Latest / The Wholehearted Enneagram Podcast / Giving Hope | a conversation with Missy Williams co-founder of Seed Effect

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Giving Hope | a conversation with Missy Williams co-founder of Seed Effect · The Wholehearted Enneagram Podcast

• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Hi friends, welcome back to the Simply Wholehearted Podcast.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are new here, we are so glad you joined us.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Ashley Pittman and I, Amy Wicks, are your hosts of the Simply Wholehearted Podcast.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to encourage and inspire you to live more unplugged, purposeful, and intentional moments in every season of life.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: We share stories of friends, new and old alike, who are living out their calling and purpose with passion.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: We are still in the middle of our special holiday season with the beautiful music in the background written and recorded by our friend John Thurlow.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: His Christmas album is available now on iTunes as well as his other eight fantastic albums.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: His newest album, Different Story, just released last month.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: And on our episode number 31, John shared some of his three-year journey to writing and recording his much anticipated new release.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Today's guest is from our podcast holiday sponsor.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: You've all been hearing me talk about these last six episodes.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Missy Williams is the co-founder of Seed Effect, which has been making an impact for over eight years.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: They help the financially poor to provide for themselves and their family with dignity.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: She shares some of their amazing testimonies and some of the inside stories which I know you'll be richer from hearing, especially in the season in which we are reflecting on our many blessings.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure and stay tuned after our conversation for some exciting details about our last podcast of 2017, which will be next week.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: We'll be giving a sneak peek of our 2018 lineup and talk about asking yourself a better question as you begin the new year.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now here's our conversation with Missy Williams, the co-founder of Seed Effect.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: How are you doing today?
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Are you have you recovered from your big event?
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: I guess it was probably two weeks ago now, but are you?
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: I have.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, um, it's been a really beautiful week.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: We had our big event, which was amazing, and the Lord was so good.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I it's always my favorite event of the year because we bring a lot of our a lot of our supporters come and we just care what the Lord is doing.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a big celebration, you know, even in the midst of a hard season in in South Sudan and Uganda.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: But um I I got really sick the next day.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: I ended up in the hospital with a tick bite.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: Oh so I it was crazy.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: And they don't think it was Lyme, it was some something else, and um I'm I'm better, but it was I mean, I felt like I was out for two weeks after that.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm I'm back at it, but it was uh it was a crazy experience.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: And but thankfully I didn't get really sick until the day after our event, which I'm just so thankful for the Lord's timing on that because I had to speak at the event and put the whole thing on.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know what would have happened if I was down for the count.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: But oh my goodness, no kidding.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so was it is it like your annual gala or what how does that look?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: We do two events a year, but this one in the fall is more of a party.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so we have about 350 to 400 will come and uh just get the chance.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's actually an art gallery, so we have a photographer with us, and yeah, and we um we get to showcase really the stories of seed effect.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's pretty powerful.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: I as you walk through, we we have these amazing images and then the stories of our members and what the work means to them.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's just a way that we can connect with our supporters, so many of whom are never gonna go and see the work, so they get to kind of have a mini experience, and then um it's just it's yeah, so it's it's pretty fun.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then in the spring we do a luncheon, like more of a sit-down table and you know, all that kind of stuff.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: So those are kind of our two bigger events, I guess, that we have.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: So it's fun.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: So it's an opportunity to kind of gather everyone and then bring the stories to life there in front of them.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: The art gallery idea, that's awesome.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: I like that.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we've done it.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, this was like I think this was the sixth one, like this that we've done with the photography.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: And we we do we do a silent auction for the photography.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so every year I evaluate and think, as should we keep doing this?
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: But every year it just seems as if the photography is so powerful and people really engage with that.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: And um, because I'm, you know, we're so visual as as humans, and and to be able to actually look at look at somebody in the eyes while you're reading their words, and it's just really powerful, I think.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: And and so anyway, it's a fun event and we've had a great time with it.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: So that's awesome.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: So, how many years has Seed Effect been around?
