighborhoods each day and assist our brothers on the other side of town, but that it's far better to move in alongside them and to live amongst them. (And then to resist the urge to spend a lot in up-fitting the house to our old standards.) For then, true barriers will come down. I found this last part very challenging to internalize and candidly (as if I'd be anything but), I don't see moving our family any time soon. BUT, I found a lot of wisdom in what he said and it's going to encourage me to do more when I visit these neighborhoods. Lest I feel too pleased with myself about the lengths that I'm going, I'll be inspired on knowing that there is yet far more that I can do. I do wish, though, that I had the courage to do exactly what Perkins suggests. Maybe there will be a time for that in my life.

Francis, THANK YOU for coming back to Durham for the conference. Thank you for stopping by the DurhamCares booth today, and thank you for sharing this encouragement with me. Thank you for loving your neighbor!

Pardon the interruption from the series on domestic entrepreneurship issues for a quick blog on international entrepreneurship.

I write this with a bit of caution, as the last thing that I want to do is to dampen anyone's interest in microfinance. Microfinance is now, and for my money, always will be, a remarkably effective way to alleviate worldwide poverty.

BUT, I think that it's important that donors/funders/investors understand the current climate for microfinance so that they can be very smart with their giving and as always, (but more difficult to do than you'd think) do no harm.

When we were on the DurhamCares trip to India we visited several different economic development programs. It was during one such visit, in Chennai, that I actually started to think that a microfinance bubble might be imminent, at least one that would impact many urban environments where microfinance institutions (MFI) have become quite popular. The Director of the program we visited lamented the loss of some of their best borrowing groups to competing MFIs. In some cases, he had trained and nurtured savings groups for more than 2 years, steadily increasing the amounts that these women borrowed from him as they proved through their business models and repayment history that they could service larger amounts. These women (this MFI, as most do, lent primarily to women) had received important training on subjects from extending credit to customers to the basics of marketing. Now, in one day, a new loan officer from a new organization would come in and offer the women double the amount that they had previously borrowed.

These women often jumped at the chance to double the amount of money that they could borrow as they eyed more and more things that they might do with an increased sum of money. In some cases this money was spent on their business, in some cases for weddings and in others the purchase of consumer goods. Studies have also shown that there is a disturbing increase in the number of poor who have multiple loans to different MFIs, in some cases taking the proceeds from one loan to pay off another. In other words, these women are subject to the same temptations and challenges that MANY OF US have experienced with easy credit, not any different from what so many American have witnessed and experienced with credit card debt, and yes, with easy-to-come-by mortgages. The question, of course, is what will be the long term impact of this "easy credit" as each dollar borrowed more than the one before has a lower incremental benefit, of course, and with it a lower chance of being able to produce the income needed to pay it back.

Now if it was just a US-based telecom guy throwing out some concern, I'd likely take all of this with a grain of salt, but these concerns have been shared by others that I've talked to in the MFI industry as well. Most also have particular concerns with cities like Chennai where MFI saturation has reached such a point that the vast majority of the poor are served, often times with multiple loans.

Ok, so what to do with this information/opinion? The most important thing is to NOT stop investing in MFIs (pardon the double negative here, it just makes the point better). The key is to invest a bit more smartly, and as with any investment (as all of our charitable giving/investing should be) research the organizations and ask the right questions.

Some questions you should ask include: are MFIs operating in environments underserved or is current demand met by existing supply? what percentage of the MFI's customers have multiple loans? What percentage are in urban areas? Does the charity permit direct funding to rural initiatives? What type of training programs does the MFI run and how frequently? Of course, it's also great to visit these institutions in the field. While this seems daunting, DurhamCares trips (http://www.durhamcares.org/index.php/trips) cost less than $1,500 and only involve 3 days out of the country and focus on some great MFIs.

Remember, 80% of the world's poor DO NOT YET have access to microfinance funds and desperately need it. That is 400 million entrepreneurs!

