Unfortunately, not every year is like that. In some cases, the rains do not come at all. Other times, rain may fall throughout the entire growing season, flooding fields and causing mold to take over crops. For farming families that rely on their fields as their whole source of livelihood, these weather fluctuations can be devastating.  

“Food security is critical, and by food security I mean the availability and sustainable access to adequate food throughout the year to meet the dietary needs of the whole family,” says Davis Omanyo, World Renew’s East Africa Ministry Team leader.

Through Village Savings and Loan programs (VSL), World Renew is helping the families in these vulnerable communities become food secure so that they can meet their daily needs—and be stronger for the long term.

VSL programs enable people to save money together and then take out small loans that can be used to expand their livelihoods and meet other expenses. Savings groups—which are usually made up of 15-30 people—make weekly savings deposits into a group fund, which they manage themselves. Group member decide together who can receive loans and on what terms it must be repayed. It is a lending structure built on accountability, initiative, and unity. Because the loans are repaid at a modest interest rate back to the group, all group members receive a return on their investment.

In one community in Uganda, for example, World Renew has worked with 5,000 families to set up VSL groups. The change is visible in the community, drawing together Muslims, Christians, and people of differing beliefs and backgrounds.

One member—a young man named Juma—has a particularly powerful testimony of the transformation that has taken place in his life due to his work in a VSL group. Before joining the group, Juma struggled to get by. He couldn’t grow enough food to support himself, so he often turned to theft in order to meet his needs.

When Juma heard about a savings group being started in his community, he was eager to join but worried that the other community members would reject him because of his reputation as a thief.

When he worked up the courage to ask them, he got a surprising response.

“They said that if I stopped stealing, I could join the group. They did not chase me away!” says Juma.

Every Wednesday, Juma attended the group meetings to learn what they were doing and listen to their success stories of how they were saving and borrowing money from their savings. He learned that he had to save his own money before requesting for a loan.

Juma then went home and sold the chicken he owned so he could start saving money to join the group. By the next was able to meet the minimum requirement to become a member. He received a strict warning, however, that if he was caught stealing he would be kicked out.

“This accountability kept me going,” explains Juma. “I wanted to prove to them that I could do something different with my life. I was not going to steal any more. I prayed with them, and the pastor visited me at home and encouraged me.”

After six months of careful work and patient saving, Juma was able to take out a loan and start his own business raising chickens. He started with 10 chickens and dutifully repaid his loans on time. Today, his business is going well. He now has 200 chickens and sells 180 eggs each day.

And Juma is not stopping there. He has a dream expanding his livelihood even further.

Through World Renew and its partners, Juma has been able to embrace the personal gifts and natural resources God has given him. He sees his identity in a whole new way.

“I am respected in the community,” he says. “I am not a thief but the poultry farmers who sells eggs.”

Now Juma’s whole community is a living testimony to the powerful role that World Renew’s Village Savings and Loan groups play in creating a better future and promoting unity in Christ.

 “You have opened our eyes, and now we are working together as a community. We are all children of God working together happily and supporting each other."