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this was the celebration of our eighth.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: The it was actually the anniversary of our first loans.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: It was the eighth anniversary.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so back in November 2009, we gave our first small loans to a group of 19 women, and this every year we celebrate it um just kind of that commemorating the start or the anniversary of that.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so we're starting on yeah, our eighth year now, so which is crazy.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we kind of dove right into asking everything, and so I met I met you, uh Missy, just back in October.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: We were both at Declare in um Texas at a it's a Christian communicators conference, and you guys were there as one of the sponsors, and you got to share about the ministry and you had a table, and I knew right away, I was like, oh my goodness, I want to share this message.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um so anyway, we just you know barely like you know shook hands and swapped stories while there was probably lots of loud noise in the background.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: But um, so I want to know more.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I've been reading a ton of stuff about it.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: You've got a beautiful website, and um, you sent me with a great informational brochure.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I would love my friends to know more about Seed Effect and how you got started in it and just all that good stuff.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we it was so great.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: You, Amy, at the Declare conference.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: It was a blessing for us to get to be there.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: We uh for the over the last few years have gotten to be involved in that.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's just such a neat group of and the Lord is really moving, I think, within the women that are there, and so I love that.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, we we got started.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, my husband and I went on a mission trip back in 2007.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it was right after the peace agreement had been signed in in Sudan that had ended 25 years of civil war.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, and as we were there, um, we were there sharing the gospel, and the Lord really challenged us and impressed upon our hearts that as we were meeting the spiritual needs, there were so many physical needs around us, and the church there that we were working alongside was really struggling to be able to meet those needs.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they wanted to empower the people and to reach the people both spiritually and physically, and just were having a hard time being able to do that on their own.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so God just placed a vision on our hearts for an opportunity to come alongside and empower them through microfinance.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: And for our first seven years, we worked in South Sudan um with a program, it's called Credit Led Microfinance, where we were giving small loans within a group, and they would cross-guarantee each other's loans, so it provides a social collateral, and they would invest those loans in small businesses so that they could be the ones to provide for their families and their children with dignity, putting their kids in school, putting food on the table.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: And we also use that as a platform to share the gospel and to provide ongoing discipleship.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so that program was making an incredible impact in the communities we were working in until South Sudan went back to war just a few years ago.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so we did really worked to stay there and consistently keep working there.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and actually had added an additional program that's called Savings Led Microfinance.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: So that was a program that's similar in nature, that it has its groups, but instead of us providing the loan capital, they actually save their money together.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: They pool their savings and then they lend to each other.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: And that's yeah, and so um it's it's empowering, it has all that same um principles around it, but it also gives them a lot of ownership and they're able to set their own interest rates, they're able to set they they have their own constitution that they put together of you know how things are supposed to run on a specific level, whereas we provide structure and infrastructure and training and and come alongside that way.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: But so we had added that program in South Sudan right before really the war had extended to the point where it was starting to really affect our operations.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um so where we were working, inflation, the inflation rate had soared to over 600% and even reached 800.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, which is which to do economic development um in that type of environment is incredibly difficult.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so we knew it was fun for us to um close our credit-led program, but we continued operating our savings-led program until the war actually came to our headquarters, to our town.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we our staff had to flee.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it really it actually was uh close to this time last year.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: It was December of uh 2016.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so everybody had to flee to Uganda.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: And we just prayed about, okay, Lord, you know, what what would you have us do?
