Oct/Nov

Hello Friends,

I thought I would send out a quick new blog just to update on what's been happening. Since I last wrote, I've had some good experiences. For a week at the end of Oct, the guy I work with on the loan project Zukile, and I went to the cities of Pretoria and Tzaneen which are both far north in the country. The purpose of our trip was to do some research for our loan project from leading experts in the field.

We stopped first in Pretoria at the Center for Microfinance at the University there. They have been compiling research for years surrounding the type of work we are doing and they were very helpful in providing information and advising us. From there we headed further north to the beautiful province of Limpopo. We stayed with a friends parents from my church who were an amazing couple just outside the city of Tzaneen. Our reason for being in Tzaneen was to visit an organization called Small Enterprise Foundation. They are the leading small loan lender in South Africa.

This organization, working mostly with poor woman in the rural areas is overseeing 60,000 businesses that have been started. They have been doing what theyre doing for about 18 years. It was amazing to see what's happening there and what was more amazing was to see their hospitality and openness to our visit as well as sharing information with us. Rather than being protective and worrying about giving away their "secrets", they were just excited to be chatting with other people who were joining them in the fight against poverty. The trip was encouraging for us, we learned a lot, and we even had an extra day at the end of the trip to drive through a game park and see some animals.

Please pray for continued provision and guidance for Africa Jam and our projects. As well as continued closeness with the Lord for our staff and youth. Thanks!
Peace
Ryan