View Full Version : I Just Did the Coolest Thing!
Sherri
03-15-2008, 03:52 PM
I just invested $200 on Kiva.com - a website where people (like me) can loan small amounts to struggling entrepreneurs in other countries. I just loaned $50 each to three women in Tanzania and one in Uganda, with businesses ranging from charcoal sales to catering. When the money is repaid, in 10-12 months, I can either take the money back or reinvest it in other people. A young couple started Kiva in 2004 and it has become a huge micro-loan company done totally through the internet.
So many people in these countries cannot get conventional loans because they have no collateral or no previous history. Try to imagine a sheepherder, carrying a traditional spear and dressed in a red plaid blanket, going into a bank and asking for money. Not happening! But they can get online and apply for a business loan and be funded by several people more forunate. What a great idea!! Wish I'd thought of it!
StillStanding
03-15-2008, 03:56 PM
I just invested $200 on Kiva.com - a website where people (like me) can loan small amounts to struggling entrepreneurs in other countries. I just loaned $50 each to three women in Tanzania and one in Uganda, with businesses ranging from charcoal sales to catering. When the money is repaid, in 10-12 months, I can either take the money back or reinvest it in other people. A young couple started Kiva in 2004 and it has become a huge micro-loan company done totally through the internet.
So many people in these countries cannot get conventional loans because they have no collateral or no previous history. Try to imagine a sheepherder, carrying a traditional spear and dressed in a red plaid blanket, going into a bank and asking for money. Not happening! But they can get online and apply for a business loan and be funded by several people more forunate. What a great idea!! Wish I'd thought of it!
As long as you're OK with it if the money isn't returned, this is a great idea!
I wouldn't add this to an investment portfolio! :D I would think of it as a donation, which may give you a return!
Sherri
03-15-2008, 04:00 PM
As long as you're OK with it if the money isn't returned, this is a great idea!
I wouldn't add this to an investment portfolio! :D I would think of it as a donation, which may give you a return!
Absolutely! There are no guarantees. However, it seems to have a good success rate. I love to give to people in Africa, but this concept seems to make them into businessmen rather than beggars. They take resonsibility for the money.
StillStanding
03-15-2008, 04:09 PM
Absolutely! There are no guarantees. However, it seems to have a good success rate. I love to give to people in Africa, but this concept seems to make them into businessmen rather than beggars. They take resonsibility for the money.
Great! It's like teaching them to fish instead of expecting others to feed them!
A_PoMo
03-15-2008, 04:11 PM
The micro-loan thing is an awesome idea and a way average folk can be global in their ministry efforts. Rob Bells' church has a micro-loan bank that does this sort of thing that I think is pretty cool.
crakjak
03-15-2008, 04:17 PM
As long as you're OK with it if the money isn't returned, this is a great idea!
I wouldn't add this to an investment portfolio! :D I would think of it as a donation, which may give you a return!
Actually, this business is thriving in several third world countries, and are fairly successful.
RandyWayne
03-15-2008, 04:21 PM
I saw a story on this about a year ago and the idea sounds great. These are REAL loans (that are expected to be repaid) and although they are also considered very risky, the repayment %'s have been pretty good so far.
I just invested $200 on Kiva.com - a website where people (like me) can loan small amounts to struggling entrepreneurs in other countries. I just loaned $50 each to three women in Tanzania and one in Uganda, with businesses ranging from charcoal sales to catering. When the money is repaid, in 10-12 months, I can either take the money back or reinvest it in other people. A young couple started Kiva in 2004 and it has become a huge micro-loan company done totally through the internet.
So many people in these countries cannot get conventional loans because they have no collateral or no previous history. Try to imagine a sheepherder, carrying a traditional spear and dressed in a red plaid blanket, going into a bank and asking for money. Not happening! But they can get online and apply for a business loan and be funded by several people more forunate. What a great idea!! Wish I'd thought of it!
Sounds like a neat thing to do.
I echo Pianoman in that if you don't expect a return, consider it a donation instead.
Kudos to you for giving to others!!:thumbsup
Elizabeth
03-15-2008, 06:59 PM
I just invested $200 on Kiva.com - a website where people (like me) can loan small amounts to struggling entrepreneurs in other countries. I just loaned $50 each to three women in Tanzania and one in Uganda, with businesses ranging from charcoal sales to catering. When the money is repaid, in 10-12 months, I can either take the money back or reinvest it in other people. A young couple started Kiva in 2004 and it has become a huge micro-loan company done totally through the internet.