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: We've been working with the South Sudanese for so many years.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: We know these people, we know they're resilient and capable.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: How can we continue to serve them?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: And one thing that I think was particularly unique is that the Lord, because of our experience with the South Sudanese, um nobody had been offering Christ-centered sustainable savings groups within a refugee settlement.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Not, there's a lot of savings groups, especially in Uganda, but nobody was serving the refugees because they have this mindset that refugees can't save and all that they all they need is aid or a handout.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: And we knew that wasn't true because when we started in South Sudan, a lot of uh everybody had been refugees and they were restarting their lives.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: And what they really wanted was empowerment.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: They wanted a handout, they wanted the dignity of being able to be be the ones to provide for their children, they wanted a community, they wanted, they wanted to do that on their own.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so um we were able to start our program in Uganda, the same savings group model that we had operated in South Sudan, and we launched it in the refugee settlements about six months ago, um, and have already served 1,700 members.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I was, in fact, I was just in a meeting with our our Uganda board director is actually here right now, so that's that's the meeting I was in.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: But um 70 million shillings have already been saved in six months just from refugees.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: This is them saving their own resources, their own money.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: We haven't given them money, we've just given them the tools and training that they need, and the program is making a tremendous impact.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: So man, that's amazing.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so you you guys have literally like physical boots on the ground in those areas where you're providing this resource.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so our program is all run by South Sudanese and Ugandans, and they're the ones that are on the ground ministering to the people, um, doing the trainings, being there day in and day out.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and right now we're operating in two locations.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: So there's kind of four main refugee settlements in northern Uganda.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: And we're currently in two of them, and then have plans to be in the other two by the end of 2018.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so that, you know, is a pretty good sized staff to take that on.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, they're the ones that that run the program, and we get to support the work from here by funding the work and providing um mentorship and and some direction on program staff, but it's really them that are implementing and doing the work.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: So you've trained them, you've given them the systems, you've given, you know, help provide the the resources in that way, and then they just, you know, it's I mean, it's just so beautiful because you're empowering the people by providing employment, and then it just is the ripple effect of you giving them, you know, that sort of thing.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think one of the things that's probably most inspiring, I guess, as well, is you know, a lot of our staff.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: So right, we have you South Sudanese and Ugandan staff, because we also serve Ugandan nationals in the communities as well.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: But 70% of our members right now are South Sudanese refugees.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: And our staff are all refugees.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they're they're South Sudanese refugees that worked for us in South Sudan and then became refugees.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: So we're employing refugees to serve refugees.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and because probably most of us really have no idea what goes on in a refugee camp and all of that, they this is still like they're still functioning.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: They are still having to find livelihood and work and you know, finances and all that sort of thing to try to kind of restore some semblance of normalcy um, even though they're living in a refugee camp, because especially in situations like this, this isn't like temporary earthquake relief.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: This is who knows how long it's gonna be.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that is a that's a really good point.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I think before we started this work, I really pictured a refugee camp to be to be similar to maybe the pictures that you see of some of the Syrian refugee camps where it's a bunch of tents all lined up and they've got a barbed wire area around it and you're contained in the space.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: And while I think some refugee situations are set up that way, in Uganda, Uganda is actually an incredible coast community.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: So they allow the refugees to have a plot of land, a 30 meter by 30 meter plot of land.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: They give them a tarp, they give them some meager food rations each month, and they allow them to go in and out of the camps.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's no actual boundaries.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: When you drive through there, the only way you'd even know that you're in the settlement is that you might see a sign that says, Welcome to Paganura Refugee Settlement.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: But there's not like a delineation that you have to go through this gate or you have to check in at any point.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so really they've tried to um create an environment where the refugees can assimilate with the Ugandan nationals.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but the thing is they, because there's that expectation, I mean, that they don't, they're not provided enough food.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: They're not provided enough of what they would need.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: And they still have to pay school fees, even as refugees.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: And so they need an opportunity to be able to provide for their families.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: So these savings groups, what we get to do is come alongside and provide the tools.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: We we give them a savings box and the materials that they need, and then they have the long-term guidance of a trainer, a member of our staff that walks with them and shows them how to do these savings group meetings, you know, how how all of the programs should run.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: And what they do is pool their resources together.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's they save a specific amount each week, and then they lend to each other.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of them use that to start businesses.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: So as you go through these refugee settlements, there are markets that are in the settlements, and a lot of the, you know, for them to start those, they've got to have capital somewhere.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: Either they have to save themselves or they have to access a loan, and the banks don't lend to um to refugees or to individuals that you know have under a certain amount of income, and and so they don't have a lot of resources or or access for that.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so we can come and help them to get started and to start these businesses to provide for their family, to put their kids in school, and they are the ones that get to do it, which is so dignifying.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, it's life goes on, and and for you know, you had mentioned that they're not it's not like a natural disaster where they're just gonna go home.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know, for a lot of these refugees, the South Summit's refugees, a lot of them are in the camps that they grew up in.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: So this conflict, while it's a new one, right, isn't this the I this conflict is not new to them.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's just taking on a different face and a different party.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, exactly.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, they could be here for 10 years or more.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: And in fact, research would show that most refugee crises are prolonged or due to prolonged or protracted conflict situations where it's not like they're gonna be there for six months.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: And they could be there for years, right?
