Fighting for a better future. Together.

Instead of shutting down, TOLI groups around the world are training up

The pandemic may have shut down economic growth in TOLI communitites, but it hasn't shut down the desire to learn, change, and dream of a better future. 

Proof? When we proposed offering our business training course this fall in the Kiandutu slum in Kenya, nearly 100 people signed up, ready to learn entrepreneurship and small business skills.

However, it was a challenge to find a space large enough to meet safely. After plans for two different meeting rooms fell through, these hopeful students took matters into their own hands: They found some iron sheets and wood poles and, in a nearby empty lot, built a training space with their own hands.

Since then, this ‘classroom’ (pictured above) has hosted more than 80 students, who've all successfully completed TOLI’s Business Basics Course. Their next step? Microloans and new businesses that will help them provide for their families and community.

IN PICTURES: TOLI students get equipped for a new future

TOLI groups around the world have capitalized on this season to train up current and future emerging business owners. Go on a PHOTO TOUR of small business training happening now at TOLI sites around the world:

Kiandutu slum // KENYA

SEPTEMBER: Business training class in the space they built on their own.

Kiandutu slum // KENYA

SEPTEMBER: Business training class in the space they built on their own.

Kiandutu slum // KENYA

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER: More than 80 completed the TOLI’s Business Basics Course in Kiandutu.

Towah // EGYPT

OCTOBER: A new Business Basics Course graduate

Towah // EGYPT

OCTOBER: The most recent class of Business training graduates in Egypt.

Addis Ababa // ETHIOPIA

OCTOBER: Proud new graduate celebrates her accomplishment.

Addis Ababa // ETHIOPIA

OCTOBER: The TOLI Business Basics Course is now in Amharic.

Addis Ababa // ETHIOPIA

OCTOBER: A class of widows completed the course this fall in Addis Ababa.

Puerto Cabezas // NICARAGUA

October: Business training class kicks off in Nicaragua.

Chuka // KENYA

OCTOBER: Not your typical class; a warm up exercise gets everyone involved and laughing.

Chuka // KENYA

September: A training group meets in a banana grove.

Chuka // KENYA

SEPTEMBER: Training starts with worship for this women’s savings group.

MORE THAN A BUSINESS COURSE

In the last two months, groups in Egypt, Kenya, Nicaragua, and Ethiopia have taken advantage of TOLI’s Business Basics Course (BBC). Our curriculum was revised and customized this year, and translated into 3 languages (Arabic, Spanish, and Amharic). This unique small-group experience was created specifically for non-literate or low-literacy learners, and is contextualized for local culture. It weaves together:

> Worship and Biblical foundations
> Explorations of identity, worth, capacity, and creativity
> Basic business topics like marketing, savings, budgeting, and customer care
> Confidence-building, goal-setting, and leadership development
> Team building and group bonding

Equipped with this powerful training — training that transforms both the mind and heart — these students are now ready to apply for a TOLI microloan to help build their own small business.

As economies recover from COVID and families look for ways to thrive, this training is more valuable than ever. Thank you for helping us deliver it to the people and places it’s needed most.

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Join us Tuesday — live from Kenya

Join us Tuesday at noon (MST), and you’ll meet Humphrey Kanga, founder and CEO of TOLI partner KCK Ministries in Kenya. He’ll share the latest updates on our microloan program there and specific ways we can be praying. To join us, email Liza Cunningham to receive your Zoom link.

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Got Pie. Gave Hope. …THANK YOU!

This year’s Get Pie Give Hope event blew us away. The COVID-friendly “pie-through” in October raised more than $10,000 to support TOLI. You bought every last piece of 51 incredibly delicious Gold Star pies (that’s 357 slices, if you're counting), and turned them into more than 37 microloans for poor entrepreneurs through your donations.

A BIG thank you to Heather Briggs of Gold Star Pies, who baked and donated all the pies, as well as the grand prize Gold Star Pie Truck Party. And thanks to our awesome volunteers and everyone who came out to support TOLI and savor sweet pie together.

Gold Star Pies' Heather Briggs and TOLI Executive Director, Abigail McConnell, at last month's Get Pie Give Hope event.

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A recipe for blessing

Baker and pie truck owner delivers hope through TOLI

Gold Star Pies' Heather Briggs, with TOLI client and fellow pie baker, Marcia, last year.

How does a pie baker in Colorado get involved in a global poverty ministry like TOLI? It’s a more natural connection than you might think. 

When Heather Briggs, owner of Gold Star Pies in Colorado Springs, first learned about TOLI’s model of providing microloans, training, and spiritual support to needy entrepreneurs in poor communities, it struck a chord deep in her entrepreneurial heart. So she decided to travel on a TOLI trip to Nicaragua in 2019 to learn more. Then it got personal.

