Empowering Entrepreneurs: by Brent Boekestein

Location: La Herradura, El Salvador
Date: 2005
Contact: bboekest@yahoo.com


In late 2005, a close friend and I received a unique invitation and opportunity to help establish a marketplace and provide start-up counsel to 15 women-owned businesses near La Herradura, El Salvador. We worked with and through an organization called CIDECO – which is committed to a model of holistic development that is based on affordable, but not free, housing, education, healthcare and enterprise throughout Central America. In partnership with CIDECO employees and volunteers, my friend and I assisted a traditionally disempowered segment of the population, mothers with young children, in starting businesses that sold everything from fruit and vegetables to meat to consumer goods.



This job was both challenging and rich. It was challenging in that many, if not all, of the emerging enterprises, were resource strapped and therefore had to be highly creative in finding basic items like tables for goods and refrigeration for produce. The experience was rich in that many of the people we spent time with were truly entrepreneurial and found solutions, through friends, family and other informal networks, to get their businesses off the ground. One of those businesses was "Tienda Lacteos", which simply means Dairy Store. But behind the simple business name were two things absolutely necessary to a successful business: a great idea and a hard-working entrepreneur. That entrepreneur was Juan Meija Angel, a CIDECO resident with 14 years experience in selling dairy products. But Mr. Angel faced a challenge in that the start-up costs to his business were substantial – almost 1/3 the average yearly wage in El Salvador. Though through some "boot-strapping" and a bit of help from his friends and family, Mr. Angel started his business and even had plans to develop a local delivery route. An entrepreneurial success, indeed.



An important point to note is that it wasn't just men starting businesses - there were also women entrepreneurs. In fact, upon a return visit to the marketplace in 2007, we clearly saw the derivative benefits that are often the product of woman-owned businesses, such as increased income, gender empowerment and greater social standing. For me, this moved the experience from one of tough numbers (lack of income, lack of education) to something much more personal – a family with more savings for school, a successful dairy business, a mother with a voice in the community and a daughter with a pathway to economic freedom. If anyone is interested to learn more about the current status of the marketplace or successful micro enterprise models, please feel free to email me at bboekest at yahoo dot com.

'We Are Human Beings Too' By: Lesley Miller

Location: Beijing, China
Date: 2006
Contact: lesleymiller1@gmail.com

It's been over a year since Jonathan and I returned from China, a country we fell in love with through the three months we spent living, eating, breathing and simply being with the Christians who worship there. I could say a whole lot about the experience-- how delicious the food is, the beautiful countryside of flat rice lands, the monstrosity of the Great Wall, the heat of the summer, the roar of the cities, the wildness of our adventures. Lately though, whenever I think about China I tend to push it to the back of my mind because what I think about most is how guilty I feel for not doing more, not doing enough, to help the Christians we met while working there.
While there, we traveled all over the country-- from the southern lands bordering Laos and Cambodia, to the deep interior, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an. In each of these places we met suffering, persecuted Christians who told stories that you might read about on Christian watch sites or CNN.com. In Hunan, we experienced the persecution first hand when we had to flee from a house church meeting when police arrived. As much as you can hear about persecution happening worldwide, you don't understand what it really feels like until you actually find yourself running, praying, panicking and watching your life flash before your eyes in a Chinese prison. Maybe it's the same reason why people don't care about the AIDS crisis, Darfur or human slavery- we don't understand it because we can't even grasp a small inch of what it feels like or looks like.

What's even worse is that even though I now see faces to the numbers of people suffering in China, I still have moments where I am paralyzed to move and change the situation. I wish I had more money to give, I wish I had more time to share their stories, I wish I had more drive to invest in the charity set up to support them. My excuses are a mixture of a lot of things that I'd guess many other people share.

Today I spent a half hour watching a video I made last year when we returned from our trip. I found myself choked up as I listened again to the stories of our friends, our brothers and sisters in Christ. I once again found myself wishing I made more money to give. Yet the one thing they always asked for was our prayers. I'd like to share their own words with you:

You can't imagine how important your visit is... working in rural areas and facing persecution means we become very lonely.