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so they do have to have um access to and an opportunity to be able to provide for their families.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's so awesome.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: I love the work.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: So tell me how um you're because you're doing this with your husband and several others, and you have, I think, at least a couple of girls.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: How have you involved them with what you guys are doing in your mission?
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's kind of a when mom and dad do it, especially, it's kind of a full family adventure.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: It is.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, so my husband is on the board and was has helped as a founder.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: He has another job, so he actually has a full-time job.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so I do this.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um I have a it's like a full-time job that I do in between also momming and all the things in the little bits of the day.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, and so the girls, it's been an it honestly has been a tremendous blessing to have this in our lives.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's something that we can point the kids to and to educate them on the ways that the Lord is moving around the world and how we can be a part of that.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think most visibly at this age, I have a six-year-old and a three-year-old.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I think how they really see that, you know, is I I was just there in August, and so they knew mom was gone for 10 days, and what is she doing?
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so it really provides an opportunity to talk about um being a part of the Lord's work and and the sacrifice that that might entail, or but also the blessings.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we've had our some of our staff come and stay with us, so the girls have gotten the opportunity to get to know them.
• 18:57
  unknown: That's neat.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, is incredible.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, my oldest is begging to go.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um truthfully, I would I think we'll probably take her within the next couple years.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um my trips are so packed full that I can't figure out how I would take her and do all the things I need to do.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, yeah.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's a little tricky at that age still.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but no, I'm I mean, it's I think for them to understand that what the way that life tends to, and not that's not across the board, but the way that life tends to operate or run for the majority of Americans, um, is not the norm across the world.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um and just because we have access to something doesn't mean that we're entitled to it or that it's something we should have.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think it makes us question or I guess um consider how we spend our time and our resources.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: And it's something that we talk with the girls a lot about.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, and they don't have a frame, they still don't have they they can't visualize it really, but it's definitely a part of just sort of our DNA and the every discussion, the kind of everyday discussions that we have and and how we make choices for our family, I guess, too.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's so awesome.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: I really think that um all of our kids would value from the overseas experience or exposure and some, you know, where they just realize, oh yeah, not everyone gets to live this way because we are so rich and incredibly blessed.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: I I think it has changed the way we parent um in a lot of ways of just having friends, South Sudanese and Ugandan friends and seeing um it's being inspired by some of the ways that they parent as well, and then also just aware of some of the challenges and um you know having our kids not expect that because they've asked for it, they get to have it.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um they have to earn like they they have to pay for things and they they have all the different kinds of things around that.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's really shaped our perspective on um because I I didn't I didn't have this experience until I was older.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean it was I was 27 when we went.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I I think I I mean I'm grateful for when I had the experience and that was obviously the Lord's timing, but you know, to have grown up and with a different perspective, I think might have changed the way I would have lived my life that way.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: So totally.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I you mentioned parenting.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: I always think about um you know, even our grandparents a hundred years ago, you know, how it was about survival, and so that definitely impacted parenting and the dynamic of the family and uh how you trained your kids and what that looked like.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I imagine seeing that firsthand um at least once a year, that probably you know, frames or you know, reframes a little bit of how you parent your girls.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it changes your perspective.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, sure.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: And and just the things that we take for granted that aren't taken for granted in other in other places, and um the entitlement aspect.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I do think that's a struggle as Americans that our children are facing is whether we've intended to to place that on them or not.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's tough.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: I mean we we feel it, you know?
