Microfinance that makes a difference

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
— Micah 6:8

In response to recent conversations about microfinance sparked by the Wall Street Journal article, we believe two things can be true at once.

Good ideas can be distorted. Financial tools intended to empower people can become systems that burden people with debt, exploit vulnerable communities, or make promises they cannot keep. Those stories are real, and they are heartbreaking. They happen every day, including in the places where TOLI works.

But we also believe that God is in the business of redemption.

That is why we continually listen, learn, evaluate our program, and ask hard questions about our work.

TOLI's goal has never been to make people rich and never to receive financial returns. TOLI is a ministry focused on holistic transformation. Our goal is to help people in extreme poverty know they are seen and loved by God and to equip them with the opportunity to provide for their families with dignity through meaningful work.

Again and again, we have watched entrepreneurs experience this dignity firsthand. We have seen it at scale with measurable data.

Today, 93% of TOLI entrepreneurs report being able to provide three meals a day for their families. Eighty-one percent report increased savings. Many are sending their children to school, improving their homes, and creating stability that once felt impossible. Sixty-three percent have increased their church attendance, and 61% of clients have stepped into leadership roles in their churches and communities.

Just weeks ago, I traveled deep into rural communities in Kenya along dirt roads to meet TOLI entrepreneurs. Many of these women and men possess extraordinary resilience and creativity but have limited access to opportunities and capital. Some have never traveled beyond the neighboring villages where they live.

Yet somehow, through God's provision, a small asset-based microloan reached them.

I met Lucy, whose microloan helped her expand her chicken business. (To the right of the photo below is her chicken coop before the program; to the left is what it has become through her hard work and participation in the program.) Additional chickens have created additional income, allowing her to send her son to school. She is saving to build a small shop to serve her neighbors. She is leading worship during TOLI gatherings.

Lucy, a TOLI entrepreneur in Kenya, pictured with her son and her new chicken coop. 

The concerns raised about microfinance invite an important question: what makes TOLI different?

First, TOLI loans are asset-based, not cash-based. Entrepreneurs receive the inventory, livestock, equipment, or supplies needed to start or expand a business rather than cash in hand. This helps ensure the loan creates a long-term source of income instead of being consumed by immediate needs or emergencies.

Second, TOLI loans are intentionally small. They are truly micro, averaging around $200. We are not interested in burdening entrepreneurs with debt they cannot carry. Clients grow their businesses gradually, often through a series of up to three small loans over time, allowing growth to be sustainable and manageable.

TOLI also charges a community reinvestment rate of 10–18% over 12–18 months, significantly lower than many local interest rates, which often range from 30–37% and in some cases up to 400%. Our community reinvestment rate allows repaid funds to retain their value in the face of inflation and revolve locally to sustainably support future entrepreneurs for years to come.

Third, every loan is paired with business training, Christian discipleship, and ongoing support. A loan alone rarely changes a life. Relationships do. Local TOLI Social Workers and church partners walk alongside entrepreneurs throughout the process, reflecting Christ's love through practical support, encouragement, and discipleship. 

Nemmat (pictured right), a TOLI client in Egypt who runs a bakery, pictured with Sally, her TOLI Social Worker. 

Finally, TOLI is not a bank. We partner with local ministries and churches that operate the microloan program within their communities. Repayment matters because it allows funds to revolve to the next entrepreneur, and our repayment rate exceeds 95%. But people matter more. Success is families flourishing, communities strengthening, and people discovering that they are seen by God and equipped to run a business.

Microfinance can be done poorly.

At TOLI, our mission is to restore people to lives of dignity in a way that values people and pursues holistic transformation. We are committed to listening, learning, and continually improving along the way.

We believe microfinance can be – and is being – done with humility, justice, and love.

It’s changing lives and communities.

In Christ,
Audrey Putney
Managing Director, TOLI 

Triumphal testimonies

Before and after stories

“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony..." – Revelation 12:11

One year ago, Idah lived in a small, pieced-together home in Kenya, uncertain how she would feed her family or keep her children in school. Today, she owns a thriving tea business and has built a new home for her family. She goes to work every day with dignity while her son attends school. 

TOLI is a ministry of profound “before-and-after” stories.

Around the world, 1 in 10 people live in extreme material poverty, struggling to survive. These are the people TOLI walks alongside – those facing the hardest realities of poverty and instability. 

