Feb 10 - KAMPALA, CAPITOL CITY OF UGANDA Kampala’s traffic was jammed. Most of day was spent in the van in traffic gridlock as we ran our errands. We had one meeting today. We met with Livingstone Mukasa, who has partnered with us since 2011. He is an entrepreneur who continually creates new businesses. He grew up in the slums of Kampala and was fortunate that he got scholarships to go to high school and college. As his businesses grew, his pastor asked him to help him counsel church members who were starting micro-businesses. Livingstone heart cried for these folks who were like him in many ways but did not have the understanding of the basics of business. He developed a training program. Now his Christian non-profit uses this program. He has trained 30,000 Ugandans as well as trained trainers in South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia. His success rate is better by far than any similar program in the U.S.
In 2010, I learned that a successful young church plant pastors shares two traits.
RURAL VILLAGE PASTORS CONTRIBUTE TO "HELP A FAMILY", BUT THEY CAN'T HELP EVERYONE Most village pastors cannot live off of the tithe which is very small. But, when a church member needs help to take a child to the hospital or buy food for their family, they come to the pastor for help. So, successful entrepreneurs, who were also pastors, produced income to feed their families and learned how to help others in the community to develop a trade or craft to sustain themselves. These pastors recognize that the Gospel is the most important eternal gift. But, if you can't feed or care for your family, the struggle to live often outweighs church attendance, because you are working 7 days a week to survive. HOW TO GET OUT OF THE "POVERTY BUCKET"? When I got home in 2010, I tried to find programs to help folks climb out of poverty. LIVING BUSINESS EDUCATION UGANDAN NON-PROFIT I discovered Livingstone's Living Business Education program. He offered a free copy of his training online. Entitled "Setting up a Biblically Based Business", the four day workshop asks + each participant to think through their God given gifts and the needs in their community to find a match. I reached out to Livingstone in 2011. Over the years, he has helped us train church leaders to be a trainer in their village using his model. Over the years, he has encouraged us to grow successful entrepreneurs in these small villages through the local church. As they grow the business, they hire more workers, who are more likely to thrive and be honest and ethical community leaders. HOSANNA MICRO-FINANCE PROJECT CREATED IN 2019 In 2019, we created Hosanna Micro-Finance Project in Busia town on the border of Uganda and Kenya. The purpose of Hosanna is to help existing micro-entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. The vision is to learn and take this across rural Uganda. HOSANNA SELECTS ENTREPRENEURS FROM 15 SAVINGS COOPERATIVES The founders of Hosanna are prominent local pastors who oversee 15 savings cooperatives which each have from 40 to 80 people in each group. Livingstone recommended that we not try to create entrepreneurs but to mentor existing entrepreneurs and let them create jobs. This plan reduces the better risk of trying to create an entrepreneur. HARRIET AND PEACE - TWO ENTREPRENEURS WHO HAVE HIRED 7 PEOPLE TO WORK FOR THEM Harriet and Peace, sellers of vegetables and shoes on the streets, joined Hosanna in November. Both now have their own store fronts and have hired 7 folks to sell on the streets for them. HOSANNA MEETS WITH EACH ENTREPRENEUR WEEKLY Once an entrepreneur is accepted into Hosanna, they meet weekly with the same mentor out of a local church. Each week, the mentor shares a Bible story to connect with their business practices and listens to what happened in their business that week. If Hosanna has loaned them money, the mentor collects the weekly repayment of the loan plus 3% interest which is better than other lenders who charge 6-10%. Unfortunately, most are like Harriet and Peace, no one will loan them money except those charging very high interest on the loans often requiring repayment daily. CAPITAL NEED TO GROW TO REACH 100 ENTREPRENEURS The Hosanna project has proven that it can help entrepreneurs grow their business. Now, we want to grow Hosanna slowly in 2020, but capital is needed to add at least 100 entrepreneurs and hire one trainer/mentor. Please prayerfully consider donating to the Hosanna Project! $10 IS A BEGINNING MICRO-LOAN WITH $270 THE MAX LOAN OFFERED OVER TIME TO ONE PERSON Feb 10 - DORCAS AND HER STAFF Most of the church associations and non-profits have their national headquarters in Kampala. We try to regularly meet with many of these leaders in one day to avoid paying high hotel rates. But it takes so long to go from one place to another to meet them at their headquarters that we end up staying a couple of nights in Kampala. Enter Dorcas! A friend suggested we meet with Dorcas, who is the director of sales for the Golf Resort Hotel in downtown Kampala. I told her we were distributing Bibles to the poor and could not afford her hotel but would like to use it for meetings. She offered us a "missionary rate", and gives us a meeting room for the entire day! Last year, I gave Dorcas a study Bible and she was over joyed. Some of her staff later came to me timidly and asked if they could buy one. This trip I gave two study Bibles to Bronia and Sylvia. I also gave a NLT English Bible for Nixon, the bellman, who I talk to when I get bored waiting for the next meeting to start. Pray that they will fuel a fire for others in the hotel to want to have their own Bible and that they will read it each day. WHAT HAPPENED FEB 10?
God does not "need" us to do anything for Him. But He mercifully wants us to join Him in His work. Today was a wonderful testimony in how God helps us complete the good work He has given us to do. Hosanna Micro-Finance Project is a dream that Pastors Monday Bernard and Okumu David and I have had for ten years. Last year, we launched it in November and now it is maturing entrepreneurs in their work and in their faith. God has rewarded those faithful to His calling. I am humbled and broken by His love for His people living in poverty.
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Mike StuddardAuthorHi, I'm Mike. We at the Africa Bible Project believe that Bibles are a necessary tool in the Life of every African Christian. Archives
April 2024
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