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: This idea that we're entitled for you know our health to be a certain to to go things to go well for us.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and biblically the Lord says that there will be suffering.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's not um I don't I don't know where we've gotten this idea.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_03: Right the American church has sort of lost that sort of we're somehow incubated from the trials of life.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_03: That when you're blessed you don't have trouble.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_03: And it's so if it that's always been my kind of my mantra is if it doesn't work in Africa, it doesn't whatever you're teaching, if it doesn't apply over there, it doesn't apply here either.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_03: And so if my Sudanese brothers are are not you know if they're blessed with their little then we're blessed with our little over here and we're not blessed because we have much.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: Oh amen.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: I that I I think my I my perspective on the word even blessing has changed so tremendously like it irks me.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: We're so blessed.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Look at the way the Lord is you know and it's not it I think what it just it denotes that then for somebody not to have a material things and somehow they aren't blessed.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like what what are we teaching?
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: What perspective is that like where did bless you get tied to something material.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um so and and just to see you know our our South Sunese friends this year have experienced incredible hardship.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: I mean so much trauma and um and it has been hard for them to leave their homes again.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: Oh I bet.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know and yeah I think things are stable and then their country declared independence from the north and there was so much hope that it was going to go differently and it and it hasn't.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: And that is disheartening.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: But at the same time God shows up in these in the details in the in the way that he does care for them and provide for them and um I mean it has definitely challenged my faith as our families experienced hard things this year but to be um you know reminded that we're it's we're promised suffering.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah things are going to be hard.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: And that does not negate anything in fact the blessing is in that and um I think it's been an incredible perspective shift for me to be able to serve alongside my brothers and sisters as they've experienced hardship and and how that changes how I would approach what we'd have to go through here.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know I'd love to hear one or two I know our time is closing in a little bit but the victory stories um just the the things that you get to share with um like at your you know biannual events here the stories and the testimonies and that just bring hope because um it is it's so hard to go like man and as a country as a whole we can't do anything about it but I think that's the beauty of what you have here is that you know just little old us in the middle of you know just opulence and abundance that we can take a little and help and make huge impact.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness yes um yeah one of the biggest blessings for me of getting to be a part of this work is getting to meet with our members and share their stories.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so at our event um you know I said that we have these um photographs and and we have told their stories in their words.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: I mean it's it's their own words and and what they've said about it.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: And actually you can check out our Instagram page as well where I post a lot of these so you can see the photos and then you can read the stories of just their quotes of what they feel like is um what this program is doing for them and also just the hardship that they've faced.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean I have so many I'm I'm actually trying to think of who I want to um this is a powerful one.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: So this is Pascalina she is the chairperson of her savings group um her group is called Amanita which means we are learning and we had the opportunity to just talk with her about her experience of leaving South Sudan and um what this group has meant to her.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so I if I think I'll just read her words because honestly it's the best way for you to get the picture if you hear it started.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: So she said South Sudan has been shattered and we have fled our home.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: One horrible day the soldiers came to my village and started killing people if you were Mahdi like I am they would slaughter you and throw you in the river and young boys are being abducted to join the army.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: That is when people started fleeing this is all brought about by Satan and is not something we desired.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: Life is very difficult and thinking about what we have left at home will make us crazy.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: But we are still joyful because whether in good or bad situations God is with us.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: I am here alone with my children but coming to join a savings group like this takes the stress and takes away the stress and encourages me to forget the pain.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: I believe it is not good to beg.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: God has given me hands and a brain to think I use my hands to make what I need to be independent God has helped me to trust him and I'm really blessed by the group I'm in.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's beautiful love it.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: What a great testimony yeah I mean they've I've been through so much trauma and yet to feel the Lord's presence in that and to be able to rejoice in him and praise him and to have help yeah one of the things that you know I I expected to see the economic impact from our program because I had seen what that had done in South Sudan but I think I've really been blown away by the spiritual and emotional impact.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: There were a lot of people who said that refugees that this program wouldn't work with refugees that they wouldn't pay back the loans or um they didn't have any money to save and what we've seen is not only is that not true, they can pay back the loans and they do have money to save but it's the very thing that God is using to build community to empower them and to bring them hope when they really need it.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_03: I would think it would be exactly those people who would be so desperate for stability that they would they would love an opportunity like this.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_03: When you're we when you've been you know ejected from your home and you're in a new place and you don't know what's next, stability is priceless and hope.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: So it absolutely well what does it look like maybe um as people for the first time and they're like okay well how can I help?
