Wellshire Microfinance Report for August 2013

One Year and Eleven Months Later...

Back on September 28, 2011, we held our first meeting of Wellshire Microfinance with $500 seed money. We had no idea if anyone would show up or how long we could sustain interest or growth. We were pleasantly surprised that people were interested and excited about the concept. As we went along, we were always surprised and thankful that our members came through for us whenever our coffers were rather empty.

On August 31, 2013, Wellshire Microfinance made our 600th loan. In 23 months. Our totals are now 605 loans worth $15,700. For the month of August, our members made 39 loans. For the last two months, we've made 80 loans. Wellshire Microfinance ranks 70th out of 1,049 religious congregations with Kiva. The temptation is to say WOW! and pat ourselves on the back, but after reflection we remember that God has given us so much and enabled us to use our resources to help others. For that we are humbly thankful.

A Month of Celebration

Since September is our two year anniversary, we would like to publicize our involvement with Kiva. If anyone has ideas how we might do this, please let me know. We could hold a registration drive the last Sunday of September. We could do a M4M. Other ideas? Please let me know soon if you can come up with something new. Any volunteers to carry out our plans?

Many Thanks!

We owe thanks to many people. I would like to recognize them at this time:

• Glen MacCallum and Dan Zuchegno for helping us get off the ground
• Rev. Dr. Pattie Kitchen who was the driving force to get us moving
• Steve Cearley for helping us with computer issues
• Curtis Roe for operating the computer and projector
• All of the great people who took a chance on WMF when we were starting out.
• Sonya Merriam for her invaluable computer graphics skills and her enthusiasm for WMF and Kiva
• All the generous people who donated money to keep us "in business"
• All the kind and generous people who made loans whenever they were able
• All the investors whose faithful and generous investments extended our reach to so many poor and needy people in this world beyond what we thought possible

Most of all, thanks to our merciful Savior, who "came that we may have life and have it abundantly."

Wes Smits