"When I was on the site visit, I got to meet Marcia (pictured), a mother and pie maker in her community," Heather says. "She received a TOLI loan to purchase equipment and initial grocery inventory for a pie business. She brought pineapple and lemon pies for us to sample, and I could taste the love and devotion that went into making them. Our connection as small business bakers was sweet, and I was reminded of the goodness TOLI offers to so many creative, hard-working entrepreneurs." 

Heather joined TOLI's board later that year. Her business experience, heart for people, and creativity have already made TOLI a better ministry. And the generous way she shares goodness through the pie truck has helped introduce scores of new people to our mission. 

"I love the people aspect of TOLI," Heather says. "It's people loving people, and coming alongside to inspire, build up, train, and problem solve. It's so much more than a lending program."

On October 13, Gold Star Pies will again host "Get Pie. Give Hope." For the third year in a row, Heather will make and donate pie to benefit TOLI. Attendees will “name the price for their slice,” knowing every dollar goes toward providing poor entrepreneurs with microloans. The really fun part? The highest payer is treated to a private Gold Star Pie Truck party hosted by Heather herself. 

TOLI is so much more than a lending program. And in the same way, TOLI supporters are so much more than donors. To us and to our clients, supporters like Heather are friends, cheerleaders, teachers, learners, mentors, pray-ers ... family.

And through them, God has made our world a bit smaller, and a lot better. 

Marcia is a TOLI client, pie baker, and mother of five.

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Live updates and prayer

Join TOLI staff, supporters, and partners at 12pm MT on October 13 for our monthly sharing and prayer time.

This month, you’ll meet Lucy Njeri, TOLI Social Worker in Kenya. Lucy will share latest updates from her region, including our new business training program she is providing to scores of budding entrepreneurs in the slum of Kiandutu, north of Nairobi. 

To join us, email Liza to receive your Zoom link or click the button below to JOIN THE PRAYER TEAM.

Teamwork. TOLI-style.

How TOLI clients are joining forces to kickstart local economies

This year has thrown us all a curveball. But TOLI clients in Nicaragua are rising to the challenge—together. 

Last month our partners in Puerto Cabezas called a 'family meeting' to rally TOLI clients and brainstorm how to get back to work, even though COVID had crippled the economy in this small coastal town. While their businesses stayed shut, they knew they had to think creatively to get business moving again. But how?

Teamwork. 

Local TOLI leaders and clients crafted a plan: Form neighborhood-based small groups to work together on simple, short-term microenterprises.

Using seed money from our COVID-19 Relief Fund, each team of 10 plans a four-week business project. Initial profit goes to repaying the seed money and expenses; subsequent profit gets split between group members. 

The first of these 'Entrepreneurship Teams' set up a weekend soup sale in town, using a $150 loan from TOLI for supplies, then selling tickets to ensure a customer base. Early results are promising, proving the concept as well as turning a modest profit. The second sale is scheduled for this weekend. 

But the payoff is so much more than profit. These teams will be a permanent feature of the TOLI program here, providing safe communities of social support, bible study, discipleship, leadership development, and business training long after the group business projects are over. 

Getting people organized and mobilized in this context is a challenge, our social worker Gordon 'Junior' Mitchell tells us. But it's worth it.

"It's actually really tiring," he says, "but it’s a blessing, because ... you’re educating people about business, you’re educating them about leadership, you're teaching them how to be part of a team." 

Six teams are now in development, and business project ideas range from selling fast food to kitchenwares. Each group has a chosen leader, and members divide duties according to their abilities and interests.

At a time when many feel isolated and powerless, we're inspired by how the TOLI family in Nicaragua is joining forces and recognizing the rich assets God has given them: each other. 

"Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master." — MATTHEW 25: 23
 

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Courage to restart

How TOLI clients are now bravely investing, adapting — and getting back to work

Even in normal times, being an entrepreneur means taking risks. These days though, it takes an extra dose of courage. As life inches back to normal — or adapts to a new normal — TOLI is beginning to grant new microloans again to clients who are ready. In communities where restrictions are now lifting, our local partners are helping clients bravely kickstart new businesses and rebuild existing ones. In fact, 27 new microloans have been granted in the past few weeks in Egypt and in Central Kenya. 

Meet four courageous entrepreneurs in central Kenya, who are boldly investing in their dreams: 

MAGDALENE // Cosmetics Shop. Magdalene is a brand new TOLI client, launching a cosmetics shop in her community. Her loan of $300 will allow her to stock her shop with the inventory and supplies needed to build her business.

