There is a Luganda proverb which says: “Kamu kamu gwe muganda,” which means “One by one makes a bundle.” The idea is that a bundle, or large amount of something, is actually just a collection of one item repeatedly; this idea creates the mentality that we don’t have to accomplish BIG goals all at one time, but rather can build up one step at a time. Brick by brick; step by step.

This is the idea of Village Savings & Loans groups…that everyday, ordinary people here in Uganda (and across the developing world) can drastically improve their livelihoods and sustainability if they’ll do it one small step at a time. Village Savings & Loans groups, or VSLs, gather local community members together for the purpose of small-scale savings and loans. Because the vast majority of people in developing economies do not have access to banks, they don’t have access to savings accounts or bank loans which enable upward economic mobility. But VSLs brings those things into the community, working within relational contexts and pre-existing social structures to further a community together. This is not only a realistic approach, but it is also one that works in the culture of Uganda where relationships are at the center of life. It has the added benefit of being Christ-centered and Biblically-oriented, empowering each group member to be a Godly steward of what has been entrusted to him or her AND restoring human dignity by recognizing the value and giftedness of each group member.

In June 2023, the Mbale Mission Team embarked on learning more about VSLs and how we can help groups begin in communities that we work with. While we have helped to start different groups in the past, this is an area of needed growth and focus, so we were happy to have the chance to grow our experience and knowledge on the topic. We sent four team members from Mbale to Kitale, Kenya to join a small group training led by a mission team from Malawi. They underwent in-depth training on starting, training, equipping, and maintaining VSLs for three days. When they returned, we held a sensitization meeting and had over 140 church members from Eastern Uganda join the meeting. The idea is so important to people, we immediately had 40+ churches request the full training so they can begin VSL groups as soon as possible.

Our biggest challenge now is ACTUALLY training these churches. With so high a demand and churches spread throughout Eastern Uganda, we don’t yet have the man-power to train that many groups. And we are still finalizing the training materials, as we bring the unique Ugandan cultural perspective to the resources we were provided.

I hope you will pray with us on this issue! Pray that we may be able to customize the tools to fit the context we are in so that we can empower local churches to begin these important savings and loans groups. Pray that we have the staff needed to do these trainings. And Pray that the trainings will be practical, Biblical, relational, and effective towards not only improving the lives of group members, but also spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.