The rural poor generally and many selective pockets of the urban poor [consider HUGE urban centers like Brazzaville, Bangui, etc.] are vastly underserved by this amazing program that provides dignity rather than dependency, and a hand up rather than a hand out. However, serving the rural poor is often less attractive due to political and economic instability and are often not as profitable as serving the urban poor in more stable economies. The reason for this has much to do with the operating expenses of fielding a caseworker. For instance, a rural caseworker might visit a small fraction of borrowing groups during the day as in urban areas. This obviously drives up the operating costs of distributing and administrating the loans and conducting trainings.

Many MFIs targeting rural or less "attractive" urban pockets may not be profitable now or ever and as a result don't receive much money from the international "for profit" private equity funding sources, and therefore are very much in need of outside donations (to an operating fund) or investments (to a loan fund typically returning 3-5% net to the investor). In fact, while urban MFIs might make 10-20% to the bottom line (part of the reason that money is now chasing them), many rural MFIs might lose 20%. BUT, another way of looking at a loss of 20% is to think that such an operation is 80% sustainable. Compare 80% sustainability with the 0% sustainability that so much of our international giving and aid has gotten, and even poorly performing microfinance (if administered correctly in the field characterized by serviceable loan amounts and good training) looks like a Godsend.

So PLEASE consider microfinance as a part of your overseas funding! It's very much needed and can be amazingly effective for all the reasons listed above. But, go in armed with questions that you should ask, with eyes wide open, and with a prayerful heart.

..........................

Note:
Noticeably absent from this short piece is any information related to another component of microfinance: SCA (Savings and Credit Associations) promote savings among groups of poor people, facilitating interest rate savings (as groups of savings often meet bank minimums for initial deposit) and lending to each other out of their shared pool. These groups are not susceptible to the same bubble and are a very worthy recipient of your attention and investment. For the best that I've seen check out the Chalmers Center www.chalmers.org), as a great institution dedicated exclusively to the training of lay workers in the field in SCA. Also Hope International, (www.hopeinternational.org) is a MFI that strongly advocates SCAs in addition to the more traditional lending practices that they do. Since their approach addresses both financial AND spiritual poverty as a Christ led organization, they work more relationally with clients in mostly underserved countries like the Congo and, in my opinion, are better suited to weather any correction that takes MFIs to something less than 100% sustainability.

I write this entry as I try to assimilate a Sunday school lesson that I received yesterday. The teacher, an elder in my Church, was going through the 4th chapter of James along with the help of past sermons by our senior pastor, old writing by Jonathan Edwards from 1747 and even some Tim Keller, for good measure. I found all that he shared inspiring and convicting at the same time, but it is one specific subject that has stuck with me since.

In it is the admonition to not be "of this world." The one application in my life that is often times most "worldly", is the way that I judge success or failure. This is important to me as we contemplate the success or failure of the rollout of the Success Grant, and the "worldly" target of an arbitrary number of people to help seed the concept of this program, (http://www.durhamcares.org/index.php/grant/). Candidly, I've been slightly discouraged at the rate of pick up, for what we think is a very unique and effective way to give to charities. I've been confused by how easy it was to get 350 folks to register for the ESPN DurhamCares pool, yet so challenging to get the word out about the Success Grant program.

In an effort to boost awareness of the Success Grant program, we've offered up my hair and a party with a live band at the American Tobacco Complex (on the terrace next to Tyler's) this coming Thursday. I think that both are fine promotions and I do look forward to seeing so many friends and folks very interested in caring about Durham on Thursday.

Sometimes it is absolutely wonderful and awesome to see how God humbles us, and I am particularly grateful for being reminded of this so early in DurhamCares history. For what we work toward should not be about the Success Grant, the success and popularity of DurhamCares, me nor my hair, or frankly even about Durham. It SHOULD be about glorifying God. For it is the desire to glorify him with our time, talents and treasure that led David and I to start DurhamCares.

So, we may very well hit our goal of 350 individuals pledging through the Success Grant program, and my hair may very well come off with hoots and hollers on Thursday. That in and of itself though, will not be success; however, it should make for some good entertainment. Success will come from the Kindgdom of God being ushered in to Durham where our citizens will band together, lift up the name of God, celebrate in unison the Good News and love our neighbor as ourselves. We've got quite a long way to go and I'm thrilled to be on the journey with all of you.

