Microfinance

A bunch of you have heard me talk about microfinance in the past two weeks or so, but I just wanted to take some time to spread the word about what it is and how it works because I feel like God has shown me how it can be a useful tool for reaching out and loving others.

Microfinance is the process of giving a small business loan to an entrepreneur that is living in poverty so that they can improve the quality of life that they share with their family and their local community. I think that partnered with prayer and the power of God, this is a tool that can be used to change lives. I took some time to look into it and make sure that microfinance is legit and that people are helped through these loans. I found an organization that I thought looked straight forward and seemed to be seeking to help people, so I asked Jaime about it because I knew that she would have heard of this in all of her knowledge of poverty and social justice. Jaime suggested to me the same organization that I found and I just wanted to pass it along to everyone else. The site is www.kiva.org and they have profiles of people who are seeking microfinance loans and a lender (you or me) can look through and find someone that they want to help out. The loans are usually 6-months to a year and then the principal balance is repaid to the lender so that they can reinvest if they find someone else to help out.

There are some sites that allow you to participate in microfinance for a profit, but kiva uses the interest to cover the costs of the lending institutions, so the type of lending that kiva does is strictly charitable. This is a great way to do a lot with a little because the minimum amount to contribute to a loan is $25, obviously if you want to do more you can, but if you loan only the minimum of $25 and reinvest it over 2 or 3 years you can touch the lives of anywhere between 2 and 6 families and help them to escape poverty. But don't take my word for it, go ahead and check out the site, I promise you won't regret it.