Exceeding Expectations
Freilin L., 2020 Ecuador Entrepreneur Program
Because of your generosity, the Quito Entrepreneur Project was successfully launched, exceeding our expectations! With a goal of 25 entrepreneurs, just 7 days earlier we were told there were only 3 paid registrations. Ten days later we had 36 entrepreneurs complete the training!
Through your prayers and finances, entrepreneurs like the Freilin (see the woman with calculator) are energized and empowered to grow businesses that give back to local communities as they themselves break free from poverty. It’s a powerful start to a beautiful story. Your choice to champion the cause of the underserved is bringing economic and spiritual freedom. How?
Read what my colleague Alan has to say…
I don’t know about you, but when I’ve been sitting in a classroom for seven hours, I’m ready to go home. Especially when itfollows four-hour classes each of the previous three evenings. But everything changes when God shows up…
First, here’s the backstory: I’ve been working with Hope Ventures over the past two years to develop a program to create entrepreneurial communities in impoverished areas. The program trains Christian businesspeople in those citiesto mentor aspiring entrepreneurs that can significantly reduce the risk of starting a business. We then train theentrepreneurs and pair each of them with a mentor for six months or more. As they walk through this chapter of lifetogether, the goal is for the mentor to help the entrepreneur start a socially responsible business and hopefully to also growspiritually. Because we teach a triple-bottom-line of business (financial, social, and spiritual), the door is opened for thementor to discover where the entrepreneur is at spiritually and engage with them at that level.
Last November we trained our first group of mentors in Quito, Ecuador! Working with our partners in Ecuador, Extreme Response International, and Pan de Vida, we decided that we would prepare several of those mentors to train thefirst group of entrepreneurs in Spanish rather than doing it ourselves in English through a translator. We would still attendthe training to support the trainers. As I write this, I’m on the plane coming home from that training.
I admit to being skeptical (still!) about whether our training was sufficient toadequately prepare these mentors to actually teach the course. But then God showed up!
Rather than everyone counting the minutes until they could leave at 3:00pm on Saturday, nobody wanted to leave! The skills and energy with which these instructors conducted this class were amazing. So much so, that we took notes and will adapt our curriculum with some of their ideas.
But God had more in mind than just creating high engagementand strong relational connections.
Our intention is for this program to create an environment to develop relationships that bring people closer to God and one another. That Friday night, in the middle of a training class on how to start a business, one of our students decided she wanted to follow Christ!
We do our best with the skills, time, and other resources God provides. He blesses us with the privilege of being involved inHis work, but fortunately, He’s not limited by our constraints.
Please be in prayer for the Quito entrepreneurship program and the collaboration of ministries involved. Pray that this strong start would become a sustainable, thriving entrepreneurial community that continues to see God deliver spiritual, social, and economic results well beyond any of our abilities.
ECUADOR, THE STORY UNFOLDS
What I love about Alan’s story is the way it showcases a radical way to love people. It breaks free of the stereotype that the poor are powerless and that society has to forever treat them as a “charity case”. The Gospel comes with a different message. One that extends dignity and hope, not only for the life hereafter, but life in the now. As John Perkins, Christian community developer, once commented, “People need two things: Jesus and a job.”
That’s what your generosity provides. With $8000 in additional funds, the gap will be closed insuring continued support and momentum for these entrepreneurs and hundreds more to come.
Thank you for caring enough to take action. You are indeed changing lives.