2009: a year in review

From many firsts to some untimely deaths and a few shocking scandals, 2009 was quite a year! This year, America inaugurated the first African American president in our country’s history. Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, died unexpectedly at age 50. America and the rest of the world experienced the worst economic recession since the 30’s. Slumdog Millionaire surprised everyone and won 8 Oscars. There was a boy that supposedly got lost in a balloon and Tiger Woods definitely had the worst year of his life.

And, while all that was going on, Seed Effect began working alongside the local church and some incredibly resilient and hard-working women in a budding village in a forgotten country where life went on as normal despite all of the firsts, the scandals, and the deaths. This year, Seed Effect launched a microfinance initiative that will bring hope to a community where life as normal means fighting for your life and the lives of your children and struggling to earn enough to pay for malaria treatment, put food on the table, and provide an education for your children that might change their lives and change their definition of normal.

This year, we celebrated another first as we empowered our first group of 19 women with the tools necessary to transform their lives and provide for their families…

One of those women is Sokale Benai, a humble Sudanese store-owner, wife, and mother of 8, who joined a Seed Effect Cell Group called “Mondu Busan” meaning “Waiting for Blessing” and received a micro-loan and business training from Seed Effect. Before the loan, she sold maize flour, beans, onions, and saucepans. With the loan and the education she received from our Training Seminar, she added live lambs along with a variety of breads, sodas, eggs, and rice to her inventory in an effort to diversify the marketplace and meet the needs of her customers. This additional inventory has enabled her to generate more sales, earn a larger profit, and better provide for her family.

Now, as we celebrate 2009 and ring in 2010, we hope you’ll join us in praising God for such an incredible year! What started with a life and impacted a family now has the power to transform a community in the year to come as we turn 19 women into hundreds more. Join us? Plant a Seed. Be a Part of the Seed Effect in 2010.

it started with a sewing machine...

The Seed Effect from Seed Effect on Vimeo.

meet thomas

As most of you know by now, SE: SUDAN has hired a new Managing Director! Thomas Bell will be moving to Sudan at the first of the year to work alongside the local team. As this last month has been a bit crazy due to our site launch, I wanted to make sure to take the time to formally introduce you to Thomas before his departure!

The Credentials

Thomas graduated from Duke University in 2005 with Bachelor degrees in Computer Science and Russian. Upon graduation, he went to work for HOPE International, and successfully led the launch of their first microfinance program in Russia. After completing this launch, Thomas moved to Dallas and began working for USPI, a hospital management firm and joined Watermark Community Church where he serves with the young adult ministry.

The Call

Over the last year, Thomas has felt God calling him back to microfinance, but this time to East Africa, where until a month ago, he had never been! It has been truly amazing to watch God unfold His perfect plan in His perfect timing. If you’d like to hear more of Thomas’ testimony click here: Thomas' Testimony

The Fun Stuff

Now, just for fun and to get to know Thomas a little better, here are a few more fun facts:

Married: For all you single ladies out there, Thomas is still quite the eligible bachelor.

Children: Nope

Home Town: Lexington, Kentucky

Favorite Color: Blue

Hobbies: Competing in triathlons, golf, skiing

Favorite Food: Chipotle bowl with Barbacoa (Good thing that Chiptole might be the closest thing that we have to Sudanese food.)

Favorite Sport/Team: Duke Blue Devils

Other interesting details: Thomas can speak 3 languages! (And, he’s about to add Kuku to the mix.)

To join Thomas’ support team click here: Join Thomas' Support Team

a seed effect christmas party

Fellow Seed Effecters, Tara and Isaac Kohlbacher just returned 3 weeks ago from South Sudan where they joined in on an e3 Partners church planting campaign and served alongside Team Seed Effect to launch our Seed Loan Program to our first group of loan recipients. Here’s a short testimony about the trip from Tara:

“Before going to Kajo Keji, I couldn't even imagine what living on less than $2 a day looked like. When I arrived, I soon saw the reality that essentials like health, education, water, food, and shelter were often not being met.

I saw that the women, in particular, do all they can to provide for their children even though many do not have any education due to war and/or finances. Giving a woman a small loan along side business education and spiritual discipleship, can give her a chance to provide these essentials. Maybe for one woman that means saving her baby's life when he gets malaria and maybe for another, it means sending her children to school.

After this trip, I better understand the need for Seed Effect in this community!”

After having seen the need in South Sudan first-hand as well as the impact that Seed Effect is making on these women, the Kohlbachers are hosting a Seed Effect Christmas Party on Thursday, December 3^rd to help raise funds for more loans to help impact more families!

We’d love for all of you Dallas Seed Effecters to join us! For more information and to RSVP, visit the event webpage at: http://event.pingg.com/thechristmaseffect