So many people in these countries cannot get conventional loans because they have no collateral or no previous history. Try to imagine a sheepherder, carrying a traditional spear and dressed in a red plaid blanket, going into a bank and asking for money. Not happening! But they can get online and apply for a business loan and be funded by several people more forunate. What a great idea!! Wish I'd thought of it!
Wow, I am glad someone thought to do something like this.
Gives people hope! I think this is something Keith and I would like to look into as well.
Cindy
03-15-2008, 07:23 PM
Sherri that is great. Better than Oprah.
Sherri that is great. Better than Oprah.
Amen.
chosenbyone
03-15-2008, 08:05 PM
I saw a story on this about a year ago and the idea sounds great. These are REAL loans (that are expected to be repaid) and although they are also considered very risky, the repayment %'s have been pretty good so far.
WAY TO GO, SHERRI!
I saw the same story and I was very impressed with the results.
Sherri
03-15-2008, 08:28 PM
Wow, I am glad someone thought to do something like this.
Gives people hope! I think this is something Keith and I would like to look into as well.
I sent an invite to Keith's email.
I also have read news stories about this concept. It seems like a very good idea but since it requires internet access and the know how to use it I would be afraid it would be rip to be abused by scam artists like the ones behind the Nigerian internet scams.
I wonder if they have a way to police it and make sure the loan applicants are legit.
simplyme
03-16-2008, 08:21 AM
I also have read news stories about this concept. It seems like a very good idea but since it requires internet access and the know how to use it I would be afraid it would be rip to be abused by scam artists like the ones behind the Nigerian internet scams.
I wonder if they have a way to police it and make sure the loan applicants are legit.
Yeah I'm just skeptical enough to be concerned that the REAL people needing this $ might not get it., scam artists abound globally.
AND while its being done over there, & I agree its a marvelous idea, why not here in the U.S.? I don't KNOW of any such services, here, that don't require good credit, collateral, etc., for even mature chrisitan folks.
STILL if it works it works., not a bad concept. Helping people can come in many forms., "giving" can, as well.
Yeah I'm just skeptical enough to be concerned that the REAL people needing this $ might not get it., scam artists abound globally.
AND while its being done over there, & I agree its a marvelous idea, why not here in the U.S.? I don't KNOW of any such services, here, that don't require good credit, collateral, etc., for even mature chrisitan folks.
STILL if it works it works., not a bad concept. Helping people can come in many forms., "giving" can, as well.
One of the articles I read was about such a service for here. The scary thing is that it is geared toward small business people who are not credit worthy enough to get conventional loans. I would feel a lot better about giving a small loan that was small enough it could be considered a donation if things went south to a small business person in Africa rather than the sums of money small business people in America need and who were not credit worthy enough to get it on their own.
A_PoMo
03-16-2008, 08:47 AM
Yeah, that's why I like Rob Bell's approach. As I understand it his church does this as a ministry from their church which allows them to screen applicants and the like. I could be wrong about that, but that's how I understood it when I heard the podcast from their church. I think they look at it as a donation more than an investment. I don't want to put words in her mouth, but I think that's what Sherri is doing too. It's the joy of giving directly to someone you'd not normally be able to bless and not just giving them a fish but helping them learn to fish. That's hecka cool if you ask me.
Sister Alvear
03-16-2008, 09:48 AM
Sherri, that is awesome...Even if the money never returns God will send it back to you in many ways helping his little ones...Thank you for being so much like the early christians. They were always ready to help others...Wish the world was full of people like you that have hearts that have been touched by God.
Sister Alvear
03-16-2008, 09:52 AM
Blessed is he who considers the poor; The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, And he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed.
(Psalms 41:1 - 3)
Sister Alvear
03-16-2008, 09:52 AM
Because I delivered the poor who cried out, The fatherless and the one who had no helper. The blessing of a perishing man came upon me, And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
(Job 29:12 - 13)
Sister Alvear
03-16-2008, 09:54 AM
another scripture:
Isaiah 58
“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
“If you take away the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
(Isaiah 58:6 - 12)
Sister Alvear
03-16-2008, 11:00 AM
God cares for the poor and wants to use His church to bless them. God speaks about caring for the poor over 500 times in the Bible! I know Sherri, Keith some and a few others don´t mind but that is why I always post asking for help for others...
If we could realize how blessed we are...Sometimes people post about all the poor in America...I know there are poor in America but all said and done America is a blessed land compared to many places of our world...