LENA // Veterinary Services. Last fall we shared how Lena launched a veterinary services business with a $300 microloan. Since then, she's continued to build her business, even through the worst of the pandemic restrictions, and paid off her loan successfully. This month she received a secondary $300 loan to increase her inventory and earnings.

HUNTINGFORD // Banana Farmer. Huntingford just took his first TOLI microloan to purchase water storage tanks to help irrigate his banana crops. With reliable irrigation, he will now be able to increase crop yields and provide steady income for his family.

JANE // Wholesale Shop. Jane just received a second microloan to grow her wholesale shop's inventory, expanding the products available in her village.

Each of these clients is equipped with small business training and the coaching of a TOLI social worker. As they earn income and pay back the loan (most are less than $300), those funds are 'recycled,' providing another loan to a family in the very same community. And our local partners walk with them every step of the way, while bearing witness to the lasting hope that only Jesus Christ provides. 

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"Those that will trust upon the Lord, despite the challenge, they are still going to achieve their dreams." — NICHOLAS, TOLI SOCIAL WORKER, KENYA

So how are these clients prepared to face the challenges ahead? Through training, determination — and faith, says Nicholas Kirunja, a TOLI Social Worker in Kenya. 

"Those that live in fear and doubt are not willing to start or even expand their businesses," Nicholas tells us. "But those that will trust upon the Lord, despite the challenge, they are still going to achieve their dreams. So long as they adhere to all the precautionary measures, God is going to give them victory."  

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In August, we expect at least 40 new microloans to be granted in locations where it's safe to do so. Now is a great time to invest in our courageous clients, as they start or rebuild a small business to provide for their families. 

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We're looking for Monthly Investors

Every new monthly donor in August gets a little thank you from us

Did you know that for as little as $25 a month, you can help provide a life-changing microloan every single year? These "Monthly Investors" fuel TOLI's ministry in a powerful, sustainable, and budget-friendly way. 

Right now, we're looking for 10 new Monthly Investors to join this core team of support. And if you sign up in August, we'll even send you an awesome TOLI WATER BOTTLE as our way of saying thanks. Will you join the team? Click the button below, or contact Erin Eilmes for assistance. 

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"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." — JOSHUA 1:9

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The most powerful thing we give away

Giving Bibles, growing hope

"The seed is the word of God." — LUKE 8:11

Faith, a client in Kenya, shows her daughter her new Bible.

In late 2019, as we began to pray and plan for the coming year, we heard the Lord whispering, "2020 will be a year of spiritual harvest."

We couldn't have fathomed what was ahead: a global pandemic would paralyze the world, shut down every economy we work in, and force us to shift our program dramatically. 

New microloans, trainings, and most TOLI clients' small businesses were suspended. But one thing didn't stop: our mission to reach families with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Suddenly that whisper became a loud command: "Sow the seed of God's Word." 

Turns out God was already out ahead of us. In December, a generous donor approached us wanting to give a special gift — designated for Bibles and spiritual resources. In February, a chance meeting led to a significant donation of print and audio Bibles for TOLI clients in Egypt. And then in March, the coronavirus interrupted our normal programming — but opened doors for deeper client relationships, deliveries of emergency aid, and discussions about where we place our hope in crisis. 

The soil had been turned over, and the seed was ready to be planted. 

So, for the last month, planting is what we've been doing. From Egypt to Ethiopia to Kenya to Nicaragua, the seed of God's Word is being sown as Bibles are put in the hands of TOLI clients:

> Bibles in mother tongues like Arabic, Amharic, Kiswahili, Kikuyu, Meru, and Spanish.
> Solar-powered audio Bibles for those who can't read in Egypt.
> Bibles tucked into emergency food packages.
> Bibles delivered to every kind of client: new believers, house church leaders, heads of multigenerational households, single moms, business owners, farmers.

In all, more than 600 Bibles have been purchased and are being delivered right now — with more funded to provide for all future TOLI clients. Additionally, resources like study Bibles and other teaching tools are now being sourced for our local leaders so they can help disciple clients effectively. That seed, after all, must be watered.

Yes, 2020 isn't the year any of us expected. But TOLI's call remains the same —  to bring dignified, sustainable, Christ-centered transformation to those living in poverty. And there is no better tool for transformation than the transforming power of God's Word. So now we water, watch, pray, and trust God for the fruit of that spiritual harvest.   

"So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." — 1 CORINTHIANS 13: 6

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Have you seen this?

The COVID-19 RELIEF FUND continues to provide food, support, and opportunity to TOLI families and communities. Watch this moving video to see the impact of this initiative. Your support is making a profound difference. 

