Mandate eNewsletter, 2007 No. 1

GOD HAS CHOSEN THE FOOLISH AND THE DESPISED THINGS
by Dr. Brian Fikkert

Nearly fifty people line the walls of the dark room in the Kenyan slum. One of them stands up and says, "Hello, my name is Eunice. Jesus is my Savior. When I get my loan I buy beads and make jewelry. I use the profits to feed my five children and to pay my rent." After proudly displaying the necklaces she makes, Eunice sits down and another lady stands up to speak.

“Hello, my name is Margaret. I use my loan money to crochet purses out of plastic bags.” With a twinkle in her eye, Margaret then proceeds to demonstrate how she cuts plastic grocery bags into narrow strips that she uses like yarn for crocheting. Her nimble fingers quickly work the plastic and the needles, as she transforms throw away bags into attractive purses to sell. Her face beaming with pride, Margaret then takes her seat as Ephraim stands up to speak.

“When I got my loan it was 140 Kenyan Shillings (about $2). I am an artist, and I use the fibers of the banana trees to make art. With my loan I bought glue, and I made pictures which I sold for 3000 Kenyan Shillings (about $43). I have two children, but my wife passed away. My profits helped me to pay for my children’s school expenses. I believe we should encourage one another in this program to share our talents so that our talents don’t die with us.”

Ephraim’s concern about his death is well-founded, for death is an ever-present possibility for these 50 HIV/AIDS carriers. Despised by their relatives and ostracized by society as a whole, these modern-day lepers have migrated to this slum from various parts of the country and from different, often hostile, tribes. According to Lois Ooms, a community health worker with Mission to the World, “HIV/AIDS carriers in Kenya typically struggle with depression and feelings of worthlessness. They often feel like God hates them because others were engaged in similar behaviors and did not get HIV/AIDS. They tend not to be productive people, sitting around and moping a lot.”

Seeking to communicate Christ’s love, a church in this slum began a home-based healthcare ministry to twelve HIV/AIDS sufferers in 2004. Then in July 2005, Lois Ooms invited one of the directors of this ministry to attend a Christian Economic Development Institute conducted by the Chalmers Center. Using this training, the ministry director helped these HIV/AIDS sufferers to start a savings and credit association in which they save and lend their own resources to one another. The people use the loans from this association to provide capital for their small businesses, enabling them to be productive citizens in a culture that considers them to be “foolish, lowly, and despised”
(I Corinthians 1:27-28).

There are now almost 50 members of this healthcare and microenterprise development ministry, and ten have been lost through death. The group meets every Monday to share the word of God, to get training on microenterprise development and health topics, to save and lend their money, to support one another, and to pray.

The fact that these modern-day lepers are productive in their businesses and so full of joy is amazing to behold. But their productivity does not stop there. These HIV/AIDS carriers report that each of them has started 1-2 additional savings and credit groups on their own, enabling them to minister to an estimated 1,000 other people! These “lepers” even take the Bible lessons from the original group and share them with the other groups that they have started on their own.

“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise…” (I Corinthians 1:26-27a).

For more information about the Chalmers Center, visit us at www.chalmers.org.