America and Americans do not know how blessed they really are...When my sister came and mother was in the hospital here and I was taking pine soil washing down the dirty walls of her hospital room, washing the filthy bed they put her in my sister wept and told me, Janice, I never imagined a hospital looking like this...
When we would walk to her room where 5 others were at times...mostly dying...stepping over and around those on mats in the floors, guards shouting at us...poor people handing me handfuls of cookies or crackers to take to their sick in other rooms...my sister could not take it...
When I had breast surgery the operating room was so filthy the doctor was embarrassed when I said something about all the blood and dirty towels on the floor...when I had gall bladder surgery I vomited all night and not one nurse or helper ever came to change me or the bed...If it were not that my kids had slipped in the hospital and brought sheets from home I would have just laid helplessly there...
Even for the poor in your country there is usually something…a food bank, a church to help, a community program but not so in many countries…EVERYDAY NOT SOMETIMES BUT EVERY SINGLE DAY SOMEONE OR ONES COME FOR FOOD… some come to ask if I will let them wash my clothes in exchange for rice and beans…could I help them buy a pair of shoes, a pair of glasses for they cannot see, and on and on…
Poor preachers call asking for help not for themselves but for someone poorer than them….
Bread can only be broken into so many pieces….a person can only be stretched so far…
Our people go to the meat market looking for bones so they can make soup…and their joy is to invite me over to enjoy soup (?) with them…
I live and work in the poorest state of Brazil. ON Sunday we pick up usually more than 200 people…they do not own a car…bus money they do not have…most are so hungry before church is over…some of the kids empty my refrigerator… then ask, “do you have more missionary, your food is so good…”
Yet when someone gives to them they make it a point to bring me something…late the other night one of the little church boys come walking in my office with a piece of cake…some had given him and he wanted me to have some…so we sat and ate cake together…how many hands it had passed through…I don´t know. In fact I try not to think about those things…
Yes, dear friends…YOU are blessed beyond measure!
Sherri
03-16-2008, 09:29 PM
Sis. A - you are so right about America! The poorest here are rich compared to people in third world countries. Your post made me cry, thinking of how we take things here for granted.
When we were in Kenya last time, as we finished service, someone was waiting with cold Cokes/Fantas. They know that Americans like cold drinks, which is unheard of to them. They had sent a church member to run for miles on foot to bring back cold drinks for us, where in the U.S., we would have just popped some coins in a machine and there it would be. It really humbled me! By the time they got them to us, they weren't even all that cold, and I'm not supposed to drink any caffeine, but you could not have talked me out of drinking that one, just from the honor they showed. The conveniences we ignore here are very special over there.
I know that the money that I have "loaned" these ladies in Africa may never get returned to me. I don't even care. I hope it is, because I can turn around and loan it out to some more women. But if it goes into default, that's ok too. God knows that I gave it because I love those little women and want to help them and want them to feel worthy because they are helping to help themselves and not just getting a hand-out.
The coolest thing about it is that I have their names and the names of their towns and what their businesses are. I am now praying for them by name, that if they don't know Jesus, they will come to know Him. I think several of them are probably Muslim, since the town they are in is a Muslim region. I will trust Jesus to do His work on them!!
seguidordejesus
03-16-2008, 10:40 PM
Do they pay interest?
Sister Alvear
03-16-2008, 11:17 PM
Money has become the god of America...what is in it for me is the attitude of most...
Today a typical Sunday...the first ones to want to talk with me were the leaders of our gesture choir wondering if I could help them buy material to make uniforms for May special services...They told me they were going to pick up cans and sell them, see if some rich people would have to to clean their home...but what if they could not get enough could I help them???After all it is for Jesus...
Next in line was the leader of another choir and they want to buy a roll of materil to make new robes...cost 250 dollars they have raised half but I could I help them for they want to look their best for Jesus...
Next in line the leader of the jewish choir...they are getting shirts and blouses made and want to sstamp the star of David on their shirts and blouses...but 40 stamps cost 200 dollars...could I help them with part of it...
and on and on as I met with each department...everyone is working but with a salary of 80 dollars a month it is hard to have anything left for clothes...However once a year they try and that is for convention...
I listened all day to those who have done their best to help raise money for one new uniform or robe for Jesus...to look their best for convention...
I weep with them...and wish for money to help them...one little SS teacher told me that she would love to have a new dress and a pair of shoes but her first duty was to God to get her a uniform for her choir...
