Engelsen AdVentures

Walking Again

2011-10-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

Leslie/Todd: Our Walk for Economic Empowerment is our largest annual fundraising event to empower the materially poor. This year we have four plus venues - Charleston, Columbus, Boston, and Chicago. The "plus" - right where you are! This option allows folks to walk when and where is most convenient for them with online fundraising support from us and even a Walk T-Shirt! Given the October 1 Chicago Walk, we had more walkers this year than any previous year. We're not yet breaking funds raised records (the 2009 Walk raised $90,000 for all organizations and the 2008 Walk raised $55,000 for PEER Servants). Our prolonged bad economy with its current bleak outlook is filtering down to limiting what funds can be raised to empower the materially poor.

The Walk accomplishes far more than just raising funds to empower the materially poor. It is our annual reminder to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and His great concern for the materially poor. We cannot escape the fact that His concern for them far exceeds ours, nor can we escape the fact that He, time and time again, encourages us to live in a way that we will be dependent on Him so that, even when rich (which is what the vast majority of us in North America are by the world's and Jesus' standards), we will be very generous to the materially poor. We set high goals for what we hope to raise through the Walk and we don't always reach them. The real lesson we learn in those times is our God takes great joy in taking what we can give or raise and multiplying it many times over so that at the end of the day we and others are not impressed with what we have done, but with what He has done. And He has done far more than we can think or imagine to provide for the materially poor.

So, it's been a very blessed Walk season. Not just in the number of walkers we have seen, but in how we have caught a wider angle on what God is doing in us, through us, and often despite us to preach good news to the poor and release the oppressed.

What A Conference!

2011-08-05T16:13:00.000-07:00

Leslie/Todd: We had been preparing for years, literally, for Reciprocity 2011. We only have these global microfinance conferences every 3-4 years, and this was the first we held in North America. We wanted our guests to experience "heavenly hospitality" while being encouraged spiritually and learning a lot about how they could empower the materially poor more effectively. With such extremely high expectations, it would have been easy to come away from the event slightly disappointed.

Such was not the case with Reciprocity 2011! As high as our expectations were, they were exceeded with the event! What made it so special?

Great preaching. While all speakers were excellent, Reverend Oscar Muriu from Nairobi Chapel in Kenya was exceptional. He spoke on unity, the body, mustard seed faith, sin (when's the last time you heard a message on sin?!), partnership, simply following Jesus, and coming off of the mountaintop into the valley. All were powerful and provided what conference attendees needed most -- being refreshed in their commitment to follow Jesus and encourage others doing the same.
Great teaching. The highlight here were the intensive seminars at the end of the conference, led by Professor Ron Chua from the Asian Institute of Management. All of our microfinance partners identified steps they can take to better achieve their vision/mission of empowering the materially poor.
Fantastic fellowship. Imagine gathering with 140 brothers and sisters in Christ from around the world 15+ countries) with a conference theme from Romans 1:12 that is focused on encouraging one another. We had a preview of heaven just in being together and remaining focused on Jesus.
Wonderful worship. Our conference band was excellent - well-prepared, extremely gifted, and very sensitive to God's Spirit, but what made Reciprocity 2011 worship that much more special was how well the band integrated worship leaders from around the world. We were thus also led by Africans, Asians, Latins, etc. singing their own music, not just singing ours, and gained new experiences in worshiping God.
Sufficient free and fun time. Reciprocity 2011 was not a conference where we ran from one session to the next. We intentionally created plenty of free and fun time for folks to interact with each other. One of the highlights was a phenomenal Kopano World Cup of Soccer (which we hold at every global microfinance conference) in which Team Eurasia finally edged out Team Africa after three overtime penalty kick sessions! And who kicked the winning goal for Team Eurasia? Duza Baba, a Nigerian! Now THAT's reciprocity!

The REAL highlight of the time together was God choosing to visit us with His Spirit. He seems to choose to do that when brothers and sisters in Christ gather from around the world seeking to extend His Kingdom. We thank God for blessing us with an amazing summer.

The next time we'll do this, Lord willing, will be 2015 in the Philippines with the central theme being "celebration". This will be a celebration of Old Testament proportions as we rejoice in how God has moved in our midst to transform the materially poor and non-poor! Stay tuned for more details as the year approaches - we'd love for you to join us in the celebration as well!

Celebrating Our Volunteers

2011-07-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

Leslie/Todd: Once a year, we take time out to say "thank you" to our volunteers. They really are an amazing bunch of people. Susan Tavilla and Sandy Smith host and go "over the top" in making our volunteers feel special. Saturday, July 2 was the big day this year. Click here to see some of the pictures from the event.

We recently calculated that PEER Servants volunteers have given approximately 100,000 hours of their time in service to the materially poor and donated and/or raised $2.5 million. Perhaps now you understand a bit better why we celebrate them and thank God for them as much as we do!

Meet the 2011 Lydia Award Semifinalists

2011-06-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

Leslie/Todd: One of our personally favorite PEER Servants events of the year is the Annual Lydia Awards Celebration. It focuses on the stories of transformation of the entrepreneurs served by our microfinance partners. We are always challenged and enriched by the Lydia Award nominees and the passion they have for pursuing what God has called them to. Yet again, God is using them as an example to us. If they can pursue the passion they sense God has given them and do so from a much more financially precarious position than you or we may be in, then how much more we should be willing to do the same. If we're not, perhaps we're letting our riches or something else hold us back from experiencing all that God wants for us.

We just announced the three 2011 Lydia Awards semifinalists. You can read their full stories on our website and vote for your pick for the 2011 Lydia Award winner. This is our more personal take on their passion.

Sara, from South Africa, has a passion for children. She started a creche back in 2006 in a "building" from some loose materials she could find. It wasn't pretty, but it allowed her to open her doors to 15 children. In stepped our South African microfinance partner, Aloga, and a few loans later, Sara has a 6-room brick building employing five others and taking care of almost 100 children. Is she in it for just the money? Consider this - she actually doesn't take fees from parents who lose their jobs, and she'll take their kids to church (when her creche is otherwise closed) if the parents have to work on their day of worship. That's passion!

Florence, from Uganda, has a passion for helping those with overwhelming obstacles. She knows something about that herself -- widowed with five children in northern Uganda and a physical disability. But Florence is a woman of prayer, and she knows that with God living through her, she is more than a conqueror. She's established a very successful secondhand clothing retail/wholesale business that offers her customers affordable clothing, has enabled her to employ two others, and gives her profits that she uses to bless orphans with HIV/AIDS. She even plays the drum in worship -- Florence definitely marches to the beat of a different drummer!

Juana, from Peru, has a passion for family. She's done everything she could to keep hers together after her husband abandoned her with three children. With the help of Kallarisunchis, our Peruvian microfinance partner, she started a hardware business. Now, a few loans later, she has three small businesses. Juana very intentionally established three businesses so that each child could inherit a business. She is teaching them how to do business well while using the proceeds from the business to support her local church. Juana loves business, but even that falls short of her passion for family!

We have the great privilege of being able to pursue the passion God has placed on our hearts to establish an organization, PEER Servants, with a vision to enable tens of thousands of the materially poor and non-poor to experience economic, social, and spiritual transformation. We've given up some things to do it, but received so much more in return.

What's your God-given passion? What steps are you taking to pursue it?

A Great CCT Donors Forum

2011-05-31T11:43:00.000-07:00

Leslie/Todd: If you have followed PEER Servants much, you know that The Center for Community Transformation (CCT) is one of our most transformative microfinance partners. They serve over 130,000 of the materially poor in the Philippines and do it with the gospel being front and center. We are really honored to partner with them.

In May, we were able to host the second annual CCT Donors Forum. Ruth Callanta, Founder and CEO, joined us along with two senior staff -- Froilan Parado (who heads up their External Relations office) and Pastor Jun Gonzaga (who heads up their spiritual development efforts). In addition to CCT and many folks associated with PEER Servants, representatives from endpoverty.org, Five Talents, and HOPE International joined us as well. It was a fantastic opportunity to hear the current very inspiring vision of CCT and to discuss further how we could work together to support them in their vision.

This gathering should be a sign more and more of things to come. The church in the developing world is taking the lead. God's Spirit is moving mightily among them, not only in their growth (which is much more sizable than we see in the North American church), but in their depth of commitment to follow Jesus at any cost. They will then invite us to partner with them in areas wherein we can strengthen them and be strengthened by them. Certainly our material wealth is one thing we can bring to a partnership; our effectiveness at planning and thinking strategically may be another. What can we receive from the partnership? Mentors to help us make Jesus, not material well-being, security or stability, the central focus of our lives. We like to sing about giving our all to Jesus, but how many of us are really living that out? (As Dr.Erwin Lutzer of The Moody Church in Chicago points out - "oh the lies we often sing about behind the hymnal"!) God is raising up our materially poor brothers and sisters from around the world to help us see the true path of following Jesus. Certainly we have seen that path more clearly through our partners at CCT. May we take on the humble mantle of a servant as we see the footsteps of Christ and seek the power of the Holy Spirit to have the courage to walk in them.

Music to our Ears

2011-05-11T21:08:00.000-07:00

Leslie/Todd: What was the highlight of April 2011? The inaugural Concert for Economic Empowerment. April 2 was the night. We had a wonderful evening of worshipful music by a great band (thank you Rich and Sue Musacchio for pulling all of that together) and a group of 100+ that lifted their praises to God while donating almost $10,000 to empower the materially poor. It was an evening rich in blessing, and one we will build on in the future. Music is one more means through which we can communicate God's concern for the materially poor. In future concerts, we plan to have bands/musicians representative of many more places in our world, so that the Concert for Economic Empowerment will allow all who attend to come to a greater appreciation of how God is worshiped around the world. Stay tuned - we think this event could become one of significant impact in the years ahead!

April had another highlight as well - a Uganda Dinner/Movie Night hosted by one of our Team Ugandan volunteers. 20+ folks gathered in their home for delicious African cuisine, watched an inspiring Ugandan movie ("War Cry"), and donated $1,140 towards the costs of our CAFECC/Uganda reps coming to Reciprocity 2011.

While both of these events raised funds, neither of them were fundraising events, per se. They were events wherein we could realize our PEER Servants' vision of witnessing economic, social, and spiritual transformation among the materially poor and non-poor. The Concert allowed attendees to understand more about how concerned God is for the materially poor and worship Him for His great love. The Uganda Dinner/Movie Night sent many home from a real fun evening having had authentic African cuisine for the first time and understanding a bit more of northern Uganda. The funds raised at the events put us a bit closer to carrying out our mission, but the transformation effected at the events puts us a lot closer to carrying out our mission.

Bigger Steps for the 2011 Walk

2011-05-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

Leslie/Todd: If you have followed us throughout the years, you may recall that we have our Walk for Economic Empowerment in the fall. So why are we talking about it already? The Walk is growing, and it's not just a fall event anymore!

This year the Walk for Economic Empowerment will take place in 4+ locations -- Boston (September 17), Charleston (April 16), Chicago (October 1), and Columbus (May 21). What's up with the "+"? Because that's where you can have your own small Walk right where you are! Gather a few friends, family, church members, or whoever, choose your course, and have a funfilling day empowering the materially poor in the name of Jesus. You can easily create your team, prepare your own Walk webpage, and quickly contact your friends encouraging them to support you. Check out our "Walk Where You Are" webpage, the bigger Walk website, and the Walk video below.

If you can't walk but would like to support Todd is his Walk, contribute via his giving page. All of Todd's funds will be used as matching funds to what other volunteers or our microfinance partners raise, so you'll be doubling the impact. And 100% of what is raised goes directly to one of our microfinance partners to enable them to grow their microfinance program.

We're excited that there are 6 other Christian international development agencies taking part in the 2011 Walk. Check out the Walk website for full details.

Won't YOU join us in this year's Walk?!

Namaste, India!

2011-05-11T20:20:00.000-07:00

Leslie/Todd: We were very excited that the PEER Servants board approved the Christian Service Society (CSS) of Kolkata, India as our 10th microfinance partner. As Todd noted in the October 2010 post, CSS, is an impressive organization. Under the humble and very effective leadership of Executive Director Himadri Munshi, it serves 10,000+ of the materially poor in the outskirts of Kolkata with loans that start smaller than $25. It has a very dedicated staff and high quality clients that faithfully repay their loans, allowing CSS to not only be sustainable, but actually generate a surplus. The surplus is invested in two children's homes -- one housing 25 boys at risk and the other 50 girls at risk. The love of Christ is witnessed very clearly through their work.

What does PEER Servants hope to be able to bring to CSS? First, insight that will help them more effectively tell their impressive story to the outside world and attract greater resources so that they can realize their vision to serve 25,000+ clients. Second, technical consultancy services that can help them operate more efficiently. Third, access to a network of other indigenous Christian MFIs from which they can learn and contribute to the learning of others. Our ultimate desire is that through this partnership, CSS will be able to more effectively communicate the love of Christ to the people of West Bengal, and PEER Servants volunteers will be able to more effectively communicate that same love of Christ to their North American neighbors.

2011 Reciprocity Movie Festival

2011-05-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

Leslie/Todd: One of our favorite events of the PEER Servants year is the annual Reciprocity Movie Festival. Our volunteers can nominate movies they feel best capture PEER Servants' core value of "the reign of reciprocity". We vote to select three finalist movies, watch them and then select the Reciprocity Movie of the Year. We do this the Friday/Saturday of every Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Weekend. And the 2011 Reciprocity Movie of the Year is...

"God Grew Tired of Us". Check out this movie if you haven't already. It follows the lives of three inspiring Sudanese young men from the United Nations camp in northern Kenya to new homes in the United States. It shows them struggling with the adjustment to this new culture while capturing many of the strengths they had from their culture that they found amiss in their new world. One comes away from this film with a greater appreciation for the strong community, relationships, and values that the southern Sudanese people have. You appreciate their perseverance, their hard work, and their sacrificial attitudes. The movie helps the audience see southern Sudan as the beautiful place that it was before the attack from the north, and the beautiful place that it has become again with peace restored and new hope for the future. In a year where the world is preparing to invite South Sudan as its newest nation, it was only appropriate that "God Grew Tired of Us" should be PEER Servants' 2011 Reciprocity Movie of the Year!

All's Well That Ends Well

2011-05-11T19:03:00.000-07:00

Leslie/Todd: 2010 started out pretty rough -- earthquake in Haiti, Muslim/Christian conflict in Nigeria, and floods in Peru. Yet, by year's end, 2010 had turned into a very rewarding year at PEER Servants. That's what we celebrated December 4th at what many considered our best Annual Meeting in PEER Servants in recent years.

We don't meet for large group training meetings as often as we used to in PEER Servants (we do it more now in monthly small group meetings that are focused on specific microfinance partner needs), so perhaps part of the reason we enjoyed the time as much as we did is it was just a time to be together again. There is a pretty strong sense of family within PEER Servants -- the "foundation of fellowship" that is our core value exists within PEER Servants as well as with our microfinance partners. We love to serve, but we also love to play, and we love to dream. 2010 was a year that had all three. And that's what we came together to celebrate at the Annual Meeting.

We celebrated the volunteers that went over and above what anyone would expect in their 2010 service -- Sandy Smith and her dedication to raising tens of thousands of dollars, Dave Leach and his hopping all over the planet to bolster the IT capacities of indigenous Christian MFIs, and Carol Mostrom and her focused, long-term dedication to serving the materially poor of Peru. We celebrated the progress made by many of our microfinance partners on their path to becoming sustainable, transformational MFIs. We celebrated the close walks we had with those microfinance partners in 2010 -- visiting all of our partners with active microfinance programs. We celebrated how our lives had been changed through the impact of our partners and how we could understand more of what it means to follow Jesus given the lessons of 2010.

But we also played! While PEER Servants is family, it is also a group of fierce competitors, and rarely does that come through more clearly than in a heated round of Microfinance Jeopardy. Dave Leach is Alex Trebek and he brought a little of his techno-love to the 2010 Annual Meeting game by having automated clickers replace the need to put unbiased Todd is the hot seat of determining which team responded first. We also maintained our longstanding tradition of the Virtuous Woman Award (I won't even try to explain that in this blog!), with Amy Heimberger taking home the coveted prize.

And we dreamed. That has been true since the early days in PEER Servants and we have never stopped dreaming. We started dreaming at the Annual Meeting of just how fantastic Reciprocity 2011, our July/August global microfinance conference, was going to be. The Les-led Planning Committee painted a picture of what lies ahead, the Reciprocity 2011 worship band gave us a preview of what worship would be like, and the Reciprocity 2011 co-emcee, the incomparable Elie Lafortune, kept us in stitches from the first bite of breakfast (delicious South Asian fare by Reciprocity 2011 co-emcee Sheba Telore) to the closing amen.

It was a great way to close out the year. Serving, playing, dreaming, and all contributing to our becoming more like Jesus. Isn't that what the Kingdom is all about?

...South Asia (SL), and the Philippines

2011-05-11T14:24:00.000-07:00

Todd: The first day of November brought me from Kolkata through Chennai to Colombo to meet with our microfinance partner in SL. This is a partner that has been through thick and then -- tsunami, civil war, and now a really difficult environment where the government can make it very challenging to run a sustainable microfinance program. The 25+-year civil war ended recently, so there is a more relaxed mood within this beautiful, beautiful country. The long-term outlook is bright on many fronts. Our microfinance partner has overcome many of these challenges to be able to offer services to almost 1,000 clients in 4 branches around the country. They have a fantastic very dedicated staff who always inspire me to see more of the path of following Jesus and encourage and pray for me along that path.

Dave Leach, PEER Servants volunteer extraordinaire, joined me in Colombo. With the war now over, the organization could host its first countrywide staff training retreat. We had the privilege of being able to be a part of it. Our training focus was helping them see how they gather and share information and helping them find ways, ultimately culminating with better use of automation, that they could share that information more efficently and effectively so that the MFI could serve more of the materially poor. We were able to visit their Madampe branch and meet some impressive microentrepreneurs, like Ranjani -- a woman manufacturing and distributing spices. What started as something small selling to neighbors now has Ranjani distributing her product to 50 shops and 200 individual clients in 7 villages. Through her business proceeds, Ranjani was able to pay for their first paved road in her village! I stayed on a day after Dave's departure to meet with the organization's board, encourage them in what they have achieved already, and challenge them to reach 100% operational sustainability so that they can grow to empower more of the materially poor of this nation.

The trip back to Boston brought me back through Dubai where I was able to have a great layover visit with the Gimba family - close friends of ours now living in the United Arab Emirates but having been with us in Boston for many years just prior to that. Dubai is this amazing oasis in the desert. Home to the tallest building in the world, the largest mall, and the largest outdoor water show, it really is something else. May many there come to know Jesus in a way that allows them to enjoy this great adventure of following Him.

Five days after stepping foot in Boston, it was off to the Philippines with a team of 9 PEER Servants volunteers. Most of the team was on their first PEER Servants trip, focused on preparing a case study on some aspect of The Center for Community Transformation (CCT), our Filipino partner. I was especially pleased that my sister, Patrice, joined me on this trip - she was a great addition to the team. She and her husband, Dave, have been long-term supporters of PEER Servants and are very encouraging to Les and me. The one member of the team who had a different focus was none other than Dave Leach - the same Dave Leach who had been with me in Colombo just days earlier! Dave has been working with CCT over the past couple years to identify ways they could make better use of automation to make the operation more efficient. CCT is by far our biggest microfinance partner - serving over 100,000 of the materially poor in the Philippines. Bringing in some IT solutions to such a large organization won't be easy. If anyone is up to the consulting challenge - it's Dave!

If you see a picture of the CCT team next to the word "hospitality" in your dictionary, don't be surprised! We were just overwhelmed by the warmth and sincerity of the Filipino CCT hospitality. The only thing that impressed us more on the trip was their work -- not only in microfinance, but beyond it in empowering streetdwellers, creating places where they experience life the way God wants them to experience it. There were former streetdweller children getting a great boarding school education; former streetdweller teens learning vocations, and former streetdweller adults living sustainably by farming and building their own houses. There is no organization we have seen that empowers the materially poor as effectively as CCT. The long trip back from the Philippines to Boston gave us time to reflect on what an amazing team they are and thank God for them.

As great as this fall of travel was, it was awfully nice to get back on North American soil for more than just time to pack and unpack! It was a very inspiring season in which God provided glimpses of what He was doing through these microfinance partners around the world.

Moldova, India...

2011-05-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

Todd: October starts travel season for me! Often through at least the middle part of the year, the fall looks like a heavy travel season. In most years, one or two of the trips get postponed and a reasonable travel schedule results. Not so in 2010! Over a 6 week period, I'll be in Moldova, India, SL, and the Philippines. And betwixt those trips is our Annual Board Meeting!

Now that we're to the end of October, I can write from South Asia and look back at wonderful trips to Moldova and India.

A team of eight PEER Servants volunteers were part of the Moldova trip. They included our board chair, Dave Ryder, his wife, Betsy, and three of our Team Moldova members -- Gary Nielsen (his wife, Peggy), Scott Purcell (his wife, Jill), and Leanne Horgan. We were blessed with great hospitality by Ghena and Alina Russ in Moldova. Ghena is the very capable and visionary Executive Director of Invest Credit, our Moldovan microfinance partner. What a privilege it's been to see Invest Credit mature from the day they opened their doors more than 10 years ago to become one of the leading Moldovan microfinance institutions. We have seen God raise up Ghena to position this organization such that it can really bless the nation, and especially the Christians, of Moldova. You have probably heard me tell the story of Vasile the sausage maker or Victor the construction worker/pastor -- there are now hundreds of businesses established through Invest Credit that are providing for Moldovan families, churches, and communities.

This trip was an exposure trip for new PEER Servants volunteers to see Moldova and Invest Credit for the first time, a relationship-building trip for the staff at Invest Credit to get to know the volunteers serving them at PEER Servants, and a strategic planning trip to discuss the bright future of Invest Credit. It was very successful on all three fronts and we look forward to increasing our support of Invest Credit. One highlight of the trip was being able to step into their new mobile office. The Invest Credit team turned a used van into a "branch for the rural poor" complete with computer, printer, internet access, and even a sofa to sit on! The mobile office will go from village to village once a week and offer microfinance services to those who would otherwise not have access given the high cost of establishing a bricks and mortar branch. This is just one example of the bright ideas Ghena and his team have come up with as a means of empowering the materially poor of Moldova in the name of Jesus.

Less than a week after flying west over the Atlantic returning from Moldova, I was flying back east over the Atlantic through Amsterdam and Dubai en route to Kolkata, India. This was an exploratory trip to meet the staff and board of Christian Service Society (CSS), a new prospective microfinance partner. CSS serves 10,000+ of the materially poor in the outskirts of Kolkata. They start with a loan of less than $25. I was extremely impressed with the vision, dedication, and effectiveness of CSS Executive Director Himadri Munshi and his team. CSS represents the "new" potential microfinance partner for PEER Servants. Historically, our partner has been more like an Invest Credit - an indigenous, Christian organization that is a micofinance start-up. The global microfinance landscape has now changed - many parts of the world have a sufficient number of MFIs already. What they need is for the MFIs that are there to be sustainable and capable of offering expended services. So, our new partner focus will transition from start ups to existing indigenous Christian MFIs that show promise of being able to have significantly more impact with the value added by a PEER Servants partnership. This trip suggests CSS is such an organization. I'll bring them before our Board of Directors for vote as a new microfinance partner in January.

Something to Cheer About!

2011-05-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

Leslie/Todd: Our annual Walk for Economic Empowerment turned 5 years old in 2010. What started as a dream of one of our volunteers has now raised around $250,000 for the materially poor. We really think that's something to cheer about!

The 2010 Walk took place in Boston, Baltimore, and Tulsa with World Relief, HOPE International, and Rebuild Africa joining in. PEER Servants raised almost $30,000 - actually a little down compared to the last three years. We know God will multiply it many times over, so what's another multiple or two to Him? The purpose of the Walk is not just to raise funds -- it's to communicate to the greater community that Jesus and those who follow Him love the materially poor and are committed to supporting effective means of empowering them.

We already have the 2011 Boston Walk on the calendar for September 17, 2011 at Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, MA and are pursuing steps that will allow this to become a means through which $50,000+ can be raised. May it become so for God's glory!

Appreciating Our Volunteers

2010-08-31T08:36:00.000-07:00

Leslie/Todd: We have an amazing group of volunteers at PEER Servants. Most of them are extremely dedicated and go far beyond what might come to mind when you hear the word "volunteer". They dedicate many hours a month using the talents and skills God has given them to empower the materially poor by serving our microfinance partners and PEER Servants itself. They donate their own money and/or raise funds from family and friends to provide loan capital, pay for their travel, and cover many of PEER Servants' expenses. And they do all of this with the humility of Christ and the gratitude for the enrichment of their own lives through the materially poor and our partners who serve them.

In August we took advantage of an opportunity to say "thank you" to these amazing volunteers. Susan Tavilla opened her beautiful home and threw a great "Volunteer Appreciation Party". The event was catered by a local restaurant, the food scrumptuous, and the fellowship sweet. We have a special community within PEER Servants and it was good to be together, not only to say "thank you", but to be re-energized in our desire to work together to serve the materially poor in the name of Jesus. The event was such a success that we have already planned to make it an annual event.

Special thanks to Susan and her sister, Sandy, for hosting the event. And to the PEER Servants volunteers. whose acts of service inspire us and many others around the world.

Lydia Award Celebration

2010-07-31T14:01:00.000-07:00

Leslie/Todd; Once a year, PEER Servants gives out the Lydia Awards to recognize the very best micro-entrepreneurs among the thousands served by our microfinance partners. Who is Lydia, you may ask? You can read about her in Acts 16 -- she was a businesswoman who sold purple dye and cloth and from her profits supported Paul and his missionary companions. She is credited by church historians as being an important person in the spread of the church to Europe.

Each of our microfinance partners can nominate up to two of their very best clients based on six factors: growth in the business, being a good MFI client, innovation, perseverance, church/community impact, and business growth potential. A Lydia Awards Committee of PEER Servants volunteers and board members then picks three semifinalists. From there we post the three semifinalists online and allow online voting and then have a Lydia Awards Celebration wherein we serve food from the countries of the three semifinalists and have in-person voting after passionate presentations by those supporting the respective candidates. At the end of the Lydia Awards Celebration, the Lydia Award winner is announced. The whole process is a lot of fun, very inspiring, and very helpful to our microfinance partners and volunteers in learning how to effectively tell the story of the transformation they are witnessing.

Our three 2010 semifinalists (pictured right) were Emily (a curtain/pillowcase maker from the Philippines), Victor and Lilea Chifeac (vegetable/fruit farmers from Moldova, with just Victor pictured) and Arul Rathi Rajendram (a livestock breeder/retailer from South Asia). All three were amazing in the transformation they had experienced in their own lives, but also the transformation they were effecting in the lives of their families, churches, and communities around them. Emily grew her business to employ 16+ seamstresses; Victor and Lilea used profits from their business to give their four oldest children a university education and help build the first evangelical church in their village; Arul Rathi overcame widowhood in a war-torn country and made it possible for her children to get a good education while helping other women in her community. All three semifinalists were very deserving and the overall voting was very tight, but in the end, Arul Rathi took 1st place with 36% of the vote, Victor & Lilea took 2nd place with 33% of the vote, and Emily took third with 31% of the vote.

Transformation in the lives of the materially poor is a major part of our mission at PEER Servants, and the Lydia Awards is a great opportunity to celebrate that part of our mission. But our overall mission goes well beyond that. We are ultimately focused on transformation among the materially non-poor (that's us!) as well. May we be open and eager to learn from and be enriched by the Emily's, Victor and Lilea's, and Arul Rathi's of the world in areas like being very generous to God before we spend so much on ourselves and overcoming adversity. May God use them to help us see beyond the confines of our culture to what it really means to follow Jesus, and to experience more of the abundant life as a result. Lord, make it so!

Looking Up in Uganda

2010-06-30T08:25:00.000-07:00

Todd: The Africa trip that started in May in South Africa ended in June in Uganda. Dave Ryder, PEER Servants Board Chairman, and I spent a week with Christian Action for Empowering Church and Community (CAFECC), our Ugandan microfinance partner. It was a very encouraging week.

To say that CAFECC has struggled since their inception may be somewhat of an understatement. Sustainable, transformational microfinance is not easy -- indeed 90% of MFIs never become operationally sustainable (covering all of their operating expenses from the interest and fees they charge). But it is the goal of every PEER Servants microfinance partner to become sustainable. And not only sustainable, but transformational. For the few MFIs that can become sustainable, many give up on becoming highly transformational because they see it as too expensive and too much a threat to their sustainability. CAFECC and every other PEER Servants partner is trying to become sustainable and transformational. May God bless their path and the services we can provide to encourage them along that path!

We were very encouraged with the progress CAFECC is making. Much of this is the result of two key positions being filled within the past 18 months or so. First, James Kepo became the CAFECC Board Chairman, He is very dedicated to the success of CAFECC, and very competent to oversee its pursuit of realizing its vision. James spearheaded the hiring of Patrick Obija (right in picture) into the position of CAFECC Accountant and Acting Executive Director. Patrick has done a fantastic job in this role and CAFECC is now making great progress to becoming a sustainable MFI. Patrick works with two loan officers -- Jimmy Lumago and Mambo Charles (left and middle in picture). They, too, are very dedicated and competent at what they do. Together, they are bringing hope to the people of northern Uganda and the opportunity to not only be transformed, but to become an agent of transformation.

Our time with CAFECC was spent primarily on training Patrick in key areas to effectively lead the organization and report on their results. It wasn't all work - we had great times of fellowship, complete with one of my favorite foods in northern Uganda -- white ant paste. It is really good!

If reading this makes you a little "antsy" to join us on a future trip to northern Uganda, let us know! You will be tremendously blessed and enriched by the people of northern Uganda. God has made them rich in many ways. As a result, we, too, are becoming rich.

Marvelous May!

2010-05-31T14:13:00.000-07:00

Todd/Leslie: May was quite a month! It started with the 5-day visit of three staff members from The Center for Community Transformation (Philippines), included our first Spring Celebration Event (a fundraiser focused on raising funds for PEER Servants itself). went to the weeklong visit of Ghena Russu, Managing Director of Invest Credit (Moldova), and ended with the first half of Todd's trip to Africa, focused on South Africa and time with Aloga Financial Services. It was an exhausting but very full and rewarding month. As always, God's grace is sufficient. We were very blessed by our visitors from the Philippines and Moldova and the time in South Africa (more on the Africa trip in the next blog entry).

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6 about hard work and sleepless nights. He lists many other actions taken, all part of urging the Corinthian church not to receive God's grace in vain. In months like May, we learn a bit more about God's grace. It is the most amazing resource we could ever imagine -- more precious than gold, yet in endless supply. God really does supply our every need. He gives us strength when we need it, and the blessing of fellowship with Him.

We met this elephant in South Africa on the last day of May. It reminded me (Todd) of God's grace. It came within just a few feet of us and could have easily charged. Yet, it left us in awe as it used its amazing trunk to enjoy a feast among the tree branches. We couldn't help but worship and thank God in seeing what He had done in creating this elephant the way He did and allowing us such a close-up view. God came among us in the form of Jesus and has given us a close-up view. He could have come in power and might, and yet He came in peace and love. What an amazing life He led, and yet, He tells us in John 14:12 that "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." He has gone to the Father to intercede on our behalf in hopes that we will tap into the grace needed to do even greater things.

May we tap into His grace today in a new way.

Reaching New Heights in Peru

2010-04-30T20:21:00.000-07:00

Todd: I joined three other PEER Servants volunteers - Carol Mostrom, Devin Erhardt, and Rob St. Germain, in an April 14-23 very encouraging trip to Cusco, Peru to serve Kallarisunchis. Kallarisunchis became operationally sustainable in 2009 - that means they cover all of their operating expenses. They are now entering a phase where they are focusing on growth, with the desire to serve 1,000+ active clients within the next 3-5 years. Our team was able to have great discussions and training with the board and staff of Kallarisunchis to map out some of the steps needed for that growth to take place. The case studies developed on our much larger Filipino partner were very well received by our Peruvian partner, and there was a significant amount of focus on how the organization can build in more spiritual integration. We met a number of the clients served by Kallarisunchis and were encouraged by all of them (one of them pictured to the right). Combine that with the stunning beauty of the Peruvian Andes and the friendliness of the Peruvian people and you have a great trip! We thank God for the time in Peru and for your prayers and support to make it and the transformation that will result from it possible.

Fantastic Trip to Nigeria!

2010-02-16T20:06:00.000-08:00

Leslie/Todd: We had the tremendous privilege of traveling with five other PEER Servants associates to Nigeria from January 29 through February 14 to serve (and be served by) Good Seed Enterprise Development, our microfinance partner in the very troubled city of Jos. It was a fantastic trip for many reasons.

Nigerians Are Amazing People: Les and I were convinced long ago that Nigerians are some of the most amazing people on the planet - now we have some trip mates who are also singing that tune! The people of Nigeria have been rated by objective researchers as some of the world's happiest people. What makes them so happy? Despite having relatively little materially, they live in community and have a deep and vibrant faith. We have lots to learn from them of what it means to live in community and have to be totally dependent on God.

Nigerian Are Great Entrepreneurs: We met some amazing entrepreneurs -- not just in the businesses they have established, but more so what they are doing with the businesses they have established. You may have heard of some of them already. Comfort and Bamidele Padonu use their chicken breeding business to allow almost 100 widows each week to earn an income as they distribute the eggs. The Padonus are making great progress on building a ministry center for widows and orphans as they live very simply and pour the profits of their business into this ministry. There there is Kikielomo Oluwasegun, another chicken breeder and now fish farmer who directs the profits of her business to make the cost of Diamond Private School affordable to 100+ school children. What a beautiful sight it was to visit this school and see all of these bright young children receiving a top notch education. There are many more stories to tell of impressive micro-entrepreneurs whom we met on this trip.

Nigeria Needs Our Prayers: Jos, the city we visited, had experienced the most recent Muslim-Christian conflict less than two weeks before our arrival. 300-500 people were killed and many homes and businesses were burned. Some of Good Seed's clients had their businesses burned to the ground. Our Christian brothers and sisters are requesting that we pray for God's wisdom as to what they should do. This is the third major crisis in the last 9 years. Muslims have been moving into this predominantly Christian area and are attempting to force conversion to Islam, using all means, including violence, to do so. Very committed Christians are asking "what would Jesus do?" There are no easy answers to questions like that, but let's pray for wisdom and protection over them.

We thank God that we can partner with Good Seed Enterprise Development as they serve the materially poor of central Nigeria in the name of Jesus. Our team was able to assist them in better marketing their program, providing training based on the successes of our microfinance partner in the Philippines, and helping GSED identify new ways to raise much needed funds to fuel their growth. God used our Nigerian brethren and the events in Jos to really strengthen us in our understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. As a result, this is a trip we will not soon forget.

January 2010 - What A Month!

2010-01-28T13:41:00.000-08:00

Todd/Leslie: For many people around the world, January 2010 was not the way you want to start a new decade. A devastating earthquake in Haiti, religious conflicts killing hundreds in Nigeria, and floods in Peru all took place in January, and all affected PEER Servants and our microfinance partners. It was a challenging month! And yet one wherein we were reminded that we are ultimately not in control and our gracious. merciful God is. More than ever, we are called to follow Jesus and be a means through which more of Him and His Kingdom can be seen in even the very troubled parts of our world.

Haiti: I (Todd) received a text from a close friend right around 5 pm ET on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 -- "Major quake hits Haiti." What?, I thought, Haiti? While Haiti had had everything else thrown at it but an earthquake, Haiti and earthquake did not seem to fit together. Having been to my beloved Haiti many times, I could only start to imagine the likely devastation. Within hours, CNN removed any need for my imagination.

In the hours and days that followed we confirmed that our two PEER Servants volunteers living in Port-au-Prince were both alive. They had both been in buildings that ultimately collapsed (one of them in the United Nations building) and left meetings they were in early for unknown reasons at the time. Our microfinance partner, ACLAM, had building and most of their staff in tact and set out on a mission to assess how many of their microfinance clients were killed or had their businesses totally devastated -- they may never be able to come to a final tally on that. We had four other PEER Servants volunteers living in North America who were originally from Haiti. Amazingly, Christina, the wife of volunteer Marculey Sanon, left Haiti on the last flight to Montreal just hours before the quake. She went to see a mother she had not seen for six years, and sadly, a mother she would never see again. Their house collapsed on her mother and she passed away the next day.

We will work more closely with our Haitian microfinance partner than ever before in the months ahead as we try to support them in the monumental task that lies before them. May the hand of God keep us from growing tired from the long path ahead of walking closely with our Haitian brothers and sisters as they start the rebuilding process.

Nigeria: The Sunday, January 17, 2010 Skype IM came in from the Executive Secretary of Good Seed Microenterprise Development: "We are being visited by evil once again." Looking out his window, he saw the smoke billowing from Jos. At least 25 were dead in the latest round of Christian Muslim violence. We were very concerned for our Nigerian brethren who live in a part of Nigeria that Muslims have been fighting to dominate for years. Given our plans for a January 29, 2010 departure of a team of seven, we were also concerned whether it made sense to stick with our travel plans. Both concerns were significantly heightened two days later when additional conflict left hundreds dead.

While a fragile peace has held under a very heavy military presence in the days since, the damage may be irreparable. Many Good Seed microfinance clients lost everything. Since many killed in this January violence were Muslims, there are real concerns that the Muslims will take revenge and kill Christians. Even the most mature Christian leaders are at a loss of how best to respond in a Christ-like manner given the jihad that some Muslims have declared against the Christians of the area.

Our team is still planning to go, leaving tomorrow (January 29). We are looking forward to the time with our Nigerian brethren and something we rarely have an opportunity to fully experience in North America - a need to be totally dependent on God. May God use our time there to strengthen our partnership with Good Seed and strengthen our understanding of what it means to follow Jesus and have the joy of doing so.

Peru: If the news out of Haiti and Nigeria were not enough, we then received this news on January 27, 2010 from the board chair of Kallarisunchis, our microfinance partner in Peru: "nuestra ciudad de Cusco en estos ultimos dias realmente ha sido golpeada como nunca antes" ("we have been struck in Cusco in these last days like never before"). Heavy rains lasted for days, leading to record flooding, massive destruction, and many deaths. Cusco is a beautiful city nestled in the Andes but a potential death trap if such heavy rains occur and cascade down the mountains into the valleys. Even the tourists at Machu Picchu were stranded.

The current assessment by our Peruvian partners is that their staff are OK and few of their clients have been impacted directly, but all of Cusco is dependent on the tourism industry. Machu Picchu is closed for an indefinite period of time, and that will dry up the tourism economy.

We never could have seen the likes of January 2010 coming. But we are leaving this most challenging of months with the assurance that our God is almighty and fully capable of taking these tragedies and turning them into something good, especially if we will act as the hands and feet through which He can extend more of His Kingdom among us.

December Vacation

2009-12-31T16:26:00.000-08:00

Les/Todd: December tends to be a very crazy month for us. Most nonprofits experience a lot of extra activity in December tied to additional donations and winding down the year - PEER Servants is no exception. The holidays also bring additional activities. In the midst of all this, we try to make December a month where we can catch up on some much-needed rest and relaxation. As much as we love working with PEER Servants, it can be a 24/7 job for much of the year.

That's where our good friends, Dave and Terry Monaghan come in! Thay have a nice house right on the Indian River Lagoon on Hutchinson Island in Florida. They are away for much of December, so last year and this they made their place available to us. What a blessing. What do we do? Nothing!!! Watching the sun set is about as much activity as either of us care to take part in. It's a great place to get away to, and we really thank Dave and Terry for their generosity and thoughtfulness.

This December had an added attraction in that we had visitors from South Africa! Moss Mphaga is the Board Chairman of Aloga Financial Services, our microfinace partner located in Pretoria. He and his wife, Lindi, and children Khutli (age 7) and Titi (age 6) met us in Florida on December 11 and then followed us to Boston and stayed through December 26. We had a wonderful visit with them, complete with some days at one of my favorite places in the world, Walt Disney World!

So, while this December was just as crazy as Decembers typically are, it was a joy-filled month that we will cherish for some time to come.

Inspiration from the Philippines

2009-11-30T14:39:00.000-08:00

Todd: At PEER Servants, one of our most distinctive core values is what we call "The Reign of Reciprocity". It puts into practice the belief that God has created us to be a blessing to each other. That is true whether one is materially rich or materially poor. Time and time again we have experienced ways God has prepared our brothers and sisters in Christ from around the world to enrich and strengthen us. That is true for Les and me, and it is true for a growing number of those associated with PEER Servants.

That was particularly true in my November 2009 trip to the Philippines and our microfinance partner, The Center for Community Transformation (CCT). CCT has over 100,000 community partners, including these four weavers (upper right), whom they serve with loans, savings programs, insurance, weekly fellowship groups (including Bible studies), and so much more. They run the microfinance activity so well that the profits generated can provide funding for ministry to streetdwellers (lower left) and children of the microfinance clients. They excel at meeting both the physical and spiritual needs of the very materially poor in the Philippines and doing so in a manner that the materially poor come to discover all that God made them to be. It is really inspiring to be around the CCT team!

Joining me on this trip were David Ryder, our PEER Servants Board Chairman (upper left), and Heather and Jeff Takle (sitting second and third from the right in the lower right picture). It was the first trip to one of our microfinance partners for Dave and he returned very impressed with the work of CCT and committed to Christian microfinance as a means to empower the materially poor. Heather and Jeff worked closely with the CCT staff in gaining exposure and completing research enabling them to prepare some case studies on CCT. These case studies will be used by other indigenous Christian MFIs around the world as they map out their own paths to becoming high-impact organizations.

We thank God for CCT and the other microfinance organizations around the world whom God is using to not only strengthen the materially poor, but those of us in PEER Servants as well.

2009 Walk for Economic Empowerment

2009-10-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

Leslie/Todd: Our big fundraising event each year to raise loan capital for PEER Servants' microfinance partners is our Walk for Economic Empowerment. It started back in 2006. This year we took some steps to grow the event by inviting World Relief and HOPE International - two excellent Christian organizations active in microfinance, and expanding the sites from beyond Boston to DC/Baltimore, Charlotte, and Columbus. The event raised over $87,000 for the materially poor -- around $44,000 of that for PEER Servants. But it also gave us the opportunity as followers of Jesus to show to our friends, family, and general community that we, too, really cared about the materially poor. It gave us the opportunity to work together with other organizations that, while each may have different strategies, we share the common goal of desiring to see the materially poor empowered in the name of Jesus. And it gave us an opportunity for a great time!

This collage provides a peek at each of the four sites. Our hope and prayer is that God will continue to build this event for His glory and the empowerment of the materially poor.

17 Wonderful Days in Africa

2009-09-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

Todd: Were you looking for us from August 21 through September 6? If so, you would have found us in Africa - Uganda, Zambia, and South Africa. And you would have found us tremendously blessed by our African brothers and sisters in Christ. Yes - the material needs are great, but the social and spiritual wealth is remarkable and much of what we long to see within the North American church.

Most of our trip we were in Uganda. We were joined by very dedicated PEER Servants volunteer, Richard Kinyua (seated center in this picture), and worked with CAFECC, our microfinance partner in Arua in the northwest corner of Uganda, very close to the border with the DRC and Sudan. We provided consulting in the area of making process improvements and better managing risk to the CAFECC management and staff. Richard worked with the CAFECC staff to introduce a new loan administration software package that will enable them to process their loans much more efficiently. In addition, we met with the CAFECC board to hear from them what they see their next steps and challenges being on their path to establishing a sustainable, transformational Christian microfinance institution. We were very impressed with the CAFECC board -- they are willing to face some pretty major challenges squarely in the eye and take the steps needed to overcome them. We are confident they will succeed.

While in Uganda, CAFECC carried on a lot of their regular daily activities. This included making loans to each of ten women (pictured, right) who had formed a group. They have quite a range of businesses -- from running a small convenience store to raising chickens and more. Lord willing, it will enable them to send their young babies to school when the time comes. We also attended the group meeting of another group of ten or so women who were already repaying their loan. They had 100% repayment rate. And, another group of women, most of whom were Muslim, came to the meeting as well expressing their interest in receiving a loan. The needs and opportunities are great - join us in praying that CAFECC will be able to effectively reach them.

Given the frequency with which we travel to Africa, we have developed some very close relationships with our African brothers and sisters. One such close sister in Christ is Nora, pictured here with Leslie. Nora is a Sudanese refugee living in Uganda. I think just from the picture you can tell what a warm and loving person she is. She has every reason to be otherwise -- her life and that of her family devastated by war, not having sufficient financial income to give her children an education, her husband having to live hours away to get a job, and her health deteriorating with a heart condition that needs medical attention but she can't afford it. That is the reality of life for someone living on $2 or less a day. And almost 1/2 of our world lives just like that. WWJD? What a wonderful question. Our hope and prayer is that close friends like Nora will keep us and you asking that question until we get closer to having and living out the right answers.

From Uganda we traveled to Zambia - to Lusaka, the capital. There we met Canga Kamwambe, another very dedicated PEER Servants volunteer, who happened to be in Lusaka for the wedding of one of her cousins. Canga is originally from Malawi. (Richard, who we were with in Uganda, is originally from Kenya. Many of our PEER Servants volunteers are originally from other countries and are very strategic in establishing close partnerships with indigenous organizations.) Our focus was providing business plan and financial modeling consulting to our newest microfinance partner, CEMFIN. The CEMFIN board and management (including Chairman of the Board, Buta Gondwe, center, and Managing Director, Alick Kalonga, right) are preparing their application to the Bank of Zambia to become a formal microfinance institution. They will then set out on joining the Holy Spirit in providing a means to transformation for the materially poor that crowd the Lusaka slums. They will be walking where Jesus would walk and we can't wait to see the transformed lives that result!

Our final stop was South Africa -- what has long been one of my favorite countries to visit. Our stay was short -- just over 30 hours, but within that time we had an opportunity to meet with key board members of Aloga Financial Services, our South African microfinance partner, and hear from them their vision for the next 5 years. God has blessed this organization with a very capable board and dedicated management. As a result, Aloga can "boast" more recent Lydia Award winners than any of our other microfinance partners. They are doing a commendable job of not just keeping the poor poor, which microfinance sometimes does, but identifying those among their clients who can really bring transformation to their communities and focusing their resources on them. We stayed in the home of board chairman, Moss Mphaga and his beautiful family. Moss, Lindi, Khutli, and Titi (pictured here) are very dear friends to us. Moss has become a leading advocate (lawyer) in South Africa -- yet, you'll find him serving his church, helping Aloga expand its reach, and tending to the needs of his distant family members. As a 15-year old young man, he was shot by the security forces within apartheid South Africa -- Jesus has redeemed him, allowed him to forgive, and become a very powerful agent of transformation in his country. We are inspired to be around him on every visit to South Africa.

Passing through South Africa on the way to Uganda on the front end of the trip, we also were blessed to overnight with Jesse and Vicki Ratichek. Jesse is the PEER Servants Africa Regional Management Consultant. They just moved to South Africa in July for a 2-3 year consultancy with Aloga. They have settled in well - have a really nice apartment and are already driving on the correct side of the road! More impressively, Jesse has already started to make a significant contribution at Aloga. Jesse and Vicki are an extremely impressive couple grounded in their faith, competent in what they do, and eager to serve humbly and in a manner that honors Jesus. We are really proud to have them representing PEER Servants in Africa.

Thanks for your prayers during this trip. YOU are a very critical member of each trip we make -- thank you. And if you ever want to join us on one of these trips, just say the word and get ready to be tremendously blessed!

Celebrating our 2009 Lydia Award Winners

2009-08-31T15:26:00.000-07:00

Todd: You can't help but notice throughout the Bible, especially the Old Testament, that when God did something great, the people celebrated! We love to celebrate as well in PEER Servants, especially when we see the transformed lives that God is raising up from among the entrepreneurial clients of our microfinance partners.

Every year, we give out what we call "Lydia Awards" within PEER Servants to recognize the very top micro-entrepreneurs. Lydia was a businesswoman mentioned in Acts 16 who supported Paul and his missionary companions as they traveled through her part of Greece. In fact, Bible scholars credit Lydia with being one of the most important people in supporting the growth of the church into Europe. How did she do it? Through her business - selling purple dye and cloth, which was very lucrative at the time.

What we did this year for the first time is expand the process for determining our Lydia Award winners to include both online voting (did you vote? -- if not, make certain to do so next year) and a Lydia Award Celebration evening. We have a group of 5 dedicated volunteers who reviewed all of the nominees and selected 3 semi-finalists (pictured here) -- Victor, a cement block manufacturer and pastor from Moldova; Kikielomo, a chicken breeder and wholesaler from Nigeria; and, Rasanayagam, a chicken breeder and retailer from South Asia. All three semifinalists were really amazing -- Kikielomo subsidizes education for 150 school children through her business, and Rasanayagam has overcome his physical disability (he has one arm) to establish one of the most innovative and profitable chicken businesses in the region. Selecting a first, second, and third place from among these semifinalists wasn't easy. In fact, when all of the votes were tallied, Victor (Moldova) received 14% of the vote, and Kikielomo (Nigeria) and Rasanayagam (South Asia) both had 43% of the vote! Kikielomo received just a vote or two more than Rasanayagam, so she was the very deserving 2009 Lydia Award winner.

Our Lydia Award Celebration was one of our best nights of the year within PEER Servants. 40+ people gathered in the home of one of our donors to celebrate transformation. Cuisine from Moldova, Nigeria, and South Asia -- the countries/regions of our three semifinalists - was served, special music provided, and an opportunity given to praise God for what He had done in our midst. The excitement of such a close vote only added to making it a very special evening.

We wish all clients who are served by our microfinance partners could witness the kind of transformation in their lives that these Lydia Award semifinalists have - unfortunately, that is not the case. But these Lydia Award semifinalists do represent thousands who experience some element of economic, social, and spiritual transformation because of your willingness to support them through your financial and prayerful partnership. Thank you!

2009 Training Camp

2009-07-31T12:53:00.000-07:00

Todd: July is the month of our annual Training Camp. It's a weekend dedicated to microfinance training, spiritual challenge, learning to become more cross-culturally effective, and good ol' fellowship! This year 25+ gathered at Gordon College on July 24-26 for Training Camp. Our theme for the Camp was "to the ends of the earth" and it was a refreshing time to step back, assess what it is going to take to reach the ends of the earth with the love of Christ, and become better equipped to do so. Highlights of the weekend include the following:

Pastor Gideon Achi from Nigeria kicked us off by challenging us in whether we are really committed to follow Christ or too comfortable in enjoying a lavish, by the world's standards, lifestyle.
Scott Sterner got rave reviews for his Christian Micro-Enterprise Development 101 lecture.
We looked at a case study of one of the most effective Christian MFIs, the Center for Community Transformation in the Philippines, and what we can learn from them in establishing Christ-centered microfinance programs.
Abraham Thon, originally from the Sudan, and Leslie Engelsen guided us through a discussion on cross-cultural effectiveness after watching the excellent movie "God Grew Tired of Us".
Val Boudreau led us through an assessment of our priorities in life and whether we are really living our lives by them.
Dave Leach hosted his ever-popular annual game of Microfinance Jeopardy!
We played games from Mexico and Nigeria and had a blast!

It was a weekend of transformation - in our own lives, and eventually the lives we hope to touch through Christian microfinance and the ministry of PEER Servants. Thanks for your support to make it possible!

Five Years (and Counting) Since John Hancock

2009-06-30T11:55:00.000-07:00

Todd: June 11, 2009 marked the fifth anniversary of my leaving John Hancock and focusing full-time on PEER Servants responsibilities. It has been a very full and fun five years! The occasion offers an opportunity to reflect back on God's faithfulness and some highlights while looking ahead to where we go from here.

I still get asked if I miss the corporate world. As much as I enjoyed it, the answer is definitely no! I have not for even a second questioned my decision to transition to focusing full-time on empowering the materially poor and doing so in a manner that strengthens the materially rich spiritually and socially. God's timing was perfect.

Since leaving John Hancock, we have been able to grow PEER Servants by adding more volunteers, full-time staff, and committed board members. We have trained our volunteers to better serve our microfinance partners. We have helped more of our microfinance partners become sustainable, thereby enabling them to cover their own expenses of operations, and transformational, being a means through which economic, social, and spiritual transformation can be experienced by a growing number of the materially poor. We have gathered all of our microfinance partners in South Africa (2004) and Peru (2007) for powerful times of training and encouragement. The Walk for Economic Empowerment started in 2006 and has been held annually ever since, raising loan capital for thousands to be blessed. There are many times we wished we could have accomplished more, but we rest in what God has achieved through us and wrestle with new ways we can approach this high calling to more effectively extend His Kingdom.

As excited as we have been with these past five years, we see them just as a springboard for the years to come. This year, our Walk for Economic Empowerment will expand from being just a PEER Servants walk in Boston to a walk representing three organizations involved in Christian microfinance (World Relief, Hope International, and PEER Servants) in four locations (DC/Baltimore, Charlotte, and Columbus (OH), in addition to Boston). Next year we will bring all of our microfinance partners to Boston for Reciprocity 2010 - what could become our largest sponsored event yet! Our goal is to focus on those microfinance partners that have proven their ability to offer sustainable transformation to the materially poor.

I thank God for the 20 years at John Hancock. The income from John Hancock is what provided the savings Les and I have been able to live on these past five wonderful years of ministry. Now we will transition to raising our personal financial support through PEER Servants. Our salary will be a small sliver of what it had been at John Hancock. The same faithful God that has led us this far will certainly meet all of our needs. If you would like to be part of our financial support team, we'd love to hear from you!

Taking a Break

2009-05-31T12:17:00.000-07:00

Leslie/Todd: Life rarely slows down for us, and we love it! With the combination of overseeing a growing ministry, running the "Hotel E" (what our friends call our home given the number and frequency of our house guests), and investing in a number of people's lives, we don't get many opportunities to take a break. We thank God that the last week of May offered such an opportunity!

We had the pleasure of taking Todd's parents to southeastern Michigan for the wedding of one their 20+ grandchildren (our nephew). As this picture attests, on the way we made a stop at Niagara Falls. From the wedding we went to Newaygo, Michigan to visit with former next-door-neighbors, Lin and Jack Titus, and their beautiful family. It was a very special trip and one we will long cherish.

We have been tremendously blessed to have been raised by godly Christian parents. Les's parents are also committed followers of Christ. Seeing their examples made it very easy for us to understand the blessings of following Jesus. They are just one of countless ways we are blessed by God. It brings us great joy when we can be the means through which we can pass their blessings on to others.

Microfinance, Missions, Materialism, and Microinsurance

2009-04-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

Leslie/Todd: April was a month of speaking engagements! We thank God for the opportunities to be involved in the following…

Perspectives Course: Speaking at North Shore Community Baptist Church in Beverly, MA and Park Street Church in Boston, MA on Christian Community Development within the course “Perspectives on the World Christian Movement.”

Microfinance and Missions: Speaking at South Baptist Church in Laconia, NH on “Microfinance and Missions” as part of their annual Missions Conference.

Materialism Sunday School Class: Speaking on two consecutive Sundays at Grace Chapel in Lexington, MA on “Materialism: Rich and Poor” as part of the “World-Sized Issues: Living Christianly” series.

Gordon College: Speaking at Gordon College in Wenham, MA for two classes - “Global Issues for the Global Church” and “World Religions.”

Microinsurance: Speaking at the Hope International Directors Retreat in Lancaster, PA on “Microinsurance”.

