Nicholas H. Dean

AFA Journal/Engage magazine staff writer

April 2016 – Alleviating poverty has been an integral component of mission work since the words of James 2:15-17 married faith to works: “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (NKJV).

For generations, biblically sound missions have presented the gospel to hungry spirits alongside material aid to needy bodies. Whether in the form of a house, school, livestock, food, special equipment and tools, medicine, or especially money, the virtue of Christian charity has cemented itself as a mainstay of the mainstream missions paradigm.

No matter how well-intentioned, though, charity is often carried out in a fashion of doing for rather than with, and has left many crippled by dependency. What if there was something more that missions minded Christians could do to help and empower properly?

Enter microfinance, an economic innovation overhauling the modern mission movement. In the simplest terms, microfinance is a system of financial backing for small business owners and entrepreneurs – often from poor, developing environs – who might not otherwise have access to traditional loan services. This financial backing takes the form of small loans, frequently called microloans, which are provided to enterprising recipients, often with little or no interest. Microfinancing and microloans, more than trending buzzwords on the contemporary missions scene, are powerful tools to equip and empower individuals to make a difference in their own communities.

How does it work?
Numerous organizations and individuals with and without religious affiliation work to facilitate microloans. Given that most of these organizations and individuals function independently of one another, specific policies vary from one loaning entity to another. No matter the differences in minutiae, though, most microfinance agreements will draw from a fairly simple and straightforward procedure. This allows lay persons to contribute to kingdom work all over the world, without the geographical hindrance mission trips often entail.

For Christians wanting to invest in others, doing so through a reputable organization is almost always the best option. (See below.) Someone interested in making a loan can usually go to an organization’s website and read about individuals seeking loans. These loan applications are typically for small amounts of startup capital or for the purchase of special tools or materials.

Lenders then select their borrower and the amount they would like to loan, and send the loan through the organization. Many organizations will offer updates to lenders so they can stay involved and abreast of how their loan is being utilized. Finally, the loan amount and any interest will be repaid to the lender according to a pre-established repayment plan. In this way, Christians all over the world – no matter their day job – are able to engage in a new kind of mission work by equipping others with the means to impact the kingdom wherever they are.

Missionaries, though, of course need not be constricted by parameters set forth by a given organization. Many missionaries, particularly those living and working in poor, underdeveloped, or rural areas are able to facilitate microloans in a true peer-to-peer fashion wherein everything takes place directly between the missionary and the recipient of the loans. This model is particularly impactful for missionaries actively involved with discipleship, as the whole process relies on and strengthens a relationship between lender and borrower.

A model at work
Bob Jacobsen is one such missionary in Uganda who utilizes microloans in his missional work. Specifically, Jacobsen helps young men and women develop their ideas and business plans and then equips them to execute those plans through the provision of small loans.

“My work is very one-on-one, unlike the general microfinance model,” Jacobsen told AFA Journal. “Monthly payments are worked out so that it is fair and not a big burden on the borrower. I do not require any financial collateral, my relationship with the borrower is my only leverage.”

Why does it matter? Steadman Harrison, CEO of Global Outreach International, shared insight on this profound relational aspect of microfinance. “The microloan offers a deeper level of commitment in relationship,” he said. “A gift of money with no expected return – either the long-term repayment of the loan or the relational expectation – is demeaning. The money flows too easily and paints a picture that lowers the value of the funds that are dispersed.”

Harrison continued, “In both lending and receiving, there should be a relational expectation. True friendship deepens the meaning of the money that flows in between. The investment is in a person and not a thing.”

And it is that relationship that carries the true significance and potential impact of microfinance in missions. In short, microfinancing matters because people matter. They are men and women made in the image of God and imbued with potential for greatness. To do mission work well is to acknowledge that potential for greatness and strive to empower the people rather than possibly rendering them dependent on someone else’s charity.

When the cycle of dependency is broken, individuals are empowered to make an impact in their communities. When coupled with the gospel, that impact resonates throughout the kingdom of God. Whether their goal is to grow more, make more, transport more, or sell more, microloans can provide struggling individuals the means to accomplish and excel.

In relationship, someone was able to help them realize their potential for success. Their success, then, is achieved not because someone did something for them, but because someone did something with them. Indeed, microfinance offers a unique and impactful opportunity for the world of missions.  

SUCCESS
Chhay Mach and her husband Seng Ny struggled to make ends meet by raising pigs and selling fruit in their impoverished Cambodian village. But their profits were not enough to feed the six children who shared their crowded, leaf-roofed house, or to pay for school supplies. To supplement the family’s income, their oldest son had to drop out of school to work as a day laborer.

“I very seldom bought meat for my children,” Chhay Mach recalls. “I could not afford books for my children. Younger children used books with remaining blank pages passed on by their elder siblings.” Then Chhay Mach received a microloan from World Vision that enabled her to start a boiled corn business, while her husband purchased tools to carry on his father’s trade as a barber. The loans have transformed their lives.

Today, the family lives in a solid wood home and Chhay Mach’s heart is filled with hope: “Besides [having] enough food, all of my children can go to school.”

Chhay Mach and Seng Ny’s success was facilitatated through World Vision. For more stories like theirs, visit worldvisionmicro.org or research other mission groups involved in microfinance:

▶ Seed Effect
▶ Acumen Fund
▶ Hope International
▶ Vision Fund International
▶ World Concern

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RECOMMENDED READING

▶ When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert
▶ The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz
▶ Toxic Charity by Robert Lupton
▶ From Dependence to Dignity by Brian Fikkert and Russell Mask
▶ Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus