future headline: microfinance ends poverty!
Consider these statistics...- Almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day.
- At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day.
- More than 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where income differentials are widening.
- The poorest 40 percent of the world’s population accounts for 5 percent of global income. The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of world income.
- According to UNICEF, 26,500-30,000 children die each day (that is one child every three seconds) due to poverty.
- 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (same as children population in France, Germany, Greece and Italy).
- An estimated 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, with 3 million deaths in 2004. Every year there are 350–500 million cases of malaria, with 1 million fatalities: Africa accounts for 90 percent of malarial deaths and African children account for over 80 percent of malaria victims worldwide.
- Some 1.8 million child deaths each year as a result of diarrhea.
- Based on enrollment data, about 72 million children of primary school age in the developing world were not in school in 2005; 57 per cent of them were girls. And these are regarded as optimistic numbers.
- Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
Source: Global Issues, Poverty Facts and Stats
If you have not thought much about it, then it is time to start. Poverty is one of the biggest issues that our world faces today. The worst part is that the solution is completely within our means. As Christians, we have been tasked with taking care of the sick and the needy. Just one look at the list above, and you can see that there is a great deal of work that needs to be done. Check out this video of Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of Acumen Fund, a nonprofit that takes a businesslike approach to improving the lives of the poor. Novogratz applauds the world's heightened interest in Africa and poverty, but argues persuasively for a new approach.The good news is that many of these people want to be free from the bondage of poverty, but simply do not have the means. That's where the idea of microfinance comes in. In developing nations where there are people that have the desire, microfinance organizations give people the loans that they need to start small businesses. Often the business is something like a sewing machine, a fruit and vegetable stand, a rickshaw, or some bakery equipment. Basically it is money for the tools that are needed in order to help them help themselves. The best thing about this is that microfinance loans are, as the name implies, small sums of money. Some only require $25 of capital to get someone started!
One organization that is doing some great work in this are is Five Talents International. Five Talents’ mission is to fight poverty, create jobs and transform lives by empowering the poor in developing countries using innovative savings and microcredit programs, business training and spiritual development. The folks at Five Talents point out that there are three things that you can do to help make in impact on world poverty...
- Pray :: You can pray for the ministries that are doing this amazing work and for the people that benefit from these ministries that God would free them from the bondage of poverty through these microfinance loans.
- Pledge :: The money to support ministries like this doesn't grow on trees! Your investments (even small ones) can touch many lives. With repayment rates around 95%, the money can then be used to give someone else a loan later on, multiplying your investment.
- Participate :: Organizations like Five Talents even have Business as Mission trips that you can go on to help train people in the entrepreneurial skills that they need in order to start and maintain their own businesses.
So my challenge to you today is not to settle for simply thinking about what others are doing, but to act. 
Help stamp out poverty once and for all. Consider what you can do to join this fight and make a difference. Who knows, maybe we can go on a Business as Mission trip together someday!
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I have been blessed with multiple opportunities to see microfinance at work in the field. And, it is truly incredible and greatly encouraging! In January, I traveled with Five Talents to Chennai, India. Our program there was started in response to the December 2004 tsunami that hit Southeast Asia. During my time in the areas surrounding Chennai, I met woman after woman who testified that after joining a Self-Help Group, they now have a voice and can stand on their own two feet. These women not only joined together to save and loan their own money but are working together to improve their communities through water projects, sanitation projects and assisting those with disabilities. And, this transformation is happening through the work of the church! ... it's Five Talents' partnership with the Church of South India that is providing a consistent and supportive network for this program. On the island of Pulicat, relief organizations have left but church has remained!
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Thanks for sharing Kelli! I appreciate and respect what you guys are doing a great deal! I hope that this helps to bring more awareness to your cause, and purpose to what readers here do with what they have been given. I will certainly continue to spread your message, and hopefully join you all on a Business as Mission trip or something soon! Thanks!
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Hey
sory to write to you like this, but i could not find the contact form. I really like your blog and i was wondering if you would maybe like a link exchange with my website www.sayeconomy.com . It is not as big as yours, since it isn't up so long yet, but it's gaining visitors fast and i have ordered an advertising campaign recently.
Next to link exchange i would like to offer you an option to publish some articles of yours about economy on my blog, send them to me and i will publish them. You can add link to your blog under each article and i will publish it as a source.
Well let me know on info@sayeconomy.com . I would really like a link exchange with your blog (i like it alot).
Thank you in advance for your reply.
Cheers,
Matt
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Cool site...
Links exchanged...
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Hey dude, haven't been on in a while and enjoyed catching up. I love the concept and it's such a reality check. In addition to my financial support, I'm spending some time locally to enrich the lives of those who don't have much. I have some warm clothes that I was going to give to goodwill, but I'm going to distribute them myself. I'm also going to give out the packages that we discussed before too. I'm trying to organize something small but local, outside the realm of work, to help my children understand the abundance that we possess. Thanks for continuing to share your message.
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Thanks for dropping by again Mike! I appreciate your desire to make a difference on society around you...
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