Email: Nancy Mather

Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil,” she answered. Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few… Pour oil into all the jars… sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left."
- 2 Kings 4: 3-7

Dear Friends,

In the last month of my work with Church World Service East Africa (CWSEA), I helped evaluate programs in Kenya and Uganda called “Improved Livelihoods.” The stories the participants shared about their experience in the program reminded me of the miracle of the widow and her oil (2 Kings 4:1-7). After her husband’s death, the widow was left with her two sons and her husband’s debt. When the prophet Elisha asked her what resources she had to pay the debt, she responded, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” The woman did not realize that the little she had (the oil), plus her own abilities, and the involvement of “the man of God,” was enough to meet her needs.

In order to pay her debt, the woman’s own skills were required; she made and sold a product. Her community was also involved; they shared their support by giving empty jars. God blessed their efforts, and the oil multiplied to fill all of the jars.

In a similar way, the people involved in the Improved Livelihoods program use their own skills, the support of their neighbors, and a small gift from the church community in the United States to transform their situations. Community members form groups within their neighborhoods for support and accountability. The participants then take inventory of their own skills and are trained in starting a small business. Next a small loan, perhaps as little as $25.00, is given as seed money to start a business. Once the initial loan is repaid, a larger loan can be given (often about $100). The businesses grow slowly and steadily, and self-esteem grows in leaps and bounds. As the small amount of money multiplies, the individual, the household, and the community feel the impact.

When visiting Improved Livelihoods groups, I marveled at the stories of financial, emotional, individual, and communal growth. The “Kamuthi Marathon” group started an Improved Livelihoods savings and loans program in 2005. CWSEA provided the funds and OAIC (Organization of African Instituted Churches) trained the group and walked with them through the process of selecting, starting, and managing their own businesses. The group included men and women, and they worked together to create a great sense of unity and love within their group.

During our visit, the members explained, “We do not know how we would have survived the effects of the post-election violence in Kenya, if it were not for the support of our group.”

As the group members began making a profit with their entrepreneurial projects, they started a small school for the orphans in their community who are unable to pay school fees. The group pays for uniforms and food for the children, and one of the group members serves as a volunteer teacher.

One of the women from the group is skilled in hair dressing. Before receiving a small loan from the program, she worked casually doing hair when she could find a client. After receiving the loan, she was able to rent a room in the market for a salon. She now employs two hairdressers in her salon, and she is training three other girls in hairdressing. The members of the Kamuthi group are incredibly motivated to use what they have received and worked hard to grow for the benefit of their community.

The miracle captured in 2 Kings 4 depicts God multiplying something small, which when added to individual and community effort provided sufficiently for a family. The miracle I witnessed with the Kamuthi group has a similar storyline, yet it has a more communal impact. It was a miracle of a small gift, multiplied by hard work, for the benefit of many. The members’ care for each other and for their surrounding community was beautiful and inspiring.

Miracles continue to take place in our modern context in many different forms. The lesson I learned from the Kamuthi group is that our impact can be great if we:

• use and develop our individual skills
• combine them with the skills and resources of others
• share our lives, skills, and the overflow of our work with our community, locally and globally.
  

And as lives are transformed, as families are able to provide for their own needs and reach out to their neighbors, God is glorified. Amen