Wednesday, January 12, 2011

On the ground!



Arriving at Entebbe airport right on time last night, George and I immediately set out in different directions. George headed to Rwanda Air to fly to Kigali and I headed to meet our friend Dennis the driver for the Executive Airport Hotel! George is spending a couple of days with friends and ministry partners in Rwanda before flying up to join me in Arua.

After a night at Entebbe, I took the early morning Eagle Air flight to Arua. It was surprisingly quiet with only four passengers, and on time, so for all of you who prayed for safe travels - thanks!

We have a very full agenda set for our time here. I started today with a meeting with Canon Isaac Anguyo (the Chariman of BVA) and Blasio Leeti, who works part time for George and I. Then we moved on to have lunch with the leadership of BVA. BVA stands for Business Vision Arua and was formed in 2009 as a community based organization to help Christian men and women grow their businesses to the next level through educaton and access to capital.The organization is now formally incorporating and registering with the Government of Uganda.

We met in the gardens of a local hotel, under the thatched roof of a pavillion. The meeting focused primariy on taking BVA forward and what we have to do to make it a thriving organization to which large numbers of people would want to belong. Ultimately BVA must work well for our endeavors to be successful, since it is impossible to build momentum from the U.S. I think we developed a good game plan and will continue to refine it through the week. Then we'll figure out the next steps before George and I leave on Wednesday.George and I will meet individually with all of the leadership team in the coming days to talk about their businesses and about the future of BVA.

One thing that we notice is that the best business peole are more interested in us helping them think about their businesses than about investments in their business.They recognize that good ideas and good practices drive good businesses.

In the afternoon I met with the leaders of CAFECC, a Christian micro finance group that is affiliated with Peer Servants in Woburn - small world! I have been meeting with CAFECC since my early days in Arua and I'm delighted to report good progress. Under a new Executive Director and a vibrant Board, CAFECC has dealt with many of the issues that we have talked about through the years. In 2010, they provided loans to well over 200 people, most of whom will have enhanced their small businesses and strengthened the economic position of their communities and families. I think a further $10,000 to be matched by Peer Servants could take them into the black, and into being sustainable.

Finally I had a short dinner with Sally and Isaac Anguyo. It was great to see Sally as the last time I was here I prayed over her at her bedside - she was very ill with what turned out to be a combination of Maleria and Typhoid. Now there's a winning combination! Anyway, she has fully recovered and it was wonderful to be able to have dinner with her. It certainly reminds one of the fragile nature of life - here especially.

Finally, the South Sudan referendum is done with a minimum of violence, but most people also know that this theater has only just began to play out. The final outcome is far from sure. Please remember to pray for these people who have lived with violence for a quarter of a century.

Well, I've fallen to sleep a couple of times while writing this, so I'll sign off and head to bed.

Blessings

A
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 13, 2011 at 7:38 AM

    Talk about a small world, I edited PEER Servants' annual report several years ago. Great people. Prayer and great interest attend you on this trip. Thank you for updating us. v

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  2. AnonymousJanuary 14, 2011 at 4:31 AM

    We're so pleased that you arrived safely and hit the ground running with early encouraging news! We look forward to what the Lord shall accomplish throughout the week and thereafter : You are the Lord's beloved (Psalm 127:1-2)!

    ReplyDelete

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The Genesis of the 5810 Project

Vision

When Jesus was asked what was the most important command he answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your heart and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”

As a follower of Jesus, it is challenging to obey these commands, particularly with regard to my neighbors.
How can I love my neighbors? How can I love my neighbors in a global context? How can I love my neighbors who are struggling to thrive in developing countries?

The classic response of western Christians has been to “send”. Whether we send those that have been called to vocational ministry, or send money and resources to “give to the poor”, or occasionally send ourselves on short-term missions trips. Each of these has value, but is this enough? Is it effective? Is it all that God calls us to?

The questions become more complex when you consider that no matter how much money we have spent on the “war on poverty” over decades, the problem remains as acute as ever. We are not winning the war, even here in the US. Are there other approaches?

As I struggled with these ideas, I was led to consider Isaiah Chapter 58. Here God tells us what true fasting is – to loose the chains of injustice; to set the oppressed free; to share food with the hungry; and to provide the poor with shelter. Then verse 10 says “…if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday.”

“If you spend yourselves in behalf of others …….”

While we should send, we need to spend too.

What does it look like to spend ourselves?
For me I have been led to spend myself as follows:
• To go to a developing country, and to go repeatedly.
• To develop personal relationships with innovative leaders
• To use my own specific gifting and experience in business
• To find ways to move people out of the poverty cycle on a sustainable basis
• To invest money in parallel with my activities
• To share the love of Christ with my neighbor and to spend myself on their behalf.

5810 Project

The 5810 Project is predicated on the belief that while “teaching a man to fish” will provide him with a fish diet for a lifetime, it will not lead him out of poverty. To escape poverty people need to develop sustainable business activities. The 5810 Project’s vision is to provide an opportunity for business people from developed countries to share the love of Christ with their neighbor by “spending” themselves on behalf of others who are trying to build businesses and break the poverty cycle.

The 5810 Project is currently focused on two principal activities in Uganda.

Arua
Arua is a significant market town in the NW of Uganda, with Sudan to the north and Congo to the West. It is an agricultural market town that has grown because of government and NGO activity primarily in S. Sudan, but now increasingly in E. Congo. While the town has prospered and grown, the native Aruans have not enjoyed this economic boon.

Our efforts in Arua are centered on helping the church and Christian business people develop sustainable businesses.
We work with businesspeople to analyze the market situation in Arua, to offer training sessions, to encourage and mentor entrpreneurs and to invest in their businesses.

Kampala
Jesus Commissioned Ministries (“JCM”) is a church founded in 2000 serving three poor communities on the outskirts of Kampala. The leadership of JCM has a heart to reach the many underprivileged children in the communities it serves. Without education, there is little hope for these children to thrive. While education is available, the costs are prohibitive for most families. JCM has established Mercy Junior School (elementary) for these children. In addition to education, the children receive uniforms, food and school materials. The school currently has over 50 pupils in two Pre-K classes and Primary 1 (P1)and Primary 2 (p2) and is building classrooms for P3,4 & 5 for completion in the spring of 2011.

The 5810 Project has helped Mercy Junior School develop its rudimentary facilities and to buy a neighboring plot of land for expansion. We also advise the administrators of the school on business and education practices and have steered them through a process of becoming a fee-baseda significant drive to parent involvement and elevated educational standards and outcomes.

Opportunity
We believe that the 5810 Project offers a significant opportunity for the body of Christ:
• Grass roots opportunity to create sustainable businesses and deliver families and communities out of the oppression of poverty.
• Many business opportunities are apparent with relatively small investment levels necessary.
• Opportunities for talented business people to connect personally with emerging entrepreneurs and spend themselves on them.
• Opportunity for the body of Christ in the developed world to share the love of Christ with our neighbors in developing countries.
• Transformational impact on the “spender” and recipient alike!

If you would like to discuss this further, please contact me Andy Mills at amills@tkc.edu