The little 6-9 boys came and ask could I help them get some army material so they could go dressed like the Lord`s army for convention...
Convention is so important to them...they practice for months to do their best for Jesus...
It is after two in the morning and I have been trying to think how to help these classes and choirs...things are tight, the ecomomy is bad right now...
Rejoice if you have nice clothes...rejoice if you had supper tonight. Half the world goes to bed hungry...
The other day I walked into the church and a pastor was weeping and crying...I sat down beside him and prayed and then it dawned on me it was lunch time...he was praying because he did not have food to eat...
Sister Alvear
03-16-2008, 11:19 PM
Next Friday we are buying icecream for our people...a cone of icecream...probably nothing exciting to most Americans but so thrilling to those who have none of this worlds goods...
Sherri
03-17-2008, 07:08 AM
Do they pay interest?
They do pay interest. However, in Kenya, it is anywhere from 8-20% with Kiva. A traditional bank loan in Kenya (with no collateral) is 127% interest!!!!
We are considering, as a ministry, loaning money to some of our foreign pastors/wives at no interest, just to help get them on their feet. But we don't want to just keep giving and giving, with them not having to be responsible. We cannot do it as a business, but I think we could do it with no interest charged.
Digging4Truth
03-17-2008, 07:26 AM
As long as you're OK with it if the money isn't returned, this is a great idea!
I wouldn't add this to an investment portfolio! :D I would think of it as a donation, which may give you a return!
That is an excellent way to look at it... biblical even.
Luk 6:34 And if ye lend [to them] of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
Luk 6:35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and [to] the evil.
Sherri
03-17-2008, 02:42 PM
That is an excellent way to look at it... biblical even.
Luk 6:34 And if ye lend [to them] of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
Luk 6:35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and [to] the evil.
Thanks for sharing these scriptures; I hadn't even thought about them!!
Sister Alvear
03-17-2008, 03:10 PM
Luke 14:13-14
But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
I thought of this scripture...
Jehoram
03-17-2008, 03:19 PM
Sherri, you're supercool!
James Griffin
03-17-2008, 07:22 PM
Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty
by Muhammad Yunus documents how this noble peace prize winner has changed the lives of millions.
I just finished reading his latest:
Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism
by Muhammad Yunus
Which was really great too. Apostolics have been so set on the Great Commission that we have mostly ignored the Great Commandment. The challenge will be to become more involved in social ministries without sacrificing our evangelism.
Sherri
03-18-2008, 08:52 AM
If anyone is interested in getting involved, the address is www.kiva.org. I can't tell you how excited I got about this concept!!
dizzyde
03-18-2008, 03:09 PM
If anyone is interested in getting involved, the address is www.kiva.org. I can't tell you how excited I got about this concept!!
Thanks for sharing this, this is a fantastic concept!!
Sherri
07-08-2008, 08:44 AM
Well, I just wanted to give you an update on my Kiva experience. So far, my loans have been repaid anywhere from 25% to 31%. They are being faithful and diligent to repay. When the loans are repaid in full, I will get the money back in my Kiva account and then I can choose to reinvest it in another small business owner or I can get the money sent to me. I'm sure I will reinvest it, as I am a firm believer in micro-loans in these third world countries.
Sherri
03-25-2009, 11:36 AM
Just an update:
Since I started loaning to Kiva, I have made 10 loans total, and two of them are 100% repaid, with two more almost repaid in full. I have loaned to small business owners in Ghana, Tanzania, Paraguay, Cameroon, Togo, and Uganda. It is such a good feeling to be able to share just $25-$50 at a time to help someone in a 3rd world country get a business started!
I would encourage everyone to get involved in micro-loans. It's such a blessing to those on the receiving end.
*AQuietPlace*
03-25-2009, 11:49 AM
This is a very interesting concept. I'm going to look into this!
Sherri
03-25-2009, 05:08 PM
I love Kiva. I even have a shirt that says "I'm a Loaner".
Sherri
10-03-2009, 07:38 AM
Just an update - I have now loaned a total of $525 to Kiva recipients and four of them have totally repaid me back. Several of the others are nearly paid; I haven't had any bad experiences yet. Usually I loan $25 to $50 each, and they pay back a percentage each month.
Kiva rocks!!!:hanky
tstew
10-03-2009, 09:25 AM
Thanks for the updates. It's good to see a familiar face attaching credibilty to this. I definitely need to look into it now.
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