Thanksgiving is a special time when we reflect on all the blessings God has given us. Isn't that an abundance! A time to give all praise and thanks to our God as the Giver of all good. But also a time to share of our wealth with the poor and needy of this world. Be blessed to be a blessing!
The last several weeks have been quite intense as Americans decided who would lead the country during the next four years. We pray for God’s blessing, guidance, and wisdom for president-elect Trump and all the newly elected government officials. We pray that they will be true servant-leaders for America as well as the rest of the world. With God at the helm of the ship, we have hope!
In October, I had a wonderful trip to Michigan and Texas. America is absolutely a fantastic land! I love it, and I'm so happy to be there on behalf of MissionInvest. I immensely enjoy visiting all the donors and together we’re involved in beautiful and meaningful projects with long-lasting impact. Through realizing clinics, water projects and small business, we’re sharing the Gospel in very practical ways and giving heed to our calling as Christians to spread the Gospel. It’s a blessing to spread light in this dark world. Psalm 78 illustrates this beautifully by saying that we do this so that the world puts their trust in God!
Thank you so much for the meaningful relationships which have grown these past years with so many friends in America who have such a heart for MissionInvest’s projects. Through these we were able to finalize concrete grant agreements and I am absolutely overjoyed! Development costs time, but there are so many opportunities within it. While much still needs to be done, in everything we depend on God. He provides and He does that in His timing. Therefore, "In God we trust."
With this newsletter, we’re hoping to inspire you by sharing existing projects in Ghana and Ethiopia as well as introduce you to new projects such as a large-scale agricultural project in Rwanda. To read more about these projects, check out our website!
We wish all our friends a blessed and very happy THANKSGIVING!
Wim Hasselman
President MissionInvest USA
Maternity clinic construction in Ghana is on target!
Gerben Boon, a doctor specialized in Tropical Medicine, is the founder of this amazing project. From Ghana, he says, “At the beginning of this year, we started with the construction of the clinic. We've dreamed about this for eight years! We were intensely gripped by the reality of mother and child death in Northern Ghana when we dealt with the death of a set of twins. They were two baby boys who were just a few months old and whose mother was already lost in the days just after the birth. We felt deeply called to make Jesus’s love tangible by applying our medical knowledge to help these people. In the past years, we've already made a difference for hundreds of mothers and children. It's our dream to help so many more with this maternity clinic. The realization of this dream is now becoming a reality! We are amazed that so many men and women from the local villages are contributing and doing their part. So many have volunteered and helped with the construction by carrying hundreds of bricks to the bricklayers. They’ve contributed so much and we're almost there. Will you also contribute to save many more mothers and children in Ghana?”
The progress since the beginning of the year is amazing to witness! The roof is already finished and the remaining work including the furnishing will be done in the next few months to be ready in May 2025! Thanks to all the incredibly generous sponsor support, 75% of the necessary funds have already been provided, but we still need the last $75,000. Please help us to reach this deadline!
Help 3,000 more farmers in Rwanda get out of poverty!
Since 2020, MissionInvest has been working together with ITI, the Inclusive Trading Initiative, in Rwanda to offer farmers a hopeful future. We’re already working closey with 2,000 farmers who grow, dry, and export red chili peppers which are in high demand. By ensuring a fair price, many farmers have been able to triple their family income! An amazing result and a huge improvement for these farmers and their families!
In the next four years, we are expecting to scale up this project to 5,000 farmers distributed across 7 product areas. For each product, we need crop advisors, a drying house and a small warehouse for safe storage. With sustainable farming practices, improved organization, and a strengthened market position, these farmers are getting out of poverty! In the coming four years, we need $92,000 per year for the project expansion. This year, yet, we're in need of $60,000 still to support these farmers to produce a huge impact for thousands of farming families. Will you help us help them? You can find more information and donation opportunities on MissionInvest's project page.
