The book describes social business and how it is different from a profit generating business, or a non-profit that pretty much focuses on charitable endeavors. A social business is run to make money, but all of the money generated is used to cover costs and build the business.  The products are those which benefit society.  The investors are those who want their money to make a difference in the world.  In time, the investors receive the exact amount that they invested (regardless of inflation), though there is no 100% guarantee.  An example of a social business would be a tree-planting business. Trees would have to be sold as the business needs to be sustainable. Profits would pay for the laborers, for new product, and to pay the investor back over time. The investor feels good about her/his investment because of the trees that help to protect the environment, provide shade, provide employment, etc.  Yet another example would be establishing a business that makes mosquito nets to aid in preventing malaria, or a water purification plant to produce clean water.  Note, the nets or water is not provided to the customer freely; it needs to be purchased so that sustainability is achieved.

The book is available on amazon.com and can be purchased new, used, or in electronic format.  I borrowed the book, but may purchase one because the idea is definitely worth chewing over.

10.  Limpkin, in a water purifiying area near Ft. Lauderdale.  And since I also got a purple gallinule there, it was a great morning.

9.  Colima warbler.  It was a long hike in and a long hike out, but the bird sighting made it all worthwhile. Plus, on the same day, got the canyon wren.  My wife spotted both of them before I did. Big Bend national park, Texas.

8.  Chesnut-backed chickadee and hermit warbler. Outside of Vancouver, Washington, with new friends Sherry and Arden.

7.  Northern bobwhite.  This was the bird that got me back into birding after fifteen years.  So, it deserves its rightful place in my top ten list.  Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, IN.

6.  Western bluebird and pygmy nuthatch.  In the mountains in eastern Oregon.  Another special memory that day, calling up a cow elk with a blade of grass as a whistle. 

5.  Northern saw whet owl in the mountains out of LaPine, Oregon, with my friend Terry O’Casey.  He helped me get the American dipper the day before.

4.  Red-cockaded woodpecker, north of Houston.  We followed the directions from the book, got to the place an hour early, and sure enough, got this endangered species. 

3.  California condor in the Pinnacles National Monument, California.  I got up early, hiked the trail, and came upon the condor still sleeping.  I watched it for 45 minutes before it took off.

2.  Whooping crane.  OK.  It didn’t take much work.  Just get on the boat and let them take you to the area where they live in the winter.  Rockport, Texas.  But this bird was down to some 18 individuals before they started making a comeback, slowly but (hopefully) surely.

1.  Three short-eared owls near Klamath Falls, Oregon.  It was daylight, and the reason this makes it my number one spot is that the three owls were buzzing a coyote and making it run away from the area it was prowling around.  Who would have thought the owls would take on a coyote.

Best day: pelagic bird trip on Monterrey Bay with Debra Shearwater.  One dozen lifers.

Most recent lifer?  Wrentit, at Canyon Cove State Park, near Corona Del Mar, California.

Most surprising?  Guinea fowl seen in both Tennessee and Montana.  I couldn’t believe my eyes since I wasn’t in Africa.  Too bad they don’t count on an official listing.

Next lifer?  Perhaps Vaux swift, Laysan albatross, or marbled murrelet, on my upcoming trip to Oregon.

One answer is that they can receive loans, usually small loans, with which to start small businesses.  Among slum dwellers, not a lot of money is required.  Many people, all over the world, have been able to make a living once they have received a loan.  A good book describing this process, called microlending, is Muhammad Yunnus’ book, Banker to the Poor.

In our work in Nairobi, Kenya CMF has a microfinance program, and the return rate for loans is a whopping 98%.  These loans have all been made to the poor who live in the urban slums.  Many have been able to change their lives due to the 27 hours of training that precedes the loan and the weekly follow-up meetings after the loan has been secured.  Individuals form themselves into a group who meet together and who hold one another accountable.

Within the next week or so we will be live online so that potential donors can make a contribution to our microfinance program.  They will be able to choose the one to whom they wish to make a loan, as well as the amount needed for the loan.  They will be able to fund the entire loan or a portion of the loan.  They will be able to know what business is being envisioned.  And they will be able to immediately get their tax deductive receipt online.

Our site is called Big Dent because we believe that with a small gift you will be able to make a big dent in poverty.

Many microfinance programs leave out the all important spiritual component in their endeavors.  We do not.  In fact our program is but one aspect of a holistic ministry that involves health, schooling, justice, care for the environment, and Christian teaching.  Prayer is a part of every group meeting.

Check it out:   www.BigDent.org

A long time friend, Stephen Burris, edited a book back in 1995 titled Completing the Task.  He is editing another book in the same vein, and has asked me to contribute five chapters (3 on anthropology, 1 on strategy, and 1 on holistic missions).  So I’ve got my work cut out for me.

For the last eight years I have worked from home on Fridays.  I use the time for reading and writing, though sometimes I also work on the CMF archives.  I found it is easier to read and write (serious writing, not memos or letters) from home than in the CMF office.  Since my computer is linked with the CMF system, I can respond to emails while at home.

A couple of other assignments include an upcoming workshop on Creation Care at the National Missionary Convention, and a workshop on Global Poverty and Biblical Justice at the 2011 North American Christian Convention.

Finally, there is my ongoing project of editing and publishing (many of) the primarily unpublished works of the late missiologist Alan Tippett.  Five or six books have been completed and are getting ready for publication.

Contact Ed   ed@careofcreation.org or,  Lowell  lowell@edenvigil.org for information or an invitation.