Every month, Heaven’s Family helps far more people than we could ever highlight in our bi-monthly newsletter. For that reason, this page contains additional photos and stories of some of the “least of these” among our spiritual family whom we’ve recently been blessed to serve.
At the age of 8, when most boys are thinking about becoming policemen, doctors, engineers or astronauts, “Reza” was looking forward to the day when he could be a martyr for Allah.
"My name is Paz Islas Rufino. I am a mother, wife, and sister in Christ. I would like to share my testimony with you, which for me is somewhat sad."
I'm happy to report that Heaven's Family is not just involved in micro-banking in this region. Today our team was invited to a meeting of about 40 people, from babies to the elderly, who all suffer from the same terrible physical affliction. I don't know how else to tell you but to just say it: due to an apparent genetic defect that is strangely common to their particular tribe, all were born without an anus.
It has been such a joy to meet with our micro-bankers and their borrowers over the past few days, at their places of business and in their God’s Love Groups. One of those borrowers really caught my attention. He lives in the middle of nowhere, way out in the bush, in a tiny village consisting of thatched-roof mud huts named Pumuzika. His name is Robert Odaga, and before he received his first and second loans from Heaven’s Family, he attended one of our Micro-Loan Ministry’s Small Business Trainings (SBTs). It changed his life.
Over the years, Heaven’s Family's Micro-Loan Ministry has evolved. We’ve come a long way since the initial $100 loans that I made to ten poor Nigerians in 2004 to help them start small businesses. When I returned one year later to collect, only three borrowers showed up for the repayment meeting, and those three came to explain why they could not repay.
Since we started Heaven’s Family 16 years ago, I have repeatedly been asking this question: “Why are people poor?” And a second question related to that one: “What is the best way to eliminate poverty?”
© Heaven's Family 2025 — Advancing Jesus’ Kingdom | Privacy Policy
