The House of Faith Credit Union grew from a Global Advance conference in 2006. (Image courtesy Global Advance)

Global Advance planted a seed of marketplace missions in Kumasi, Ghana in 2006. Two years later, Ghanaians took the idea of a business group savings and loan program and began their own credit union.

Now, the House of Faith Credit Union (HOFCU) wants to grow from their current 600 members to over 1,000. Kevin Pate, Global Advance’s Director of Marketplace Missions, brought a team of U.S. bankers to Kumasi to help local businesspeople achieve their dream.

“We were able, in our small way in this one little corner of the world, to impact a group of people that are literally trying to impact thousands of members in their credit union,” says Pate.

For a week, Pate’s team asked HOFCU workers a series of questions about bookkeeping, interest rates, loan processes, and more.

“At the end of the week, we were able to compile all of those things [and] go department by department, or issue by issue, and make recommendations,” says Pate.

After the training was finished, “I just saw kind of this dignity aspect that came out of that week,” he says. “Just like, hey, you know we can do this; we’re going to the next level.”

Not only did the team show Ghanaians how to grow their business, they showed them how banking can open doors for the Gospel.

“We start with the Great Commission, and then we go out and do business,” Pate explains.

In Ghana, Pate adds, it’s extremely difficult for small business owners to borrow money. Even if the loan is short-term, say one or two months, banks will charge 100-percent interest on the loan. This leaves borrowers, often farmers or small-scale production businesses, deeper in debt than before.

By offering two types of loans and conducting business with integrity, rather than taking advantage of the weak, HOFCU offers a hand of help to the needy.

“There’s a huge need for Christian businesses, and businesses of all kinds, in these developing nations,” says Pate.

“Over time, it will open the door for you to share your faith.”

Are you skilled in the world of business?

“Business is a great vehicle…to live out your faith. It’s a great vehicle internationally to put your faith into practice,” says Pate.

Sign up for the next trip here.

“We always need Christian businesspeople that would like to go to another nation and share what they know with their peers.”

Pray for a multiplication effect as businesspeople share their faith with customers.

"The church is growing — very fast," she said. "It's one of the fastest-growing churches in the world right now, which is really exciting."

On a recent "vision trip" to Nepal, Wales and several other TEAM members witnessed God working in the country. While He used TEAM's traditional approaches of church planting and women's ministries to bring Nepalese to Him, newer methods are breaking spiritual barriers, too. Wales said medical care is opening doors for the Gospel in western Nepal, an area notoriously resistant to Christianity.

"We've really found that professional platforms have been really advantageous to reaching the Gospel and doing that church-planting work," she said.

Believers at TEAM's hospital in western Nepal have formed many relationships, and used those friendships as a gateway to introduce the Gospel and Jesus Christ. Now, said Wales, those medical workers are expanding their reach to rural villages. Teams trek into hard-to-reach areas and spend several days tending to the community's medical needs.

"Often by bringing that medical aid into a completely unreached area, they're able to share the Gospel and witness to those people groups who have yet to even hear of the Gospel," Wales explained.

TEAM also reaches into the business world, using relationships with co-workers built over time to introduce the message of salvation. Wales shared the widespread needs in Nepal.

"There is so much work that needs to happen in Nepal," she said. "Whether it's in the medical side in social justice and reaching the tangible physical needs, but just as important, if not more so, the spiritual needs of a very dark and lost country."

Pray that God would raise up workers for the spiritual harvest. Pray for the Nepali church, too.

"There are lot of challenges in the country itself, so just pray for the local church that it would be strong, that it would continue to grow, and that it would be able to overcome opposition."

Call TEAM to see how you can get involved, or click here to speak with a missions coach.