There has been much made recently of the Success Grant* initiative and we've had more emphasis on this than other programs in the early going since the relaunch of the site, BUT long term the program that I'd like us to be most known for isn't the Success Grant or the DurhamCares trips program it's Volunteer Matching.

You've probably heard from us before that we've been inspired to create DurhamCares due to the two applications that we take away from the Parable of the Good Samaritan** : the broader definition of neighbor AND the physical love that the Samaritan provided for the Jewish traveller on the side of the road.

But, for a more contemporary take on the importance of being engaged in a community and the offering up of physical love, we take some inspiration from Marvin Olasky's book, "The Tragedy of American Compassion" too. This book and its author are well known as being the basis for George Bush's "Compassionate Conservatism."  Whether you liked George Bush or not (and if late opinion polls are an indicator, you probably didn't), Olasky's work should be interesting to us all for his ability, as an historian, to chronicle the application of caring for those in need by looking back over 400 years of history. I found this history to be absolutely fascinating. He argues, and I'm inclined to agree, that the time in our history in which we did the best job of caring for the poor and the sick was when we took them in to our homes. From families in Upstate New York taking in orphans, to neighbors going door to door to take care of the hungry and sick, we were experts in providing mercy ministry. Our predecessors didn't require any translation or illustration on applying Christ's commands to take care of the least of these from the pulpit on Sunday.  They knew it, practiced it and lived it. Some quick thoughts that struck me:

1. They were much more in tune with the needs of those worse off because they saw their troubles first hand. They knew which initiatives should be funded and which ones shouldn't......with this type of intimate buy-in, they undoubtedly gave more than 1% of their incomes to charity (as our DurhamCares survey shows that we do).
2. Mercy limited mercy. There wasn't welfare free-loading (or living off the system). When the person being helped was equipped to take care of themselves, they were sent off to do so.
3. They learned first hand that it is truly more blessed to give than receive.
4. In being physically involved with those they helped (as opposed to a government agency or charity intermediary) they more fully lived out commands of Christ to take care of those in need.

So, with all of this said, and knowing that we do really think that the Success Grant IS a good way to help fund charities, we'd MUCH RATHER help those in Durham to be actively engaged in Durham with their TIME, not just their MONEY. Please help us to help you through the Volunteer Match service on the website. Tell us what special talents or interests that you have. Let us work with you to find a sustained, committed volunteering relationship. It doesn't cost you a thing, but it just might change your life and your city.

Thank you for loving (not just funding) your neighbor!

*The reason for this is primarily due to the more public way in which we inventory results of those pledging to the Success Grant and that we want to create a sense of momentum and "critical mass" as we seek to offer up a way to reward charities for planning and making their goals.

**for a 3rd click here for Mike Schneider's blog.

A series of events have made a big impression on me recently about the value of being able to tell a story well.

Last Monday night I attended a presentation by Scott Harrison of Charity: Water. It was the best presentation I've ever sat through regardless of venue or subject matter. For those of you who don't know, Charity Water raises money to drill wells around the world so that people have clean water to drink. It only takes a few videos of kids/moms/hospitals using and drinking muddy water to let you know that it's a worthy cause, but Scott has a gift of making you feel compelled to get involved and then to tell everyone you know. He has enlisted Oscar winning actresses to donate their time to the cause, convinced Saks 5th Avenue to donate their window space along 5th avenue, and convinced people of all ages across the country to donate their September birthdays to raising money for clean water. I bet he's done more for raising awareness and money for clean water in the 3 years that he's been doing this, than anyone else combined in the prior 30 years. Charity: Water is that good. You've got to check them out: www.charitywater.org.

