The partnership between ECLOF Jamaica and the local congregations has a long history. In 1998, at the initiative of Bishop Otto, ECLOF Jamaica enabled 75 vulnerable church members of the Linstead Pentecostal Tabernacle Church to build their own micro business by providing loans worth USD 61,000.
In order to raise loan capital, ECLOF Jamaica approached churches, church umbrella organizations and church based organizations seeking loan funds to be invested in the development of the portfolio. Three credit facilities totaling USD 47,000 were the result in 2016. One of the investors is the Board of Little People In Training, a kindergarten and preparatory school established by the Linstead Pentecostal Tabernacle Church in 1988. It hosts 162 students. The Little People In Training had excess funds to be invested. After careful deliberation the School Board took the decision to invest the money with ECLOF Jamaica, rather than with commercial banks or investment houses. In doing so, they considered the impact of ECLOF’s growing portfolio on their own parishioners and poor and disadvantaged persons elsewhere in the country. Another important aspect in the decision of the School Board was the security provided by a guarantee from ECLOF International in Switzerland.
This partnership is a success benefiting both sides. Not only are Little People In Training investing their money safely, but it is being used wisely to help vulnerable people, many of them in their own communities.