The largest country in the world, India, is also the least reached with the Gospel. We’ve been actively bringing the Gospel there since 2022, and we now work in 5 regions in India together with our partners NET & CityBibles. We’re so amazed at how the Lord has opened doors bringing us into contact with small Christian churches that have a huge desire for further Biblical training as well as distributing literature. 450 lay pastors have been trained in just the last few years alone. We’ve also distributed tens of thousands of Bibles as well as 300,000 keychains which give access to a powerful Bible app containing the Bible in ten different Indian tribal languages along with videos and podcasts. Read more here!
During the next few years, we’re committed to continuing to spread the Gospel and to train an additional 500 pastors as well as distribute 39,000 copies of the Gospel of John, 9,000 New Testaments, and 90,000 keychains through the churches in their own local communities. The hunger for God’s Word is immense! The government is cracking down more and more on Christians so we may only have a short time. In areas where we already are working, persecution is real! Churches are being burned down and pastors are being threatened by fundamentalist Hindus. That’s why this project is so URGENT! Let’s work while we still can! Will you help us fund the remaining $100,000?
MissionInvest USA believes strongly in working together with organizations with an established reputation such as the National Christian Foundation (NCF). During my recent trip, I sat down with Dan Poortenga, Vice President of West Michigan NCF in Grand Rapids, who’s very enthusiastic about the option of stock donation. Together, we mapped out how we could support each other’s work in the Kingdom. MissionInvest now also has a single charity fund at NCF making it even easier and more advantageous to donate via stock donation to MissionInvest projects through your Giving Fund.
NCF clearly explains this opportunity in an article and video. In short, they explain it in the following way: "Send more to support your favorite causes by giving long-term, appreciated securities. If you are writing checks to charities, but also have appreciated stocks or mutual funds in a taxable investment portfolio that you've held for at least one year, you likely have a significant opportunity to give more, pay less tax, and simplify your giving. The key is to donate these securities before the sale, which means capital gains taxes will likely be reduced or eliminated. We liquidate the securities and then put the net proceeds into your Giving Fund (donor-advised fund), which can be used for recommending grants to support the causes you love."
If you'd like to know more about how you can support MissionInvest USA in this way, please contact your local NCF office!
Interested in an inspiring podcast?
Listen to this one with Arun Prabhu, the founder and CEO of Landcent, as he shares how he is sometimes absolutely amazed at the way that God guides his company. Landcent’s mission is “a malaria-free world” and MissionInvest is so grateful to partner in this project striving to protect tens of millions of people in Africa through innovative products to fight malaria. It’s a privilege and a pleasure for us to work with such an amazing company, and from what Arun tells around 20.35 in the podcast, that feeling is completely mutual! THANKS, ARUN! IT’S GREATLY APPRECIATED!
Investors have already supplied an incredible $8 million for this project. Read more here to support this amazing project! Very important to mention is that you can either support this project through a grant, or through a real impact investment that we structure in collaboration with Impact Foundation!
I met Kees for the first time just this last April in Lubbock, TX. It was so amazing and clearly no coincidence. If you want to read about the meeting, check out “Gouda cheese and a divine appointment.” Kees, who emigrated from Friesland to Texas 40 years ago, invited me to visit his farm during this trip. During the 2 hour tour of his ranch, it became abundantly clear that Kees is not just any farmer. He runs this enormous company with his two sons as well as 110 employees! It's quite the logistical operation with all 12,000 cows and cultivating his own feed, breeding, and milking three times a day. It was just amazing to see how Kees and his team took care of the animals. In the barn where 100 cows are milked at the same time, the cows were relaxed and calm while waiting in line. They showed absolutely no signs of stress whatsoever. On average, every cow produces 10 gallons of milk a day which results in around 3,000 gallons per day! The milk tankers are coming and going all day long!
What does this have to do with MissionInvest, you ask?
MissionInvest is involved with a dairy project with 2,200 small farmers in Kenya and I’ve invited Kees to be involved! While we’re still looking into how we’re going to that, we're building on the relationship and keeping each other up to date. That's our part. God will provide everything else that’s needed and it’ll be so good!