Through local grassroots partners, TOLI Field Staff equip people living in poverty with the practical skills needed to run a business. With small microloans of just $200–$300, clients launch or grow businesses that provide lasting income for their families. With repayment rates exceeding 95%, these entrepreneurs build towards a more stable future while being reminded they are capable, valued, and deeply loved by God. Step by step, clients work and walk with a renewed sense of dignity and hope.

Here are just a few testimonies from TOLI clients:

• “Before, I couldn’t send my children to school. Now, I have the opportunity to send my grandchildren to school.”

• “Before, I didn’t know a woman could work. Now, I own my own business.”

• “Before, my store was small, and I barely had enough to get by. Now, I visit the wholesaler twice a week to keep up with demand.”

• “Before, I thought I was alone. Now, I belong to a church community with people praying for me and standing beside me."

• “Before, I didn’t believe in God. Now, He is my Lord and Savior.”

These are the kinds of transformations happening right now among more than 4,000 current TOLI clients across Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda. Each has a story. 

Thanks to generous donors, every gift given through June 11th will be doubled up to $40,000 – helping reach even more families while sustaining the life-changing work God is already doing through TOLI. Will you give today while your gift is doubled – and help write a “before-and-after” story of hope and dignity?

With gratitude and joy,
Audrey Putney, Managing Director 

P.S. One time gifts over the next 30 days and new monthly gifts through the end of the year will be matched. It’s a gift that multiplies.

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June 2026 update:

Together, we’ve reached (and exceeded!) our $40,000 match goal! Your generous giving has transformed the lives of entrepreneurs around the world. Because of your support, women like Genet (pictured below) have stocked their stores, grown their businesses, and are being discipled in the love of Christ. Thank you!

2025 Impact Report

A year of together. With grateful hearts, we are please to share with you TOLI’s 2025 Impact Report.

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 12:12

One year ago, we prayed for this

This is what the Lord has done.

“Some people taking loans are living in [metal] sheets as homes. And you wonder, ‘How are they there with their children?’ So I am praying, as we give them loans and try to bring transformation, we look back and say, ‘This is what the Lord has done spiritually, socially, and economically.’” 
– Pastor Stephen Barasa, Partner Ministry Leader of Deliverance Church Kiteezi

Last April, in the first monthly meeting with Deliverance Church Kiteezi in Uganda, the team prayed the TOLI program would bring holistic transformation to people living in extreme poverty – that the church would relentlessly seek the welfare of its neighbors and witness lives transformed in Jesus’ name.

One year later, looking back with gratitude, we can say:

This is what the Lord has done.

Today, there are 63 TOLI clients in Uganda, supported by two TOLI Social Workers and a dedicated committee of pastors and volunteers. Through the program, single mothers are sending their children to school, families are replacing leaking roofs with proper sheeting, widows are gaining tools for their farms to flourish, and more people are becoming part of the local church.

It hasn’t been without hardship. There have been challenging health complications, business displacement, and unexpected loss. But through it all, God has used His people – and three simple tools – to transform lives. 

1. Business Training

“I’m 30 years old, and I’ve never had training before. I’m so grateful. I’ll be at the training all three days!”
— Josephine, grocery store owner, Uganda

Pictured: Josephine (middle, red scarf) attending TOLI's Business Basics Course in October 2025. 

Entrepreneurs like Josephine are incredibly capable; they often just lack access to the training needed to grow and sustain a business. That’s why, before receiving a microloan, every client completes TOLI’s Business Basics Course – a 12-lesson program covering marketing, pricing, dreaming big, and ethics.

This, too, is part of what the Lord has done. He’s opening doors for learning, dreaming, and possibility.

2. Microloans

After completing business training, TOLI clients apply for a microloan (average $200) and, once approved, receives them in the form of an asset or good needed to run a business. Over the next 12–18 months, they repay the loan – allowing those same resources to be ‘recycled’ to another entrepreneur in the same community.

Through small but powerful loans, lives are changing:

• For Josephine (pictured above), a loan meant strengthening her grocery store. With increased inventory came more customers, greater income, and a growing ability to provide for her family.

• For Sylvia Nakalyango, it meant building a home of brick instead of piecing together shelter from metal sheets.

• For Sylvia Nabagala, it sparked new confidence. Someone believed in her, trusted her, and affirmed that she is capable of running a business.

• For Moses (pictured below), it has meant restored dignity in his work.

Pictured: Moses used his microloan to build a raised surface for drying his coffee beans, improving their quality.

3. Christian Discipleship

And throughout it all, TOLI Social Workers and Partner Ministry leaders keep their eyes fixed on Jesus. Christ is at the center of the work. As TOLI Social Workers collect loan repayments, they also speak truth – reminding each person of their identity in Christ. 

