Note #9210 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
06172 March 20, 2006
PC(USA) invests $1 million in Oikocredit
Foundation backs international program
that makes small-business loans to poor people
by Pat Cole Communications officer Worldwide Ministries Division
LOUISVILLE - The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has invested $1 million in Oikocredit, an organization that helps some of the world's poorest people start small businesses.
The PC(USA) investment, the largest in Oikocredit in more than a decade, makes the PC(USA) the second-largest investor in the World Council of Churches-related organization.
In all, PC(USA) congregations and other entities have invested more than $3.2 million in Oikocredit - an amount surpassed only by the Church of Sweden. Oikocredit's assets total more than $360 million
The latest denominational investment was made by the Presbyterian Foundation, which purchased Oikocredit shares with "creative investment" funds it manages for the General Assembly Council.
"We are pleased that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation is building on the PC(USA)'s commitment to social-justice advocacy by investing some of the church's money in an organization committed to justice for poor and marginalized people around the world," said Terry Provance, executive director of Oikocredit's U.S. affiliate, Oikocredit (U.S.A.). "Our interest rate is modest, but our investors are helping lift people out of severe poverty, and that produces a high social and moral reward."
Oikocredit channels its loans through regional offices managed by local professionals. The payback rate of its loans is more than 90 percent. No investor in the organization has lost money since its founding in 1975.
Oikocredit works in more than 50 countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. It has identified 33 of them as "focus countries."
"Our decision to support Oikocredit was driven by their mission record, their broad support within the Presbyterian church, and the financial soundness of the organization," said George Rue, senior vice president and chief investment officer of the Foundation. "The investment of the church's funds in Oikocredit is aligned with the goals of providing indirect mission funding, as well as receiving a reasonable financial return to provide incremental mission funding for the church."
The Foundation's investment is a major milestone in the PC(USA.)'s long history of commitment to Oikocredit, said Gary Cook, the denomination's associate director for Global Service and Witness.
"For many years the Presbyterian church has urged congregations to make investments in Oikocredit, because Oikocredit turns investments into hope," Cook said. "Most investments make money, but an Oikocredit investment is one of the few that makes a real difference in the lives of poor and marginalized people. I hope the Foundation's investment will be a catalyst for other church-related organizations to invest in Oikocredit."
For more information about Oikocredit, visit www.oikocredit.org/site/en/. For more information about the PC(USA) Foundation, visit www.presbyterianfoundation.org.
You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS listserv of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to
mailto:PCUSANEWS-unsubscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org.
To update your email address, send your old email address and your new one to mailto:PCUSANEWS-owner@halak.pcusa.org.
For questions or comments, send an email to mailto:PCUSANEWS-owner@halak.pcusa.org.
To learn more, visit http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 100 Witherspoon Street Louisville, KY 40202 (888) 728-7228