Christians Invited to Make Big Impact in Developing World with 'Small Change'

Christians around the world are invited next week to “take out coins from the collection basket” as a symbol of the “big impact” that “small change” can make to those in the developing world.

|TOP|Oikocredit, a financing ministry of the World Council of Churches, is calling on 2005 churches worldwide to observe Oikocredit Sunday, either on Oct. 16 or Oct. 23. Through the effort, Oikocredit hopes to raise awareness about its micro-financing ministry, which in the past 30 years provided tens of thousands of “very small loans” to help individuals in developing countries build a better life.

“It seems we will easily be reaching the target of 2,005 churches participating in the event”, says Birgit Weinbrenner, the Oikocredit International Church Relations Officer in Amersfoort, the Netherlands. “Some 3,000 worship booklets were shipped to the U.S.A., Canada and most European countries as well as to countries in the Southern hemisphere, like South Africa, the Philippines and Costa Rica.”

The year 2005 also marks the U.N. year of Microcredit, which focuses on this unique approach to financial development, where the poor receive loans – not handouts – to help get them back on their feet.

Highlighting this different approach, organisers of Oikocredit Sunday are urging church visitors to take out coins from the collection basket, rather than giving “money for charity during the service.”

Participating churches will place stickers on the coins with the motto “Small-Change – Big Impact.”

Supporters of microfinancing believe loans not only lead to financial self-reliance, but also to wider social impact and increased self-esteem of the borrower.

Oikocredit, which was founded in 1975 by the WCC, has some 220 million euros in membership capital, making it one of the largest financers of micro-credit companies around the world.

Over the years, Oikocredit reached out to 440 project partners such as microfinance institutions, cooperatives and other socially relevant businesses in 32 countries.






Elaine Spencer
Christian Today Correspondent