DownshoreDrift

I just got Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty. It is the story of Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Yunus and Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for their work in providing micro loans to the poorest of the poor and helping lift them out of poverty stricken conditions. Wikipedia had this basic explaination for what Yunus has been doing:

In 1976, Yunus founded the Grameen Bank (Grameen means "of rural area", "of village") to make loans to poor Bangladeshis. The Grameen Bank has issued more than US$ 5.1 billion to 5.3 million borrowers. To ensure repayment, the bank uses a system of "solidarity groups". These small informal groups apply together for loans and its members act as co-guarantors of repayment and support one another's efforts at economic self-advancement^[8]. As it has grown, the Grameen Bank has also developed other systems of alternate credit that serve the poor. In addition to microcredit, it offers education loans and housing loans as well as financing for fisheries and irrigation projects, venture capital, textiles, and other activities, along with other banking services such as savings.

The success of the Grameen model has inspired similar efforts throughout the developing world and even in industrialized nations, including the United States. The Grameen model of micro financing has been emulated in 23 countries. Many, but not all, microcredit projects also retain its emphasis on lending specifically to women. More than 96% of Grameen loans have gone to women, who suffer disproportionately from poverty and who are more likely than men to devote their earnings to their families^[9].

While I am trying to find myself this weekend, I plan on reading a good portion of this book. From what I can tell, this man has done amazing work and he has made a major impact in reducing poverty by helping people help themselves. I am inspired. In a little over a week, I will be heading up an expedition to Northern India to develop relationships that will enable us to return and put on a public health conference with professionals from Alabama, as well as participate in microbanking possibilities with the head of an investment company that has set up their own non-profit to aid the poor of the world according the principles found in Isaiah 58. We are also exploring the set up of a non-profit called Community Development Initiatives (CDI) that will help us with this work, as well as many other things, both locally and globally. Our desire is to facilitate spiritual, social, and economic transformation from a Christian worldview by connecting Christian professionals and their resources with local/global need.

It seems to me that Yunus is doing part of the mission of the Church. We are to make disciples of nations and bring God's Kingdom on earth. We are to care for the poor, help people reflect the image of God, and truly help people connect relationally to God, one another, and their world. People like Yunus are revealing part of God's plan, if we would just pay attention. What if we began to appropriate the billions of dollars that American Christians give and spend on themselves to such initiatives? What if our incredible wealth began to flow in such a way as to help the poorest of the poor help themselves? Yunus says, "Poor people are not asking for charity; charity is not a solution for poverty."  He is helping lift them out of poverty by giving them the means to develop their own businesses and provision and help themselves. What if the Church did the same? There are many examples of the Church doing just that, but not enough. I want to make more. And, if it is done from a gospel perspective, just like we have been doing on the Gulf Coast in the wake of Katrina, what could the limits be?

For several years, a group of us went to a local housing project every Sunday afternoon. We got know the people, did Bible studies and had prayer time. I became the unofficial chaplain to the Crips gang there and a personal confidante to the head of the gang over that area. God actually used me to lead him to the Lord. We met a guy one Sunday who had been in jail continuously from the age of 18 to 32. He had just gotten out after becoming a Christian in jail. We met with him every week, prayed with him, and helped him stay off drugs and out of jail. He's still out today, 3 years later, and is walking with the Lord. We saw many saved and many lives transformed.

Still, I was frustrated that we did not see more transformation. We gained trust. We spent hours in people's homes praying for them and getting to know them. The community embraced us. Yet, there were so many who were excited to see us and would respond when we were there, but when we left, they would immediately revert back to old ways. I would wonder why and spent a good deal of time praying about this. For every success story, there were 20 more who never made the jump. They would receive the Word, but it would get choked out almost immediately. One day in prayer, it occured to me that we were doing insufficient discipleship and evangelism. We were offering a purely spiritual message. For some, this was enough. For others who were completely dependent upon the government or menial jobs, it was just words. The gospel transforms not just the spiritual realm of life, but also the social and economic realms as well. If someone was on government assistance or had dropped out of high school and could only hope to flip burgers at Burger King, then they had most likely developed a dependency mindset. They weren't taking ownership over any area of their lives. Why would I think that they would take ownership over their spiritual growth?

I began to see that true evangelism and discipleship had to touch on every area of life. We didn't need to only be having Bible studies on sin and redemption, but we also needed to show people how to balance their checkbook and develop skills. We needed to help mothers raise their children and help fathers be responsible. We needed to help create better workers and students who could then influence their domains for the gospel. Salvation was not to just be an escape from hell, but it was also to be an introduction to a full new life in every facet. I couldn't believe what I had been missing.

Well, fast forward a couple of years. So much has happened, including the birth of another child (who later developed cancer and is doing great, by the way), the resignation of our previous pastor, a year of interim, and my promotion to pastor, and a thousand other issues. We are finally about to step back into things that we started learning about a couple of years ago. Hopefully, CDI will be the vehicle for that into our community as it provides a neutral interface with government, business, and other non-profits and churches. India will be a part of that as we seek to do this globally as well as locally. As we go, I hope to be learning from people like Yunus, who have been doing this type of thing from another motivation for quite some time. Maybe God is allowing non-Christians to be sign posts for us to remind us what our lives are supposed to be about. Maybe we should pay closer attention to what is happening around us.

Next Week: A review of a paper by Dr. Thom Wolf given at Lucknow University in India called "Progress Prone vs. Progress Resistant Cultures."  His thesis is shocking, to say the least. Tune back in next week - hopefully, I will know my identity by then. :)