Wellshire Microfinance Report: March 2013

1,000,000 Loans

If you saw the Kiva website this month, you noticed that Kiva surpassed 1,000,000 loans this month.  It’s difficult to imagine the enormity of their operations.  Keeping track of all this data is amazing.  If the average sized loan were $1,000 (it’s probably more), it would take 40,000,000 microloans to supply 1,000,000 loans.

Haiti and Zimbabwe

This week new loan opportunities appeared for people in Haiti and Zimbabwe.  Since Global Service Ministries is quite involved in these two countries, it might be a good thing to support loans in these countries, which are some of the poorest on earth.  The loan applicants in Haiti are two groups that WMF has made loans to before.  Both were repaid.

Another Outstanding Month

Our team made 58 loans this month.  Several individuals made multiple loans, and the team made eight loans at our regular meeting.  We also added one member this month.  Our grand totals are now 48 members, 452 microloans in 53 countries worth $11,650. 

Top Ten

If you’re curious about where most of our loans are made, here are the top ten countries that have received WMF loans:  1. Kenya (49) 2. Peru (38) 3. Uganda (27) 4. Ecuador (20) 5. Philippines (20) 6. Colombia (17) 7. Lebanon (16) 8. El Salvador (15) 

9. Bolivia (12) 10. Cambodia (11).   

Results for February

Our totals for February are 27 loans worth $775.  At least nine of these loans (and possibly more) were made with payback funds.  Wellshire Microfinance has now made a total of  394 loans worth $10,375.  Our totals rank Wellshire 81st out of 1,012 "Religious  Congregations" in Kiva's totals.  That is outstanding, given that many churches have been involved with Kiva for much longer than we have.

Matters for Thanksgiving and Prayer

Secretary of State John Kerry announced last week that nine African countries showed economic growth last year of more than 8%. That does not mean that these countries are now pleasant places to live, but it does mean that the economic trend in these countries is much better than had been projected.  This news is cause for thanksgiving!

Two countries that should be in our prayers are Mali and Kenya.  In Mali, the war between Islamist rebels and the government is not over.  The rebels have moved back to their homes and continue to foment revolution.  This makes it more difficult to ferret them out.  Some of the rebels have also fled to surrounding countries.

In Kenya, new elections are planned for this year.  The last election in 2007 was the cause of much violence, pitting neighbor against neighbor.  The same person who stirred up all the trouble in 2007 is back for the elections this year.  Please pray that the election may be peaceful and that the progress that Kenya has made in the last five years will not be destroyed.

Please pray for the safety of our mission co-workers who live and work in these countries.

A Record Month, A Default, and An Additional Meeting

• Additional meeting on February 18 at 12:00 PM
  An increase in end of year donations has prompted the team members to schedule an additional meeting to invest these donations. In March, we will go back to our every other month meetings on the third Thursday of the month.
• January, 2013: A Record Month
  The totals for January are three new members, 54 microloans worth $1,350. This marks the first time we have ever exceeded 50 loans in a month. These totals include six loans made by the middle school youth group and seven loans made by the Pioneers, Wellshire's fellowship and service group for parents of teens/empty nesters/adults 40+.. In addition, we had multiple loans made by some of our team members, and lots of individual loans as well. We are grateful for everyone who participated. Since we started, WMF team members have made 367 loans worth $9,600. These totals demonstrate the ongoing commitment of our team members.
• A Default
  Kiva notified us this month that an agricultural loan we made in Rwanda went into default. The borrower had already paid back $22.78 of our share of the loan, so we only lost $2.22. This is just the second default we've had on 367 loans in over a year. Our payback rate is still at 99%.

Wellshire Microfinance/Kiva 2012 Year-End Report

The Kiva Statistics for 2012 show $380 million loaned to 940,000 borrowers in 66 countries. Kiva also maintained a 99% repayment rate and earned a Charity Navigator rating of four stars.

In December, Wellshire Microfinance invested in 20 microloans worth $500. We welcomed 3 new members to increase our membership to 44. Our grand totals are now 313 loans worth $8250 in 50 countries. We are grateful, as always, for Wellshire’s enthusiastic response.

In 2012 we also saw the participation of our youth on two occasions when Club 45 made multiple loans. In addition, the Wellshire Pioneers group began making loans. A women’s Bible study group used their funds to make loans also. When groups begin making multiple loans, our totals go up very quickly.

Finally, we would like to thank all those who donated money to Wellshire Microfinance, which the committee shares with Club 45 to invest in additional microloans. Donations are another way that people can participate in Wellshire Microfinance. For those who don’t like to work with computers, these donations are an important way to further the mission of Wellshire Microfinance.

We look forward to everyone’s continued participation in 2013.

November 2012 Recap

• New Meeting Schedule
  Because our loan volume has gone up, we are able to reinvest loan paybacks more often. As a result, the committee decided to meet every two months instead of every three months. Starting in January, we will hold our meetings on the third Thursday of the month at 12:00 noon at Wellshire Church. The meeting after that will be the third Thursday of March. As always, everyone is welcome to attend.
• Results of our November Meeting
  The committee made 11 microloans at our meeting. Ten of those loans were financed by loan paybacks. As our loan volume increases, we can make more loans with the loan paybacks at a faster rate. The beauty of this is we can reuse our invested money to make more loans to help more people. Many of the loans we made in the past year have been reinvested twice already.
• A Record Month
  In November, WMF team members made 44 loans worth $1,100. Many of these loans were financed by loan paybacks, but many also were new loans. Our team members remain committed to WMF and continue to invest on a regular basis. Thanks to all who contributed. Our totals through November are 293 loans worth $7,750. Outstanding!
• Alternative Christmas Market Proceeds
  At the ACM, Wellshire Microfinance received $275 from the sale of Kiva Gift Cards and donations. A big thank you to all who contributed so generously.
• A Fond Farewell
  Our November meeting was the last one with the Rev. Dr. Pattie Kitchen in attendance. Some of you may not know that Pattie was the inspirational leader behind WMF and that she helped us with publicity and visibility. The fact that WMF has come so far so fast is a tribute to her leadership. We have decided to honor her contribution by making Kiva loans in her honor. We want to say thank you to Pattie for her support in the last 14 months.

Haiti loans, November meeting, loan totals and a Christmas Market

Haiti Investments: We recently were able to make loans in Haiti. We invested in 4 loans to groups engaged in retail and livestock. Since Hurricane Sandy hit, we pray that our loan applicants will be able to carry out their plans successfully.

Our next meeting is Thursday, November 15 at 12:00 pm. Bring a brown bag lunch. All are welcome. If you need help with your account or would like to set one up, we will be able to help you at this meeting.

The results for October: We added two new members in October. We also made 18 more microloans worth $450. Our current totals are 40 members and 249 loans worth $6650 in 48 countries.

If you can't join us for our meeting, be sure to stop to see us at the Alternative Christmas Market on Sunday, November 18. We will have Kiva gift cards available for purchase @$25 each.