We are human beings too. And when we know other Christians are praying for us, we are very encouraged

"The house church is a church of God, a body of Jesus Christ. We just want to follow the bible and the Lord's command to share the gospel to the end of the earth. Pray that the Chinese government will understand us, that we are not a threat to them."

Doesn't that just kill you? "We are human beings too!" And so, I remind myself and share with you: The church in China needs our prayers. They need our prayers for comfort and encouragement in their suffering and for a government that will choose to stop persecuting them for believing in Christ.




The church also needs financial help. In particular, Chinese pastors need money to continue traveling throughout the country to rural areas sharing the gospel. There are several huge underground seminaries that we visited that are training high school aged students to become pastors-- yet they don't have the money to keep these seminaries going unless they receive help. This is a picture of an empty, underground room that is used as a seminary. Before this seminary was found by the government it housed hundreds of students underground for months at a time.



Please considering committing to prayer for China. And, if you are interested in giving directly to the people in China please contact me at the address provided above. You can also visit www.stitchandbloom.org to buy unique textiles and crafts with 100% of proceeds directly benefiting the church. This picture shows the factory where many of these textiles are started and stored before being sent to the U.S. The women that are making the products would have no other source of income without their sales.


Another great site to learn how to pray about current situations happening in China is www.chinaaid.org. The website will also list ways to protest what is happening in China.

Following an Ancient Example: By Lennart Konschewitz

Location: Pogradec, Albania
Date: June, 2007
Contact: Lenny.Konschewitz@everynation.org


In June of 2007 I was part of a little team of volunteers (two Germans, one Canadian, one US American) that traveled to Pogradec, Albania, in order to support a nonprofit organization called the "Nehemia-Albania Foundation". The name Nehemia stems from the biblical personality Nehemiah, who was a leader in Israel after the people's return from the Babylonian exile. He lived about 450 BC and helped to rebuild his country with practical work as well as through spiritual and social reforms. In 1991, the first relief trucks arrived in Albania. Their work and community development aid covers many needs: education, welfare, church planting, medical work, and other projects. Thus, our roles and tasks during these four days were very diversified. When we arrived in Tirana, the capital of Albania, we were right in the middle of a city which is developing into a more or less modern society. Modern and advanced meets old and dirty. Most of the roads were okay to drive one, except maybe for the fact that I as a Westerner missed the actual lines on the road that determined the lanes. Since George W. Bush had just been there a few days prior to our arrival we could still see the effort that had been put into giving him, and all Americans, the warmest welcome possible. Everywhere were posters and flags, and one big building, which was probably something like the city hall, had a huge George W. Bush portrait on it - what a view. We continued our journey to Pogradec which took us about four hours. We had to travel by car because Tirana is the only place in the whole country with a "big" airport.

Having passed through many villages, valleys, mountains, we finally arrived in Bucimas, Nehemia's headquarters. As Nehemia just finished building a brand new sports field including a soccer, a basketball and a volleyball pitch as well as track & field facilities, we brought along soccer equipment and taught many kids about technical skills and the importance of teamwork and fairness. The kids have the privilege of attending the Nehemia school were very welcoming and willing to learn from us. Some of them even spoke to us in pieces of German.

One day we drove to one of the villages which is located furtherin the mountains. We met with the children from the village, spend along time playing soccer with them, donated new soccer balls to them and just had a lot of fun. It was quite interesting to see the huge difference of infrastructure and life between Bucimas and the mountain village.

The soccer field we played on was just a piece of field without any grass left on it. However, they love the sport and truly welcomed us playing with them.

After the game we had a look at the school building in the village which is a difference like night and day when compared to the Nehemia school. Nehemia is in the process of constructing a church building which is supposed to bring light and God's presence to this community.

It was a moving experience for me to stand in the halls of what is soon going to be used for God's purposes.

The day of the inauguration was also a great success. The German embassy even sent a representative from Tirana, the mayor showed up and even more special guests plus dozens of parents and children came to open one of the finest sports facilities in the whole area. Since soccer is the big sport, especially among the guys, I wore a sporty adidas outfit and they thought I was a famous soccer player who had just come to be there for the opening :-) Well, I had to tell them that I was only a hobby player, and the only thing I could impress them with was the fact that Zinedine Zidane, one of the best players in the world, used to wear my outfit for a photo shoot (which was true!)

