500 Loans in 600 Days
Since we began Wellshire Microfinance on September 28, 2011 with $500 seed money, we have grown steadily. Some months have been blockbusters and some have been "lean," but we have always grown. On May 20, 2013, WMF made its 500th loan in 600 days. This has truly been a team effort. For that we give thanks. The recipient of our 500th loan is the KUMBOEDZA CHINEMBIRI GROUP in Zimbabwe. They will use the money to restock their grocery store.
The value of the loans we have made now stands at $12,850. Of course, that doesn't mean that we've contributed this much. The money that we invested back in 2011 and early 2012 has been reinvested in new loans as they are paid back. Some of our early money has now been invested two additional times. That's the beauty of microlending: the value of our investment can be multiplied many times over if we keep reinvesting our loan paybacks. The model we can use is the Parable of the Talents. When we invest in God's children, God says, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
Wellshire Church partners with KIVA, an international program committed to alleviating poverty and creating opportunity through interpersonal lending. Wellshire Microfinance is open to all, so please feel free to join and contribute! "... what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" -- Micah 6:8
Monday, May 20, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Wellshire Microfinance Report: April, 2013
The One Acre Fund
In Kenya, farmers have been given the opportunity to more than double their crop production. Through a partnership between KADET, the microlending arm of World Vision, and KIVA, farmers can receive help in buying seeds and fertilizer at lower prices and also receive consulting services at no charge for one acre of crop production. Not only does the increase in production create more income for the farmers, which helps their families, but it also enables them to buy dairy cows and chickens with the help of loans, which gives them another source of income and provides more protein in their families’ diets. If you look at the microloans available on Kiva’s website today, you will see numerous requests for loans to buy dairy cows and poultry. This is only possible because agricultural production has increased.
Are You Investing Your Loan Paybacks?
In the last two months, our Wellshire Microfinance account has accrued $212.63 in loan paybacks. We will invest this money at our May meeting (third Thursday, May 16 at 12:00 pm). If you haven’t checked your own account lately, you may find you have money to reinvest. It’s easy to do: Click on My Portfolio. Enter your email address and password. You should see a bubble that tells you how much has been repaid. Then go to Lend. When you select a recipient for your loan, Kiva will automatically deduct the amount in your account from the cost of your loan at checkout. If your loan is for $25 and you have $15 in your account, the cost of your loan will be $10. This is the fun part of Kiva microlending!
Results for April
In April our team made ten loans worth $250. Our cumulative totals are now 462 loans worth $11,900. If we make an effort to reinvest our account balances in May, we should hit 500 loans by the end of May. Let’s keep on truckin’!
In Kenya, farmers have been given the opportunity to more than double their crop production. Through a partnership between KADET, the microlending arm of World Vision, and KIVA, farmers can receive help in buying seeds and fertilizer at lower prices and also receive consulting services at no charge for one acre of crop production. Not only does the increase in production create more income for the farmers, which helps their families, but it also enables them to buy dairy cows and chickens with the help of loans, which gives them another source of income and provides more protein in their families’ diets. If you look at the microloans available on Kiva’s website today, you will see numerous requests for loans to buy dairy cows and poultry. This is only possible because agricultural production has increased.
Are You Investing Your Loan Paybacks?
In the last two months, our Wellshire Microfinance account has accrued $212.63 in loan paybacks. We will invest this money at our May meeting (third Thursday, May 16 at 12:00 pm). If you haven’t checked your own account lately, you may find you have money to reinvest. It’s easy to do: Click on My Portfolio. Enter your email address and password. You should see a bubble that tells you how much has been repaid. Then go to Lend. When you select a recipient for your loan, Kiva will automatically deduct the amount in your account from the cost of your loan at checkout. If your loan is for $25 and you have $15 in your account, the cost of your loan will be $10. This is the fun part of Kiva microlending!
Results for April
In April our team made ten loans worth $250. Our cumulative totals are now 462 loans worth $11,900. If we make an effort to reinvest our account balances in May, we should hit 500 loans by the end of May. Let’s keep on truckin’!
Friday, April 5, 2013
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).
Monday, March 4, 2013
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.
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.
Monday, February 4, 2013
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%.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
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.
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.
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