“Before this, I just thought I was a poor person. I didn’t think I had anything to contribute. I’m just poor and will always be in poverty. But then I learned through the class that I am capital. I have hands. I have feet. I have an ability to walk. I have intelligence. I always thought it was other people who had money to start a business. But now I realize . . .  I. AM. CAPITAL.”

And she beamed.

The definition of the word capital, per Google, is, “wealth in the form of money or other assets owned by a person or organization or wealth that is available or contributed for a particular purpose such as starting a company or investing.”

Today the team had the opportunity to travel to Goli, a village that borders the Congo, to visit with some of the women who went through the Entrepreneurial Training Program. In February, West’s Michelle Campbell and Williamson’s Chapel’s Director of Serve Ministries  Amy LaCount, plus two other team members traveled to Nebbi to train the women using a Christ-centered business plan so that they can break the cycle of poverty.

Today we heard the women share that prior to this training, they did not think of the Bible as anything other than spiritual guidance, basically what happens when they die.

“I’ve always looked at the Bible as just teaching me about what I need to do to go to heaven. I didn’t know it was ok to focus on business. I had no idea the Bible could help guide me in a business way.”

Today, as the women brought out their needlework, you could hear the “oohs and aahs” as we admired their work. It only took a matter of minutes before we each had acquired pictures we wanted to take back to those we love/miss at home. The coolest part of it all, however, was listening to Pastor Geoffrey teach them about the money component, salaries, and return on investment.

But more beautiful than the tapestries were the smiles on the faces of the women as they displayed their needlepoint and shared their stories. The realization that they all mattered . . . that they each had something unique to contribute to society was inspiring and yet again a reminder why global missions is so important.

For women who had never held a calculator in their hands prior to February to now be talking about splitting profit and reinvesting their funds so they can continue to break the cycle of poverty . . . talk about a heart and life change among us listening today!

Today I was reminded that I take “my capital” for granted, how often we/I think “We/I can’t.” We think we aren’t smart enough . . . we don’t have enough.

Yet – in reality, we’ve been created to “can.”

What is your capital?

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