It is a privilege to join in God’s work of enabling families across the globe to move from dependency to dignity, from mere survival to fulfilling God’s purpose as faithful stewards. Meet our team and read stories of impact in our 2024 annual report.
2024 Annual Report Read More »
Impact: More Than Just Numbers By Verlin Torkelson, East Africa Regional Director We often talk about impact. It’s our way of understanding and explaining the value of the work we do. In East Africa, we measure many things—group growth, money saved, loans given, and the number of people joining savings groups. We feel blessed when
September Newsletter 2024 Read More »
Gardening and Savings Groups by Marilyn Kuepfer – Director’s wife Here in Detroit, MI, we are beginning to plant the first seeds and transplants in the ground. The frost free date isn’t until around the middle of May, but there are cold crop plants that we can put out and then cover when the temperature
June Newsletter 2024 Read More »
A Journey of Faith and Financial Literacy in East Africa By Thomas Amata, Director of Operations for East Africa It’s a chilly morning, but some children are braving the cold as they stream into a church building in Taveta town on the Kenyan coast. A few of them are carrying notebooks. They gather around, seated
A Journey of Faith and Financial Literacy in East Africa Read More »
The Chihuahua, Mexico program launch is just around the corner! At the end of May, we are planning a training after which we will launch a new savings group program in the Cuauhtémoc area of Chihuahua. We are excited to partner with Anabaptist Savings and Loans (ASAL). The savings group participants will have the opportunity
Chihuahua, Mexico Program Launch Read More »
We are planning to expand the savings programs in order to help more people in developing countries. In the next fiscal year we hope to increase group numbers by several hundred. Some of the areas where we expect the most growth are in East Africa and Haiti. We also expect expansion in Asia and Latin
Expansion on the Horizon! Read More »
In January of 2022, we began an administrative transition where Merle Burkholder began training Joe Kuepfer as the Administrator of Open Hands. There was a phased transition from January to May. At the end of May, the transition was completed and Merle has now retired as Administrator and transitioned into the role of Staff Pastor.
Administrative Transition Read More »
In the beginning of May, the Verlin and Bethany Torkelson family settled into Nakuru, Kenya. Verlin now serves as the regional director for East Africa. The Torkelson’s are from Alberta, Canada. Bethany will assist with the accounting for the Nakuru office. She is also fluent in Hindi, and we expect for her language skills to
Torkelson Family arrives in Kenya Read More »