This year, 11 clients received their first Bible, and five have become new members of Deliverance Church Kiteezi. 

WATCH this video and join us in praising God for all He has done in Uganda this past year.

Join the work in Uganda.
Help fund more microloans and more transformation in year two of the program.

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New address: TOLI has a PO Box!

Yes – we’ve moved the TOLI office (just across the street!) and now have a P.O. Box. Please update our address in your records. Thank you!

Mail donations to: 
TOLI
PO Box 25311
Colorado Springs, CO 80936

TOLI turns 20

Celebrating 20 years

2026 marks TOLI’s 20th year of ministry.

Twenty years ago, Eddie and Monna Yassa helped distribute the very first TOLI microloan in El Kom El Akhdar, Egypt, to a man named Eid (pictured below). And since then, TOLI has grown into something none of us could have imagined.

Today, TOLI has distributed more than 15,500 revolving microloans, helping break cycles of poverty and restore human dignity for families around the world.

It hasn’t always been easy. There have been setbacks and stretching seasons. But through it all, God has shown us grace upon grace. Today, TOLI partners with four key local ministry partners, operating in 32 sites across four countries.

Join us to look at each country over the last 20 years and celebrate what God has done.

Egypt, then: Eid was TOLI’s very first client to receive a TOLI microloan in Egypt in 2006. 

Egypt, now: Over 7,000 men and women in Egypt have received microloans. Through the program, they’ve built businesses, provided for their families, and encountered the love of Christ along the way.

Pictured: A TOLI worship gathering. Each person is a TOLI entrepreneur. 

Kenya, then: In 2018, a US team visited Kenya and met the very first Kenyan TOLI Social Worker, Bonface, full of faith and expectancy for the future.  

Kenya, now: Today, 12 TOLI Social Workers serve in Kenya. Bonface is the Regional Coordinator faithfully overseeing the program through our local partner, Kenya Connection Kids.

Pictured: The TOLI and KCK team at a waterfall in Kenya. 

Ethiopia, then: In 2019, TOLI-US board members visited Ethiopia to help train Life Center Ethiopia’s staff on their first Business Basics Course.

Ethiopia, now: As Hailu, TOLI’s Program Director, loves to say, “Our program is all grown up!” In 2025 alone, Life Center Ethiopia taught the Business Basics Course to 313 people. 

Pictured: A group photo of recent graduates in Ethiopia. They're holding graduation certificates and Bibles from Life Center. 

Uganda, then: In 2022, at a leadership conference in Kenya, the Lord divinely introduced TOLI to our newest partner in Uganda: Deliverance Church Kiteezi. 

Pictured: A time of fellowship at the 2022 Regional Conference in Kenya. 

Uganda, now: Our partnership in Uganda is almost one year old. Florence is one of 41 clients who has received training and a microloan to expand her business. Her life has changed — in Jesus’s name.

Pictured: Florence outside her shop in Uganda where she sells and prepares chickens. 

Across Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda, the Lord has grown small beginnings into 20 years of stories and transformation. 

And we’re just getting started. 

To see more of these stories in pictures, click on the gallery below. 

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Stepping into a new season

TOLI-US is stepping into a new leadership season. We’re grateful and expectant for what’s ahead. Click below to read the full announcement from our Board of Directors.

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2025 donation statements

We recently transitioned to a new system and experienced a few technical difficulties during the process. If you did not receive your 2025 donation statement or need us to resend it, please email us. We’re happy to help.

A leap of faith

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”
 – Habakkuk 3:17-19

"I love to sing songs of joy to the Lord.”

Just a few short months ago, I was sitting with a woman named Rahma in a remote village along the Nile in Egypt. She welcomed our team of eight to her small home, inviting us to sit together in her dimly lit living room. As we gathered in a circle, Rahma shared the weight she has carried through life – raising two children on just $10 a week. 

With deep humility, she told us how things began to change when she heard about the TOLI program, enrolled in the Business Basics Course, and applied for a microloan.

She took a leap of faith.

Rahma in her shop in Egypt.

With a $300 loan, Rahma expanded her neighborhood supermarket. As she spoke, she pointed out the products lining the shelves and the snacks that sell best. She showed us the freezer she purchased to store goods overnight. Then she shared her dream to grow the business so that one day she could add a second bathroom to her home. They all share one now. 

As Rahma spoke, both about the joys and the hardships of life, she radiated a supernatural peace.

