Wednesday, June 8, 2011

On the wings of Eagle


Thanks to our friends at Eagle Air we are once again in Arua. We are staying at what I call my home away from home: “The Slumberland”. It sounds like a theme park for sleeping, but in reality is a comfortable guest house near the center of town. Its motto is “Just Ideal for Resting”. Unfortunately George and I have not taking this advice to heart as we are just finishing another jam packed day.

In addition to getting to Arua this morning, we have spent the day with three of our leading entrepreneurs, all of whom currently have loans from us.

First, we went to visit our “Mango Man” Emmanuel. Emmanuel is in the middle of a project to build a mango juicing facility. The Arua region is ideal for growing mangos with two harvests in November and May. Unfortunately no-one has ever thought about what to do with all these fruit, and so come November and May there is a profusion of fruit for sale, at extremely low prices, much goes to waste and 30 days later there are no more mangos. The idea of the juicing facility is both to add value to the crop and provide the farmer with more cash. He is being sponsored by the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI) who we had visited earlier in the week, and is in the middle of completing the construction of the facility. He expects to have the roof on within 2 weeks. Once the building is complete the equipment will follow. The hope is to be ready for the November harvest. We think that is an aggressive timetable. There are so many issues that have yet to be resolved (water and power anyone?) that it will take exceptional project management to make the goal. George and I had a tough conversation with Emmanuel today really trying to have him focus on his business plan. He will need external financing and that will only happen with a coherent approach. We all want this activity to succeed as it will add such value to the community, but there is only so far that George and I can push.

Our second entrepreneur, Moses, is the quintessential “get it done” kind of guy, and very successful. We are helping him build a construction company, and he has just won a very large 450 million Uganda Shillings contract to build a school in Arua for the World Bank. He said that his financial position and the availability of working capital (our loan) were instrumental in winning the project – currently the biggest project in West Nile. We talked of a couple of other business opportunities that make great sense to George and I, and we will proceed to look at making further investments with him.

Finally we met with Jimmy, our “Beef Guy”. Jimmy has both a butchers shop and is involved in cattle breeding and dealing. Jimmy is like many entrepreneurs: he has an idea, tries it, learns from it and then modifies his approach accordingly. Business for Jimmy has been a series of changes in strategy and it’s still not clear that he has the approach right, though we’re learning more and more about the business as time goes by. Jimmy is honest and straightforward, shares his frustrations and concerns and is always open to talk and exchange ideas. We really want him to succeed – he deserves it!

Tomorrow we meet with more of our key players and we’re looking forward to it.

Meanwhile back at The Slumberland, there is power, but no water. The tank is apparently filling(?). We have no idea and I don’t think anyone else does either. Ah well I had a couple of showers in Kampala…….

Think of us, and billions of other people around the world, as you step into your hot showers today!

Blessings
A
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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