Moreover, the Albanian people are very hospitable and open to guests. Once we were invited for coffee at an old Albanian woman's house.

She cared so much for us, showed us around on her little farm-like yard, prepared a typical Albanian yoghurt drink for us and just seemed to be so honored to have us as her guests.

Even the hotel we stayed in was decorated and furnished in a way that made you feel like kings and queens. And if you lookd out of the window you saw dusty roads, maybe a cow being walked by her owner, and more or less dry hills.
On the mountains one can still see the thousands of bunkers that the communist regime had put up to "protect" their people in case of war. There are discussions now about whether it would make sense to use them as tourist attractions and get some money out of them.

The work that the Nehemia foundation has built up over the last years is quite amazing. They have a very nice school with high standards, and the first Nehemia University is already planned. The testimonies of the children and families who have found help and comfort through this work are so many and so unique. Of course, all this wouldn't be possible without the help of individuals and companies that believe in what Nehemia-Albania is doing. However, finding the right marketing strategy and fund raising methods is one of the challenges of Nehemia. Thus, another focus of our help in Albania was to have meetings with their staff and brainstorm about what could be improved, what needs to be started, what could be changed, etc.

Well, if you ever happen to be in Albania make sure you visit the Nehemia foundation. I'm sure they would, just like me, love to hear from you.

Check out:
"Nehemia-Albania Foundation"
has been founded by the German humanitarian organization "Nehemia Christenhilfsdienst" and the "Aktionskomitee für verfolgte Christen, AVC" both with their headquarters in Nidda/Germany. This makes Nehemia Albania part of an international relief organization with activities in more than 40 countries all over the world.

Games, Braids and Hope: By Ruth Magee

Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Date: Summer, 2006
Contact: ruthmagee83@hotmail.com

Going away to South Africa in 2006, I really wasn't sure what to expect. I'd been away two years earlier, had come home restless, unsettled, and ready to act upon what I'd seen and done yet all my good intentions had resulted in very little activity when I arrived home on Irish soil.

In 2006 when I was away, there was something so different about the experience. You never expect for children to impact and change your world, but some of those we met on township were for me, the reason I returned home determined to do something in response to the trip.

Although our main responsibility on township was to build houses with the rest of our habitat team, I recall one particularly beautiful day on township, one on which the local children had become very much the focus of our attention. Our team on the building site had a considerable amount of relief workers, so that freed up a little bit of time for us to play with some of the children who had gathered around our building site to see what was going on. I remember laughing hysterically at our attempts to play some simple games like "simon says" and "duck duck goose" with the children. They could not understand a word we said, neither could we understand what they were saying to us, yet the laughter and giggling echoed around those streets as everyone enjoyed the company of those around us:

failing to break the barriers with words, but succeeding to with the simple universal language of laughter.

Monica played along with us, a pretty little thing, no more than about 5 or 6 years old, dressed in a baby pink jumper, with her tight little braids hanging loosely around her shoulders. She loved to laugh and loved to play, and so joined in with our games. She loved to be picked up and spun round, her adorably sweet little giggle making the rest of us laugh with her. I spent most of the rest of the afternoon with Monica, spinning her around, chasing her through the streets. I'm pretty sure I fell in love with this little girl's zest for life as soon as I set eyes on her. As I picked her up, her infectious little smile beamed and her eyes sparkled with excitment, wondering what little game we were going to play next, and I couldn't help but think to myself when last she expressed such joy, secretly hoping that it wasn't as long ago as I feared it was. Nevertheless, she made us smile that day, made us feel alive, and the memories of her that day never fail to change me every time I think of it.

Words can't really describe this little girl, she changed our worlds that day, but to the rest of the world, she is a statistic.

I refuse to believe that it is right for anything this beautiful to be reduced to a statistic- together we can do what must be done...

Useful links:
Habitat for Humanity Northern Ireland
Habitat for Humanity South Africa