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A video THANK YOU

Impact of the COVID-19 Relief Fund

When the Coronavirus pandemic struck, TOLI quickly teamed up with supporters and local ministry partners to provide relief to families hit hard by economic shutdowns. Relief includes emergency food aid; work opportunities and free supplies to communities through our Face Mask Project; perishable inventory replacement; and expanded microloan funding during recovery.

More than $35,000 has been raised to sustain this project. Here’s a glimpse at the impact that this relief — and these partnerships — have had. The work continues.

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"You were God sent."

— COVID-19 Fund UPDATE —

"… I will be honest, I had rough times wondering where food will come from. Business is shut down, I didn't know where to go. But you were God sent and saved us..."

These are the words of Scholastica, a client in Kenya who received food aid last week through our COVID-19 Relief Fund, in the video above. The need and impact has overwhelmed us, and it continues. But because of your help, kids are not going hungry, clients are being sustained, and families are sharing with neighbors even needier than themselves. Scholastica continues: 

"You have saved many, because I cannot watch my neighbor sleep hungry while I have that flour or rice or beans..." 

Scholastica is multiplying the blessing that began with your generosity. You've given $34,197 for COVID-19 Relief, surpassing our original $30K goal. And here's how it's helping: 

> 260 packages of Food Aid (a 3-4 week supply of food per family) have been provided to clients in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Egypt
> Food Aid will continue and expand to include Nicaragua next month
> 4,000 face masks were produced and distributed (and 2000 more ordered) through our Face Mask Project, which is employing 16 needy TOLI clients and widows. Masks are handed out in villages by TOLI social workers as they provide critical health education.  
> Food packages will now include a Bible. Thanks to a US donor and a Bible ministry in Egypt, 625 bibles will be delivered during this crisis. (What's better? Clients began asking for bibles this month, not knowing God was already preparing this gift for them!)
> Due to lockdowns, some TOLI clients have been forced to literally eat their inventory. When things reopen, the Relief Fund will help replenish lost inventory and revive businesses.
> New microloans are slowly being granted again in Egypt, as the economy reopens. But demand is huge: In one area, there's a waitlist of 37 ready to join TOLI's program. The Relief Fund ensures we'll be able to meet this demand when conditions allow.

And that's just the beginning. To hear more details and stories of how we are at work in these hard hit communities, please join us for a special COVID-19 Report and Prayer Gathering on June 9:

The direct, tangible results above are easy to list. But what may be more powerful and lasting are the indirect, intangible ripple effects:

> Families receiving help are turning to their neighbor to share and multiply the blessing. 
> Clients are hungry for God's Word, and they're receiving it.
> Social workers are powerfully ministering in crisis.
> Clients who were at risk of giving up have recommitted to the program after experiencing TOLI's unrelenting love.
> Whole communities are paying attention to how unconditionally and effectively our Gospel-driven partners serve.

And God is getting the glory (2 Corinthians 9:12).

So we agree with Scholastica, who said to each of you in her message,

"May God bless you and remember you, just like you have remembered us."

Above, Scholastica and her young family. Her soap business just started in January, shortly after the birth of her third born. The COVID lockdown has meant all sources of income and food security ceased. The support she is getting from TOLI's COVID-19 Relief Fund has been a lifeline and source of tangible hope for her, and for her whole community. Together they are determined to thrive, bless others, and come out stronger.

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We've extended the COVID-19 RELIEF FUND as needs continue. click here for complete details.

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COVID is changing TOLI. Here's how.

— SPECIAL UPDATE —

New challenges call for new solutions. 

Everything is different right now. That's true for you, for me, and especially for TOLI clients in poor communities. 

Businesses are closed, sales have dried up, and futures are suddenly unclear. People are worried for their family's health and well-being. Thankfully, TOLI has highly effective local ministry partners who are already on the ground, serving vulnerable families in these difficult times. And together, right now, we're deploying resources in new ways to meet the unique needs of TOLI clients and their communities. Here's how: 

1. We're hiring current TOLI clients to sew FACE MASKS. This week we began hiring existing TOLI clients who are seamstresses to produce fabric face masks, providing them with much-needed income while helping communities stop the spread of coronavirus. Masks will be delivered by our local partners along with important health safety guidance.

Rose in Kenya has already begun sewing face masks to be distributed in TOLI communities. The Face Mask Project is part of TOLI's plan to help keep clients employed through this crisis while doing what we can to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

2. We're providing EMERGENCY RELIEF. We unrestricted a portion of program funds at every site to meet immediate critical needs of clients and their families who are suffering due to this crisis, including:

• providing direct food support

• deferment or forgiveness of upcoming loan payments

• replacement of perishable inventory

• assistance with medical payments for COVID-related illness

3. We're adapting CLIENT CARE. Our field staffers are checking in more frequently with clients remotely via cell phone. They're giving extra spiritual support, adaptive business coaching, and health safety education.  