Then she said something that stopped me in my tracks:

“Praise God for providing and always watching over us. Please pray that I can enlarge my business. But I’m happy. I am surviving. I have what I need. I am good. No matter what I have, Jesus has suffered so much. How can I complain about my circumstances?"

Pastor Khaled praying with Rahma in her home.

I want faith like that.

Faith that trusts God in every circumstance. Faith that clings to the God who knows what it’s like to be human and to live in need, who provides daily, and who holds tomorrow in His hands.

She went on to tell us, “I went to the Christian discipleship conference last year and worshiped God so much there. I love to sing songs of joy to the Lord.”

This is why TOLI exists. Yes, our goal is to help end material poverty and equip people with tools to provide for themselves and their families. But just as importantly, we long for more people to know the Lord. We want more people to sing songs of joy to God.

And in places like Rahma’s living room, dimly lit, humble, and holy, I am reminded that God is doing just that – He is near, He sees, and He is faithfully at work in all of us.

With gratitude and joy, 

Audrey Putney
Communications and Operations Manager
TOLI

Interested in learning more? Watch this video of how TOLI integrates Christ-centered principles with poverty alleviation tools.

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Thank you for your generositY!

Because of the generosity and faithfulness of supporters like you, we raised over $250,000 in year-end giving – enough to provide over 600 revolving microloans to women like Rahma around the world. THANK YOU. 

Help hope take root

“He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire; He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing…” — Psalm 40:2–3

Dear Friends,

When Jackson first joined the TOLI program in Kenya last year, he said something that still breaks my heart: “I’m at rock bottom.”

Jackson was trying to provide for his wife and children on just $20 a month. School fees felt overwhelming. Food was uncertain. He couldn’t grow a business and didn’t have any money to save.

But when our TOLI Field Staff heard Jackson say this, they reminded him of the truth: Jackson, you have everything God already placed inside you – creativity, dignity, and capacity – to look up from rock bottom and build a different future. 

So Jackson enrolled in TOLI’s Business Basics Course, where he learned how to dream again. He studied customer service, saving, planning, and how to press through obstacles with courage. Then, with a $300 microloan, Jackson replanted his farm in Kenya with cabbages and kale. 

"Through TOLI, I learned to trust God. God helps us move forward. When we pray, we are encouraged in everything we do. God so embraces us." – Jackson, farmer, KENYA

Today, everything about Jackson’s life has changed. Because of the TOLI program – and because of the faithfulness of people like you – Jackson now runs a thriving farm. 

• He earns over $400 a month (that’s a 1,900% increase!).

• He provides for his wife and children with joy.

• He reinvests in his community by teaching young people lessons from TOLI’s Business Basics Course – so, as he says, “they stay out of crime and learn to do good.”

• And most importantly, Jackson trusts God.

Jackson’s story is remarkable – and it mirrors the lives of the 6,000 current TOLI clients in Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda. They each have stories of redemption that point to God’s great story: a story of a Father calling His children to look and see Him. 

TOLI’s goal is to raise $200,000 by December 31st. Will you give a year-end gift to help more families – and their communities – step out of poverty and into hope?

With faithfulness and joy, 

Don Paterson, Executive Director, & the TOLI Team

P.S. Your year-end gift helps more than one family – it multiplies. With a 98% repayment rate, each microloan is recycled to another entrepreneur, giving new life, dignity, and hope again and again. Thank you for helping lift families out of material poverty and onto solid ground.

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Giving thanks — and multiplying impact

2025 HIGHLIGHTS

• Granted 2,500+ new microloans – bringing our total loans in TOLI’s history to 14,000+

• Equipped 3,000+ with small business training

• Added 6 new Sites: Egypt (3), Ethiopia (2), Uganda (1)

• Welcomed a new partner in Uganda

• Grew global staff to 73

• Successfully piloted a TOLI Chaplain in Egypt

2026 MINISTRY GOALS

• Grant 3,000+ new microloans

• Equip 4,000 people with small business training

• Strengthen TOLI’s impact measurement and sustainability tools

• Strengthen Gospel-centered discipleship so families continue to receive holistic support

• Connect with more individuals and churches around the globe to increase TOLI’s reach

• Grow global staff to 80

7 things we're thankful for

Hope lives here.

TOLI works in tough places – places where obstacles seem too high and where safety nets don’t exist. And yet somehow, hope still lives. We give thanks to the God of hope who speaks and sustains and saves.

