This year's Christmas project at Northgate Baptist Church doesn't involve construction. Nor physical labour. Nor machinery. There are no walls or roof needed, no blueprints to be drawn up, and no ground to be surveyed. It is neither built up, nor dug down. It doesn't involve programming for the kids, nor supplies for the teachers. It involves locks. A logbook. And the desire for change.
Here's how it works
The Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) are groups
of 12 - 15 people meeting once a week or once every couple weeks to pool their savings
or take out small short-term loans. Each group has a chairman, a vice-chairman,
and a secretary. At the start of each
meeting, the members deposit their extra money into a common pool. The
deposited money is then loaned out at a fair interest rate for business loans,
and 0% interest for medical or emergency loans. Deposits and loans are
carefully logged and at the end of every meeting, the extra money is put in a
box with three locks. Northgate's Christmas project over the next few weeks is
to fund the training and set up of as many VSLA groups in the Marare area as
possible.It's a group effort and a village benefit
To describe all of the benefits of a VSLA would take much
more than a simple blog. A complete description would include buzzwords such as
"holistic", "sustainable" and "versatile", and
would go over the hundreds of ways in which a VSLA supports healthy growth in
both the community and in individuals. But I want to tell you about just one: a
single reason that stands out to me, not above all the others, but in stark
contrast to North American society. Because in a world full of self-reliance, self-realization,
self-fulfillment and plain old selfishness, VSLAs are showing us a genuine,
supportive community. A community where individual dreams and hopes are encouraged
and supported, and individual problems are shared. Responsibility and work are
not shirked, because each loan must be paid back. But the group members stand
firmly behind each member, ready to help with overwhelming medical bills, or perhaps
a new business venture. It is the meeting place of the individual and the community,
where one supports the other without a breakdown of either. It is the meeting
of the short and the long term, where savings are stored for the future, and
loans are provided for the present. And it is the breaking point of selfish
ambition; the start of genuine generosity.
Getting started
To start all this takes a mentor. Someone to walk along side a group, meeting them every week to start. Teaching them biblical principles about money, and setting up the steps to accountability and responsibility. After six months the mentor only stops by occasionally, and after year he is gone entirely. No outside money is given to the group at any point, but the training they receive is invaluable. So Northgate is committed to paying for that training this Chrismas, and providing several enthusiastic groups with their three locks and logbook.
It costs $700 to get
a group started. Let's get as many groups going as possible! Remember, one
group is 12 - 15 members that each have children and spouses--compounding
change beyond the meetings. To donate, stop by Northgate Baptist Church on a Sunday morning, or follow this link to donate online.