4. We're CONNECTING THE TOLI FAMILY... and that includes YOU. Starting with next week's TOLI Tuesday Prayer Gathering, we will be hosting a series of virtual prayer times, info sessions, Q&As, and more. Technology gives us the opportunity to be together, while apart — what a gift!  

And finally, please know we are praying for you and your families, lifting you up to our gracious God, who loves us so much he sent his own son Jesus to die for us, to rescue us from this present darkness — and for life eternal. And that changes everything. 

With gratitude and joy, 

Abigail McConnell
Executive Director

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TOLI TUESDAY
PRAYER GATHERING on ZOOM

— SPECIAL GUEST —
TOLI Social Worker Lucy Njeri will join us live from KENYA

Tuesday April 14, 12-1pm Live Via Zoom
To join, email Megan Nilsen to receive your Zoom passcode.

Stay tuned to learn how YOU can help stand in the gap for those who need it most right now. Now more than ever, we are so grateful for your partnership.  

Follow us on social media to see how we're serving families and entrepreneurs during this crisis:

This is what loves looks like.

— From Our Executive Director —

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Just a short few weeks ago I was sitting with a woman named Jane* in a slum near Nairobi. Our team of seven squeezed into her tiny home — a one-room shelter pieced together with scraps of wood and metal. As we piled in, she told us about her new soap business, her six kids, and the many nights they used to go to sleep hungry. 

“And now,” she said, pointing to a teenager, a baby, and a toddler sitting in the dirt alley outside the doorway, “they live here with me, too.” 

The teenager, Alice*, is a single mom of the two babies. She was suicidal when Jane first met her a few weeks back. Jane pleaded with her not to go through with it, and even though she was basically a stranger, she offered to take her and her two kids into her own home instead. Alice agreed.

Ten people. One room. No plumbing. In a dangerous and desperate slum. I'm sure my jaw dropped as I listened to her. The generosity didn't quite compute.

New friends Jane* (left) and Alice* (right) and her baby.

Fast forward four weeks. So much has happened since we met Jane. Our team got out of Kenya just before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down air travel. Social-distancing is the new normal. People around the globe are ‘sheltering in place.’ Businesses worldwide — from multinational corporations to microenterprises like Jane’s — are slamming to a halt. And no one is exempt from the impact of a disease that is changing life as we know it. 

And TOLI is pivoting to meet the challenge. Our field staffers are still connecting with clients every month — now by mobile phone — to give advice on hand washing and health guidelines, to help clients think of creative ways to adapt their businesses to weather this crisis, and, most importantly, to share the love of Jesus Christ and the rescue and refuge only he can provide.

Of course we’re worried about our clients. Their lives and livelihoods were already fragile, lacking the safety nets and security we take for granted. But we also take heart that TOLI clients are in a much stronger position going into this crisis, prepared with training and support that they didn't have before. 

Jane, for example, has savings for the first time in her life. Until TOLI, “I never saved before,” she told us. Before her soap business, her only work was day labor — doing laundry or odd jobs — but it wasn't enough, and her kids would often go hungry. Now, her small business is covering her family expenses, and there is even money leftover. 

But does Jane really have ‘enough’ to share? I wouldn’t have thought so when I first met her — not enough room, or money, or food. But she shared anyway, and it saved a life — probably three. 

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“In a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.”

— 2 CORINTHIANS 8: 3-4

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How will this all turn out for Jane, and for Alice, and their kids? We don’t know. On the face of it, the odds may seem stacked against them. But the odds can’t compute the game-changing power of generosity or courage or creativity — or God’s intervention. 

That’s as true for Jane and Alice as it is for all of us right now. 

Before we left her home that day, Jane asked us to pray for her. Her request? “Please pray for my ability to love with Christ’s love,” she said. “and for protection from diseases.” 

That’s our prayer, too, Jane. That’s our prayer, too.

Abigail McConnell
Executive Director

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There’s never been a more important time to share your support with TOLI. We know that your resources during this time are precious and we don’t take it for granted. Please prayerfully consider sharing so that TOLI can continue to minister to those who are most vulnerable. 

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Jane opened her home to us last month to show us her new business inventory, tell us her story, and pray.

*Names have been changed for privacy. 

Our 2019 Annual Report

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory…”
— Ephesians 3:20

We are pleased to release TOLI’s 2019 Annual Report. Thank you for being part of what God is doing through our ministry partners and clients all over the world.

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