In 2025, God blessed TOLI’s ministry in too many ways to count – but here are the top seven:

1. NEW LIFE IN CHRIST.
New businesses are powerful, but new life in Christ is priceless. We give glory to God for the many clients and family members who began following Jesus for the first time this year.

2. TOLI’S NEW PARTNER.
We give thanks for our new partnership in Uganda. Deliverance Church Kiteezi is moving in step with the Holy Spirit and lives are being transformed in Jesus’s name. God is opening doors in new places with new families and indiviudals – like Sylvia, the very first client here to pay off her microloan. We praise God for every person who said “yes” along the way to make her transformation possible.

3. PRAYER.
From monthly gatherings in Ethiopia, to revivals in Egypt, to TOLI Tuesday in the U.S. – prayer roots this ministry in God’s sustaining hands.

4. REAL IMPACT.
It is astounding how a single $300 microloan can transform every part of a client’s life. Families are fed. Medical fees are covered. Children go to school. Parents provide for their households with dignity. And from that foundation, clients radiate an assurance and joy that grows and multiplies.

5. MILESTONES.
TOLI has issued over 14,000 loans, and over 6,000 clients are currently in the program. Our Partners’ faithful service in Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Uganda is truly transforming communities.

6. TOLI FIELD STAFF.
TOLI Field Staff pour out their hearts for the sake of the Gospel. They serve wholeheartedly and walk closely with the families they support. They stand united in prayer – lifting up clients’ burdens while trusting God in their own lives.

7. AND DONORS.
Your humility and generosity truly take our breath away. We cannot wait for the day when we stand together in heaven – donors, TOLI Field Staff, and entrepreneurs side by side – worshipping the Lord, like this:

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.’” — Revelation 7:9–12

God has done far more than we could ask or imagine. Hope still lives – and we’re so grateful. THANK YOU.

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Interested in seeing the TOLI program first-hand?
Check out the 2026 Trip Schedule and get in contact with us! 

The answers are in!

GOOD NEWS from TOLI Entrepreneurs

The words clients share with us show the impact of the TOLI program on real lives, on real families, in real time. We thought you’d enjoy hearing some of the most common questions about TOLI — answered by TOLI clients themselves.

Why microloans?

Because we believe there is no hope in a handout. The key to breaking the cycle of material poverty isn’t charity — it’s dignified work. That’s why TOLI’s model is centered around the God given capacity of every person – and why we walk alongside people not ahead of them. Through small loans, training, and ongoing support, we equip men and women to overcome the challenges in their own lives.

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Who does TOLI serve?

TOLI’s mission is to serve people experiencing extreme material poverty. Working hand-in-hand with local ministries, each TOLI Partner defines specific criteria to identify those most in need of a microloan in their area — men and women who have the determination to work but lack the opportunity. 

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Does such a small amount really change a life?

TOLI microloans average around $222 USD — enough to invest in the tools, inventory, or resources to launch their own small business. These small loans are an investment in the dreams, creative capacity, and God-given abilities of each person to build a future for themselves and their families.

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Is a microloan really enough?

No, we really don't think so. That's why our investment in entrepreneurs is not just financial capital. Behind every microloan is a TOLI Social Worker providing business training, support, and Christ-centered discipleship for the life of the loan term — and often beyond. While a microloan is an effective tool, it's just a start.

We believe a microloan program is only transformative in the context of relationships. And that curing poverty is not simply a financial problem to solve. Truly curing poverty must come through the healing of individuals’ relationships with themselves, others, creation — and ultimately their relationship with God.

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Does TOLI only grant microloans to people who are Christians?

TOLI offers loans to all people — regardless of faith. In fact, we love giving loans to those who don’t yet know Jesus, because through the loan they can experience the practical love of Christ. Jesus cares deeply about our physical needs — what we eat, what we drink, and what we wear — and microloans show His love in tangible ways.

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What happens when a microloan is repaid?

TOLI loans are revolving and stay local. When the loan is repaid by a recipient, it's then 'recycled' into another loan, for another project in the very same community. This local focus is one of the reasons behind our clients' high repayment success rate of 98% (over three years) and central to our commitment to sustainability. Over time, a revolving TOLI loan fund can replenish itself, no longer needing outside capital to continue to serve a community.

Interested in understanding the TOLI program even more? Take a look at our program model below.

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We’re back! Thank you for praying.

After a busy month, three visiting teams traveled to Egypt and witnessed the TOLI program in action. Thank you for meeting with clients, praying alongside them, and seeing firsthand the real impact happening on the ground. 