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: Can I feasibly do this or what would it look like for me to give a gift um one time or to somebody else for you know maybe someone in their life prefers these sort of gifts where they've given in honor of them.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: Tell us how that looks like and I mean we'll put all the ways to connect with you all and follow on Instagram and all of that but um just a quick rundown would be awesome.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah so the beauty of this program is that it is really um easy to empower somebody so for as little as$60 we can send one person through our savings program.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: $1500 and empowers an entire group of 25 people.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: Wow and if you want to give say a monthly donation of$60 that sends what is that eight people through in a year.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's it's a small amount that goes really far to making a tremendous impact in their lives.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: You can donate online at sedeffect.org slash donate and when you do it also would prompt you with a an opportunity of is this gift in honor of somebody and so we can definitely provide um materials that say you wanted to give a gift in honor of your mom.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: We can send you with materials that you could show her like this is what the program is, this is what it's doing and send that um out to you as well.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's a pretty um easy way to get seed effect.org slash donate and any amount um makes a tremendous difference but we've been able to narrow it down that$60 since one person through a group and so you know I do feel like for most of us for holidays and stuff I mean I know I don't need anything you know I um I think it is a great way to make a lasting difference in someone's honor.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely well the ripple effect from the one time gift even is just you know you empower the one and it gives hope to their community what you know or family even and they're like okay I can do this too and it just yeah it's just amazing what a little bit can do especially in the midst of severe poverty and crisis like they are facing.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it's amazing.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: And do you also do sponsors get regular communication kind of know the updates of the ministries and testimonies and things like that.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: So on just from our mailing list we send out probably every other week um correspondence just about here's a program update like in fact I sent one out last yesterday that was one of the stories and then here's a snapshot of where the program is right now how many people we've served how much money they've saved um just basic details of that and then we're always on Instagram um we do some stuff on Facebook um I feel like the algorithms make it hard to find anything else.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: It is it does we all groan like this any harder um but yeah and then for our monthly donors we have a special it's called the greenhouse and there's sort of a special correspondence around that and for those that are close by or can be in town do you get free tickets to our Gala in the fall and and then just sort of a monthly snapshot where we aggregate a lot of the information that goes out and makes it easy for you to find as well.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: So just joining our mailing list is a great way to stay in tune with what's going on but as a donor you would be added to that list and get that um feedback and so and we do trips as well.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll have a trip going this summer so if anybody's interested in going on our trips we do training so we'll we have a training component for our staff because they love ongoing or um uh continuing I'm like what is that yeah yeah no problem continuing education opportunities and then we also do training programs for um the members as well and so that trip is an opportunity to come in training which we help and facilitate that but to be interacting with them and also just to be an encouragement it is an amazing blessing to them to see that they've not been forgotten and that we believe in and care about their worth and for us to show up and pray over them and pray with them and encourage them with scripture is a tremendous um it's a tremendous blessing for them.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so we also have trips that go as well.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: Oh that'd be cool I'd love to do that.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: Well Missy um because we're in the midst of the Christmas season holiday season um we just love to know maybe one or two of your favorite traditions that you're looking forward to doing with your girls this year and just in light of that oh man um great question so um I'm I'm still in Thanksgiving mode let me think um the you know one of my favorite things that we've done is um really observed Advent with doing a weekly um lesson I guess there's a local church in town that's provided some curriculum for that and it's been really sweet with scripture and lighting a candle and um prayer and specific worship songs around it.