Imagine 12 disabled people livign in adject poverty startign a car wash in a poor community in South Africa.  Now think that this group includes a little person, several in wheelchairs, some on crutches, a blind man and a man born with no arms.   People whom the world might say have no hope and certainyl are not wirth investing in.    And you would think it would be crazy that they could run a car wash and make it work.

Crazy as it seems, this motley crew is who we are investing in.

A few months ago while talking with Brian Carlucci – one of our pastors – about our trip, we started talking about doing microloans.  Last summer in South Africa we had a couple lead a class on business skills but this year we wanted to provide capital to get started.

Kevin Cox who is one of my supporters and one of our elders was coming on this trip.  Kevin has been and is a successful businessman with a heart for ministry so I asked if he would teach the classes.  Kevin said (I’m paraphrasing) that when I mentioned doing the loans his heart came alive.  He wasn’t sure why God was leading him to come on this trip but teaching these classes and doing these loans was something he was excited about and could see it as a long-term ministry.

Kevin told one friend about the microloans and the guy gave me $1000 without Kevin really asking him.   I shared our vision with a couple of people just for feedback and they said they are in.  Before we left we raised over $5000 when most loans are like $150.  Seems like we had something here.

So several weeks before we left for South Africa, Kevin and I met and began talking about this ministry and trying to figure it out.  We got advice from others doing loans and read books and prayed.  It was then that we came up with the name.  You can click on the Sekepe page to read more of our vision.

This past week Kevin and his son Brian taught a group of 12 disabled people on how to start and run a business.  Last Saturday we scouted out their potential site and interviewed other car wash owners.

Earlier in the week, they asked Kevin, “Do you believe in us?”  Kevin had to pause.  In the world’s eyes there was not much to believe in.  But looking with eyes of faith and in the hope found only in Christ, Kevin answered ‘yes, I believe in you.”

This is Sekepe.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 11:28 pm and is filed under JACK, Missions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.