Now, for my money, I'd rather give money directly to one of Charity: Water's partners, LivingWater (www.water.cc), as I think that they do a great job in spreading the Gospel message while they deliver fresh water, but that's not the point of this blog.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have a group like the Mailbox Club. We visited one of their installations in India during our recent DurhamCares trip to Chennai. The Mailbox Club is amazingly effective at spreading the Gospel message to kids all around the world. They do so through a series of lessons that they give to kids who then take them back to their villages and returning with them completed in one month's time. The lessons are often the only printed material that these kids have. Most importantly, they've reached millions of kids by working strategically with local churches and volunteers rallying indigenous support for this incredibly effective (less than $1 per kid per year) ministry. The problem, VERY few people know about them. Want to know why? Look no further than their website (www.mailboxclub.org). They don't have a Facebook group or a Twitter account.....they don't know how to tell their story.

In a day and age when there are thousands of charities vying for the public's attention and the general noise has resulted in a donor base that is confused, overwhelmed and disinterested (note the mention of a previous blog of giving level of households making more than $100,000 of less than 1% to Durham charities) not for profits need to be better than ever at telling their stories and engaging their donors and public.

In our experience at DurhamCares, we've found that those charities most effective at delivering service to the needy are those that are the worst at fundraising and telling their story. That's part of the reason that we were founded as we aim to help charities like PSS and the Durham Eagles get the word out. There's no one better than Mimi Every at counseling a young woman who is newly pregnant, and there is no one better than Don Jones at teaching at-risk kids how to play football and excel at school.......but they are downright lousy at building community through marketing (websites, facebook, twitter, blogs, videos etc.)

We can help out these charities, but they are in desperate need of more help. Do you have any marketing skills? Do you know branding and positioning? Do you know how to set up a Facebook Group? Can you help a charity tell it's story? Do you want to help these charities scale and engage their community? Well, please let us know! Through our volunteering matching service, we'll hook you up with an opportunity either locally or internationally that can greatly use your help.

What did Peter tell Paul in Galations 2 before they set out to go abroad to reach their chosen people groups (Jews/Gentiles)?

"Remember the Poor"

Paul's response was that is was the very thing that he was eager to do.

There are countless references to taking care of the poor in scripture...by some counts, as many as 2,000.

That we need to take care of the poor is probably pretty clear to most of us reading this. What's less clear is how we should go about it...particularly when looking overseas.

For my money, it's MicroFinance, and more particularly Christian Microfinance.

All of that has been made all the more clearer to me after hearing Peter Greer, President of Hope International who spoke 3 times over the past 24 hours in Durham and Raleigh.

Why is Microfinance such a good answer? Well because microfinance gives the poor dignity.....a hand up, rather than a hand out. They borrow and then pay back the loan that allows them to become an entrepreneur. In an environmnent where many money lenders give out money at 20% interest PER DAY!, reasonable interest rates (typically 20% per annum) allow new entrepreneurs to buy the raw materials that they need to make a living and provide for their family............they do so using their hard work.

They repay their loans at a rate of better than 95%. Why?, because while they don't have traditional collateral with items of monetary value, they do have social collateral. Social collateral means that entrepreneurs in a small town each co-sign each other's loan with the result being a powerful joint accountability.
Microfinance is not new, but it's pace of growth has picked up dramatically.

What is newer, is the concept of CHRISTIAN MICRO FINANCE. It's effectively giving out the cup of cold water in the name of Christ. The best example I've seen of this yet comes from Hope International. www.hopeinternational.org (though their are others that are Christian based, but a bit less overt like Opportunity International) Their president, Peter Greer, sums it up by saying that Hope acts with the understanding that SPIRITUAL poverty is just as pervasive, if not more so, than FINANCIAL poverty.

Hope has grown quickly since 2005 and now has more than $25 million in loans outstanding in 13 countries. Their average loan is $92, and their repayment rate is 99.6%.........more importantly, during a recent survey they found that fully 60,000 of their clients had first heard of Christ from their interaction with Hope International!!!

Say I have $10,000 that I'd ordinarily look to give to overseas charities.

That $10,000 would make a material difference in the lives of 105 entrepreneurs, they'd hear about Christ and then after 5 months (the term of the average loan).....I'd get my money back.

That's scale....that's leverage.....that's results....that's witnessing....that's heeding the lesson of the Parable of the Talents while honoring the 2,000 passages on poverty.

All while delivering DIGNITY not DEPENDENCY.

and all to the Glory of God!