Here's how the loans work...
We give $50usd which works out to about $400 haitian. We drive the recipient into town to buy product in bulk. $400 isn't a lot of money, this usually buys them a bag of charcoal, rice, oil, and spaghetti. They sell 6 days a week and each day hold back $2 haitian. Every Monday - Frantzy and I have dubbed Micro Loan Monday! - we spend the entire day sitting and chatting with our recipients, encouraging them, giving them advice, and collecting the $2/day which works out to $14/week. When the recipient is given the initial $400 haitian they sign a contract & every week they sign how much they've paid, that money goes into their own special envelope - I'm a huge Dave Ramsey fan and have a massive envelope system for everything! - their contract states that in 4 months they'll have paid back $200 haitian. At this time they can either decide that they want to build their business up and we will loan them the $200 again and they'll start paying it back every week or they can give that $200 back to us to bless a new micro loan recipient. To make a long story short, we give $400 initially and only ask that they pay back $200 and the other $200 is simply a gift to bless them and encourage them to begin providing for their families!
Frantzy and I began this ministry in March. We mostly started it because we were exhausted, people were constantly calling and asking us for money and food. We got to thinking about it and wondering why perfectly healthy, capable people couldn't start working and providing for themselves instead of always asking! Obviously a lifestyle where people are working and providing for themselves instead of just always asking for money and food is more glorifying to God, and aren't we here to do just that?! We weren't expecting it to be a big thing, just help people live lives that are more glorifying and provide for their families in the process! But the more success stories we hear and the more people who are asking for us to give them a loan we are starting to see that God has bigger plans for this. It's so exciting! There isn't anything more wonderful than seeing hope in a family's life because they can provide food and shelter every day.
Nurise is our first recipient to finish paying her loan back. She has already asked for the money back because she wants to continue growing her business! She has paid her loan back in less than three months. It's been such a blessing to watch God bless her business. She recently shared with us that a man came and bought food from her. He paid her with a $200haitian bill and she gave him change. The next morning he came back and was so sick! He said he couldn't sleep the night before because he had given her counterfeit money. He could tell she was serving the Lord and just couldn't let it go. He came back and paid her with real money and said he never wanted to feel that sick again! All the while she had no idea she had been given a fake bill! Literally if we're ever having a bad day we just go and sit at Nurise's house. She has a steady stream of people in and out all day buying. She's constantly selling on credit and telling the people they can pay when they have the money. We first met Nurise in February when my family was in Haiti. We delivered a bucket of food to her and our missionary friends shared with us that she has a sick son and her husband had died the year before. While we were in the States this past summer my dad was always talking about Nurise and how he wanted to do something to help her. When Frantzy and I came back to Haiti we took a box of Feed My Starving Children manna packs out to her. She shared with us that day that the night before they had eaten the rest of their food and didn't know what they'd eat that day. We gave her $400 haitian and began the micro loan with her. Less than three months later she is traveling to the Dominican Republic every Friday and buying product in bulk. She's selling everything from razor blades and bleach to spaghetti, rice, oil, and peppers. She has product that is worth well over $5,000 haitian! She has paid for an entire year of school for her son, bought his uniform, and brand new books for him! Anytime we go and visit she tries to give us groceries and gas money. She smiles more than anyone I've ever seen and has the sweetest heart! We are beyond excited to see what God has in store for her future!
You can check out some of her previous pics here
We've also started 3 new loans. Noufie, Ti Rose, & Ti Pa...
Does this smile look familiar?! This is Nurise's younger sister. We're also expecting great things from this girl!
This is Noufies dad. She is a kindergarten teacher and her mom and dad have agreed to help her sell and watch we sweet son while she is at work. The stuff in the wheelbarrow is her product and the skirts hanging on the back wall is what her mom sells. They're also selling school supplies but I didn't get a picture of that. They are set up in a very busy market close to town and they were embarrassed to take a picture. So this was secretly taken from our car where none of the other venders could see ;)
We don't have a picture of Ti Pa yet. But as soon as we get one, I'll post it! He is selling charcoal and candy and cookies outside of school yards. His first day he had already sold for over $40 haitian.
Obviously we know that $50 usd isn't a lot, in Haiti or America. But it's been such a blessing to see these recipients take the little bit of money we've been able to give them and work hard to make it work. I think that really helps us to identify the people who are serious about providing for their family. It's such a blast getting to work with these people! I've never felt so sure about a ministry opportunity as I feel about this one. We have some exciting things that are in the works to help expand each of their businesses and create new ones. We'll share more once we get the logistics worked out :)
Please continue to pray for our recipients: Jean Ruben, Mama Reginald, Nurise, Ti Pa, & Ti Rose. Pray God would continue to bless their business and show them how incredibly rewarding it is to work to provide! And please pray that we can get loans to the many people we currently have on the waiting list!
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