I met with Dana, Karen and 15 of the women (6 regional leaders plus 1-2 assistants per region) on 30th March. BHW is currently providing funding for seedlings, micro-credit and macro-credit projects.
The macro-loan recipients must go through the micro-loans process first and pay this smaller loan back. Their business must be growing so they can hire two people. Macro-loans are typically US$200.
The men's macro-loan programme is new but has grown very quickly over the last two years. There are now over 1,400 men involved, up from 700 in October 2025. They have grown in self-esteem, and this helps them to step up and become leaders. Many of the men are out of work.
Their meetings become ministry hubs.
Rebekah (who started the ministry) has qualifications in organic farming and is the team leader. They started their first project during COVID when markets were closed. They provided seedlings - herbs and vegetables - to support health. People were so interested that faith-based studies tripled, then increased tenfold within 12 months.
Most people are on the edge of the city in villages. They have some land but are not knowledgeable about farming.
The team plant in local fields they rent (for about $200 a year), then they distribute seeds to homes. They are constantly collecting seeds to replant. Local teams then take over and run the programme. They are constantly replicating, training new people and growing new programmes.
Government representatives have noticed and supported the programme.
Even if people have no land at their homes, they can grow seedlings on their porch. The programme provides income to families as well as food. Anyone can access what they need, even if they are not involved in study groups. People respond to the love shown and many then join groups.
They provide chilli peppers, green beans, peanuts, papaya, eggplant, ginger, calamansi, lemongrass, and tomatoes. They train on preparing the ground and looking after plants as well as witnessing. They also teach them to make compost and get manure from the goat project.
They are looking at providing the programme for the government housing project and have negotiated with the government to grow in a shared green space beside the building.
Their goal is to not need donors and be independent.
Overall, 200 to 300 families benefit in each location and there are 8 locations. Neighbourhoods are welcoming them in and feel respected by them.
Their goal is for 123 neighbourhoods to have programmes.
They also do a lot of school tutoring with children, which is a new project that helps kids after school. S leads the 'reading garden' project in some of the members’ homes. She helps mums connect with each other and has started seven reading corners in different areas. These provide children a place to study. After-school tutoring is only once a week, whereas reading corners are always open with no age restriction. They use a 'big brother/ little brother' approach whereby older kids read to younger kids. Most books are on science, history etc.
This initiative builds relationships and means they get invited into people’s homes. The key goal is to get kids off phones, and to enable the young people to share their concerns and issues so they can pray with them. A number of the teenagers are believers and can share with younger kids. This has had a huge impact and brings a lot of women and children into their homes. There is huge interest and people crowd into their homes. 13- and 16-year-old young people are writing their own belief-based stories for other to read. They are working diligently and stay till after dark.
The government is providing some support for this as they have wanted to see this happen. There are plans to do more in other places. The government is offering halls for them to use as they want them. The government doesn’t object because they focus on 'Isa al Masih’.
Mrs K lives with her children and grandchildren. She has to look after the whole family as her husband left them. She is quite old and is illiterate but is an active team member. She is hardworking and loves meeting women. She got a microloan which she used to build a small fried snack business, with food that she sells on the street. This supports her extended family. She also puts on audio faith-based stories and uses these as a basis to engage with customers.
Another lady (R) joined the ministry because she was interested in what her friends were doing. She became active in bible studies, then got a loan to sell phone credit to people in the community. She was then able to start a small catfish farm with the profits. She is very grateful.
Mrs I has three kids, two of whom are autistic. She is a single parent. She works as a house cleaner. She opened a small laundry with a microloan so that she could work from home to look after her children. The $65 loan was used to buy a second-hand washing machine. Her neighbours noticed and she is able to give credit to Jesus. She listens to the audio bible along with her children and this has improved the children’s condition. She is so thankful to God and tells many people.
Mr T, one of the men in a village with land, thought he could raise chickens or goats. He got a loan to raise goats, with support of four other men. They divided up the workload among themselves. There are 12 or 13 goats in the programme. This has given the men self-worth, as they sell goats and fertiliser, and are investing profits back into the movement. This made the men stand out in the community and inspired others to want to do better at supporting their families.
Mrs L has three children and a very sick husband. She is very grateful for her macro-loan project which has greatly improved her family situation. She moved to another village and opened a small food stall. She sells food on behalf of others that supply it to her, and this helps them. A lot of people she knows have been baptised. She is so grateful for the Love Team.
R is one of the assistants in Region 4. The 15 ladies together are like one big family. They have started a catering business where some of them work, close to the government housing. Several hundred families are struggling for food. They give food during Ramadan for the neediest families. They also find used clothes at Christmas and Ramadan and give these to the needy which is the only support they get. When they show concern and love, people come to faith - many have.