Micro-loan Program
The purpose of the micro-loan program is to encourage small business development among the communities in Haiti, reducing poverty and bringing people closer to Jesus Christ.
Program History
Modern day microcredit concepts trace their origins back to the early 1980’s. A micro-loan program started in northern Haiti among members of the church of Christ in Spring 2007 with five hundred dollars left over by a short term mission team from Harding University. Five Haitians were selected with the help of a local preacher and each person received a loan of $ 100 U.S. to be repaid over a period of 6 months. This initial attempt to start a micro-loan outreach was discouraging when only one person repaid the loan. Another micro-loan was attempted in 2008 with similar results. In the pursuit of searching for Godly ways to improve the lives of our Brothers and Sisters in Haiti; the idea of micro-lending resurfaced in 2009. One of the co-founders of EEWSHM was strolling the street of Cap-Haitian dreaming of and praying for ways to restore dignity and reduce poverty among members of the Church. God answered his prayers and brought brother Bellot Calice, a faithful Haitian Christian, to him that same day. They talked briefly and for the next few months they prayed that God would open doors for this ministry to grow. God indeed opened a door through Ron Hutchinson and Alpine Church of Christ with their micro-loan program in Mozambique known as Operation Empower. A representative of Operation Empower subsequently met with Brother Bellot and several church leaders in Haiti who had established a micro-loan program in their local church. The program was established, successful and was recognized by the Haitian Government. Operation Empower funds were added to this established program. See Him Ministries formed a partnership with the Haitian brethren to expand the scope of this good work.
Present Time
We now have over two hundred members in three different villages that are actively participating in the micro-loan program and those communities are changing not just economically but spiritually. We have approximately 75 goats in our goat ministry which are loaned to over 50 families in four different villages.
The Future
We hope and pray that this ministry will grow to glorify God’s name. We hope to add more communities to this ministry with the wise counsel of our Haitian partners.
Process of becoming an EEWSHM micro-loan partner:
- Show the desire to care for the community and to preach the gospel.
- Be willing to partner with the existing micro-loan communities.
- Present viable business plans.
- Be willing to receive proper training from Brother Bellot and his team.
- Be willing to sign a contract of good faith for 3-4 years.
- Form a board of trustees and open a bank account which requires at least 3 signatures for any transactions.
- Be willing to report the successes and failures quarterly to EEWSHM’s Board.