There's no ceiling for dreams

How one father’s faith changed a whole family – and their future

What would you do with extra income in hand?
Would you put more food on the table? Light your home with electricity? Set aside savings for emergencies? Fulfill a dream? 

For many TOLI entrepreneurs, the answer is simple: the very first thing they do is pay school fees so their children can go to school.

In Kenya, Obed – a father of eight – long dreamed for children to finish school and attend university. But earning just $2 a day, it was impossible. Until he received a $300 TOLI microloan and started a small dairy farm behind his house. For the first time, he began to imagine a different future. 

“My dream is to have a lot of cows. For the first time with TOLI, I was able to have one cow and then increased it to two. In two or three more years, I will have so many cows and be able to send all eight of my kids all the way through university.”
– Obed, dairy farmer, Kenya

Today, because of Obed’s hard work and big dreams, his oldest son Kevin is excelling in school. Kevin earned the highest marks on his national exam – opening the door to study at any school in Kenya and pursue his own dream of becoming an architect.

TOLI’s ultimate aim is to not just help people achieve their own dreams for themselves or their families, but to point to the truth that God has dreams for each one of us. 

The Bible says, “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” – 1 Corinthians 2:9

That means God has dreams for Obed – bigger than a dairy farm, bigger than income, even bigger than the ability to educate this family. We can’t imagine the dreams God has in store for him. 

Obed is deeply grateful, and in his own words, he “loves TOLI very much.” Through this program, he has broken the cycle of poverty for his family by building a business with dignity. 

And it all started with a $300 microloan, a few cows producing milk behind a house, and a good God who made the impossible possible.

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A BITTERSWEET ANNOUNCEMENT

After three years as TOLI’s Associate of Donor Care and Events, Amy Cullins — known to so many of you through her calls, cards, and encouraging prayers — is closing her time at TOLI. Her wisdom, creativity, love for people, dedication to joy, strength, and all-in heart for TOLI's mission has built up every aspect of this ministry. We send her into the next season with our prayers and gratitude for her role in the TOLI family… now and as a continued prayer warrior. THANK YOU, AMY!
(And if you would like to say thanks or share an encouragement or prayer with Amy, click here to send her a quick note!)

A MESSAGE FROM AMY: 

Hello All,

I wanted you to know that I will be stepping down as TOLI’s donor care and event associate. It was a hard decision, and one I prayed about for a long time, but I think it is good timing for both me and TOLI – and God’s timing is always perfect. My family is at a point where I need a little more margin at home. TOLI is exploding (praise the Lord) and needs someone who has margin to give more. 

Reflecting on my time at TOLI is really just recounting the blessings the Lord has bestowed on me through TOLI the last three years. I came with open hands and an excited heart to see how God was going to grow me here. Word of the Lord’s goodness to the organization had spread, and I knew this was a place to work to see God at work. He did not disappoint. 

I have seen TOLI-US staff pour their hearts into the work the Lord has called them to do with kindness and humility. Audrey, you were my constant, and the Lord has given you so many gifts, and it was a gift to work with you as you poured them back out to the Lord. Thank you for always being right there with me. It has simply been a joy and a pleasure to serve with the TOLI team and board past and present.

I have watched our donors give generously out of the overflow of their hearts, so that our clients can carve a better path for their families and be introduced to our Savior in a loving and tangible way. It has been a blessing to have a front row seat to see the ways God provides.

I have seen our partners excited to use the TOLI program in their community, spearheading hope and change to those around them. They are the bridge that makes it possible for us to reach these communities in an effective way, and the key to the “for local by local” model. 

I have seen TOLI Social Workers, first hand, be the hands and feet of Jesus. Sacrificing daily for the well being of others. I have never met another group of people who exude this type of joy and care for others. This group is truly special, and the heartbeat of TOLI. They have taught me so much.

And then there are our clients who I have seen flourish. Seeing the pride and hope in their eyes as they tell you about their business, and how God is working in their lives is the why to everything else. There is nothing else like it.

All of these parts and memories, people and moments are seared into my heart forever, and I can honestly say I will never be the same.

As for Eddie and Monna, thank you for being obedient to what the Lord was calling you to do almost 20 years ago! I have watched you give of yourselves over and over, and be faithful to the Lord. Your hearts are as big as Africa, and it has been an honor to serve with you. I am so thankful I was able to be a small part of the TOLI family. (You are stuck with me now:)) I am so excited to see how God works the next 20 years, because we trust and serve Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. To Him be all glory and honor and praise forevermore. Amen!

With a full heart,
Amy Cullins