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so that has been a really sweet thing for us to point um just our kids back to Jesus I feel like this season tends to get a little bit friend crazy frenzied with all the things and and the gift things and and all of that.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so making sure that we stay grounded in that.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then you know it's funny we I still feel like we haven't mastered this entirely but um locally I'm always looking for because you know we have seed effect and and the ways that we're involved in that and getting the girls involved in that as well um from giving towards that and that kind of thing um has been a tremendous blessing and and something we obviously participate in.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_01: But finding ways for them to jump in um locally something that feels tangible for them too we've we've struggled with a little bit because our heart is always to not create dependency in the way that we're serving and that's kind of a big thing for even why seed effect is set up the way it is about it being empowering and um and so uh this year we're gonna be our our church has actually a uh a clinic like a healthcare clinic and yeah and so one of the ways that we're gonna jump in they give Bibles to the people that come um so they can minister them and share the gospel with them and pray with them.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so we're gonna be supplying Bibles for the church or for the clinic um as a way for them to engage the community and that kind of thing.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so anyway that every year we kind of start praying about it and we're like okay what's the thing that the Lord is calling us to do but that doesn't create a dependency or that you know is an opportunity to whether it's spiritually or you know empowering them in in some way.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so anyway that's something that we're going to be doing this year, which I'm excited about.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_00: Missy your heart obviously just um just so giving and generous and you're passionate about this and just you know carrying this responsibility out beautifully and I cannot wait for others to get to join in with this and partner with you and get to learn more.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe it'll spark some ideas too of how they can you know either partner with you guys or maybe um fulfill a call that's on their life as well.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's awesome.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely yeah that thank you guys so much I one of the things I get to talk about a lot is um just saying yes to what the Lord's placed in front of you because this journey for us was so crazy.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I think had he laid out the whole thing I probably would have run away being like no that's right.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_01: But he didn't and he provided just the next step at you know just that time.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so um yeah we we obviously we love um when people feel called to jump in and partner with us and to you know jump in with passion about what we're doing.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_01: But equally I get just as excited when the Lord moves in somebody's heart to do something radical or or you know to to impact others.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think um yeah I'm thank you for this opportunity to be able to meet you guys and or I guess catch up and uh to get to to chat.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: So absolutely Missy we look forward to just hearing more and following and just seeing all that the Lord does through you guys.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_00: All right have a Merry Christmas thanks you too bye bye aren't you amazed by what the Lord can do with a few simple dreams, some action steps and believers walking in obedience I hope if you've been looking for a place to invest at the end of the year or maybe a new one to give monthly to in 2018, I hope you'll now consider Seed Effect and share their great work with your friends and family.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_00: You can find all the ways to connect with Seed Effect in our show notes.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_00: And hey while you're there would you mind taking a quick minute and leaving a five star review on iTunes for this podcast and then share your favorite episode on your favorite social media spot with all your friends and family.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: We're so grateful for every single listener and we hope that you've been inspired and encouraged this last year by some of our amazing stories shared on this podcast.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: We hope you have the merriest of Christmas and enjoy this last week of App It.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget next week we'll be dropping in with a special short episode about the new year and the exciting episodes coming your way.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_00: Until next week I hope you find more ways to live simply wholehearted, unplugged, purposeful and intentional