In all of these but the Microinsurance talk, we tag team in the speaking. We enjoy working together to present the material but know how we present - in this case as a mixed race couple — will be more memorable than what we present for the average person in the audience. Our hope and prayer is that will stick with the listener and the Holy Spirit will encourage them to apply it in some way to their own lives long after they have forgotten anything we said.
Preparing for and delivering these different talks in addition to our regular hectic PEER Servants schedules led to a very demanding but rewarding April. We had to be dependent on the Holy Spirit to speak through us, and our hope and prayer is that is what He did.

Reciprocity 2010

2009-03-31T11:25:00.000-07:00

Leslie: If you want to make someone in PEER Servants smile, just say, “Kopano” or “Ricchari.” Those are two of our favorite words because they remind us of special gatherings we’ve truly enjoyed with our microfinance partners from all around the world.

In 2004 we gathered in South Africa at a conference we called Kopano (which means unity in a couple of the South African languages). It was a beautiful time of celebrating our oneness in Christ as we taught and learned from each other on how to build micro-finance programs that can have a greater impact for Christ in our world.

In 2007 we gathered in Peru at a conference called Ricchari (which means Awakening in the Quechua language). At that conference we were challenged to awaken to God’s vision for economic empowerment as a means of encouraging spiritual and material transformation in our world.

2010 is right around the corner and the PEER Servants microfinance partners and volunteer partners are already buzzing about Reciprocity, which is the name of the third triennial conference which will be held in the New England area in the summer of 2010. This theme comes from one of the core values of PEER Servants which is “The Reign of Reciprocity.” God has opened our eyes to the fact that He has created us for each other. He has gifted our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world in ways which can strengthen us in our commitment to serve Him; likewise, He has gifted us in different but complementary ways which can strengthen them in their commitment to serve Him. As we all bring to the table those gifts that God has given us, we all go from the table enriched to better accomplish the reason for which we were all created – to glorify Him and enjoy His presence forever!

I am serving as the Reciprocity 2010 conference planning coordinator. There are a host of volunteers that will be working together to make this conference a reality in such areas as helping our partners get visas and plane tickets, arranging for host families, securing a conference venue, inviting speakers, preparing for workshops, seminars, recreation, outreach and worship, organizing technical support, funding, translation, publications, and more.

One of the key speakers for the Reciprocity 2010 conference is a pastor from Nairobi Kenya named Oscar Muriu. God has given him deep insights into how we as a global family can draw from each others strengths to serve Christ more effectively and respond to the unique challenges facing our generation. We will also have workshops led by our microfinance partner in the Philippines as they share lessons learned in running one of the most spiritually, economically and socially transformational micro-finance programs we have ever seen.

At some point during the conference, we are envisioning a special event where people from the greater Boston area will gather to hear our partners share their experiences of following Christ in very challenging circumstances. When PEER Servants volunteers visit our microfinance partners they always come back home amazed by such things as the perseverance and hope of our brothers and sisters from areas affected by civil war such as southern Sudan and south Asia, the joy of the Lord and strong community that we see in our brothers and sisters from the Philippines and Brazil, the eagerness to forgive that we observe in South Africa, and the boldness and generosity of the Nigerians in evangelism and world missions despite economic limitations. The church here in the US has much to receive.

Pray with us that God will use Reciprocity 2010 to equip and empower our micro-finance partners, volunteer partners and all others who participate in the conference to appreciate all that He has invested in each of us to serve one another. Hebrews 10:24 tells us to think of ways to motivate one other to acts of love and good works. I believe there will be a lot of this at Reciprocity 2010 and that as a result we will all see Christ more clearly and serve Him for effectively.

Strategic Times in South Africa

2009-02-28T11:11:00.000-08:00

Todd: PEER Servants’ biggest initiative in 2009 is called our “Strategic Training Initiative” (STI). We are working closely with our MP in the Philippines, The Center for Community Transformation, to tell their story and incorporate appropriate training of how they grew to become one of the largest indigenous, autonomous Christian MFIs in the world. Phase 1 of STI was for a team of three CCT staff to visit Aloga Financial Services, PEER Servants’ South African MP, and Good Seed Enterprise Development, PEER Servants’ Nigerian MP, in February 2009. I joined PEER Servants volunteers Joseph Tucker Edmonds (STI Team Leader), Jesse Ratichek, and Patrice Gopo in South Africa; Jesse continued on to Nigeria with the CCT team. The weeks in South Africa and Nigeria were used by God to inspire both MFIs to all they could become in extending God’s Kingdom and to better understand some of the next steps they need to take to become high impact organizations like CCT.

While in South Africa, Aloga Financial Services celebrated their most recent Lydia Award winner, Lilly Storom (next to me). Lilly, an Aloga client, owns and manages an amazing daycare in Mamelodi that provides almost 90 3-6 year olds with a great education. As the children hear that Jesus loves them, their lives and those of their family members are being transformed. Aloga has had many successful clients — joining Lilly at her celebration were 2004 Lydia Award winner Flydah Mdhluli (middle in picture), and 2007 Lydia Award winner, Claudie Mashiane (to the right). Matsha Makena (far right), Aloga Managing Director, was praised by all three award recipients for the level of service his staff and he offer to them. (The Lydia Award is given annually by PEER Servants to recognize the top 2-3 of the thousands of entrepreneurs who receive loans from PEER Servants’ MPs. It is named after Lydia, the entrepreneur selling purple cloth/dye in Acts 16, who supported St. Paul and his missionary companions as they traveled through the area.)

It wasn’t all work and no play while in South Africa (although I am known to keep a pretty tight and demanding schedule for PEER Servants volunteers on these trips!). The entire team took a day retreat to visit the Pilanesberg Game Reserve and saw God’s amazing creatures — a charging bull elephant, a family of rhinos, a pride of twelve playful lions, and this beautiful herd of more than a dozen giraffes. We had been praying that since this may be the only time our brother and sisters from the Philippines would be able to see African game in person, that God would lead the animals to show up. As is so often the case, God answered our prayers in ways that exceeded what we could think or imagine!, God answered our prayers in ways that exceeded what we could think or imagine!

Closer to Launch in Zambia

2009-02-15T11:20:00.000-08:00

Todd: We are closer to launch of CEMFIN, an indigenous, autonomous Zambian MFI and PEER Servants’ newest microfinance partner. The CEMFIN board and management met with PEER Servants’ Team Zambia February 7-13, 2009 for a week of training, further preparing the MFI submission for the Bank of Zambia, and planning the remaining steps to the first loans being made later in 2009.

My role in this trip was twofold — helping CEMFIN progress on their path to launch, but also “training the trainers” as the four PEER Servants volunteers (Jim Martin, Ken Lloyd, Dick Wilson, and Bob Roth) who are part of “Team Zambia” gain expertise in providing microfinance training. Jim , Ken, Dick, and Bob are part of a larger group of Charlotte, NC-based Christ followers who have formed a very strong PEER Servants team to serve and support CEMFIN.

Angola Microfinance Consulting in Alberta

2009-01-31T10:27:00.000-08:00

Todd: Meet Avelino and Madalena Rafael (left in picture) from Lubango, Angola. That’s what I did, in of all places Edmonton, Alberta and in of all times balmy January! Joining the gathering was Edmonton-based PEER Servants volunteer, Marculey Sanon (right in picture). The four met for three days to discuss steps Avelino needed to take to establish his dream - a sustainable, transformative microfinance organization to empower the materially poor of southern Angola and give them a fresh sense of hope that Jesus loves them and is mindful of them.
Avelino and I have been trying to meet for the past couple years — I had trouble getting an Angolan visa, and Avelino and Madalena were coming to Alberta to be in a wedding. So rather than meeting in the tropical warmth of southern Angola, God opened the door for the two of them to meet in the frigid tundra of Alberta. The time together may prove very valuable as Avelino establishes Jubilee Microfinance in the months ahead. If PEER Servants can recruit a group of volunteers to serve and support Jubilee, a formal partnership may develop between the two organizations. PEER Servants is very impressed with Jubilee and the team Avelino has gathered on his board and management in Lubango — it is very typical of the promising indigenous, autonomous microfinance institutions with which PEER Servants partners.
Avelino and I are both looking forward to future times of consultation as Jubilee gets established. But the next meeting will, Lord willing, be in the warmth of Angola.