Author: Janet and Geoff Benge
Review By: G. Stephen Goode
A wonderful, continuation of inspiring, life-changing stories from the series Christian Heroes: then and now.
Janet and Geoff Benge have captured, in an easy to read - keep turning the pages book - the heart of the David and Carol Bussau family and their contribution to the globally poor of our world.
David's life was shattered at the age of 9 when he and his brother were abandoned by his parents and taken into a children's home in New Zealand. This is a story of overcoming life challenges regardless of what is thrown at you. It is the story about a young boy's dream to work hard and become a millionaire by the age of 40. It is also a story about finding God's purpose for each of us and how God uses our skills to make significant impact in our world.
David is a family man, a follower of Jesus and a man of humility who likes to get along side people and help them develop and succeed. David's skill is being an entrepreneur and making money whether by selling hot dogs, hamburgers or baked goods or building a construction business. His skill is seeing opportunities that come his way and making a profit. His skill is believing in people, particularly the poor, that they can develop these same kind of skills with a bit of capital.
David is one of the fathers in the development of micro-enterprise, micro-finance and providing small loans for the poor and has founded organizations like Opportunity International, Maranatha Trust and the Wholistic Resource Transformation Center to name a few. If you are in business, if you are in government, if you are a student that is looking to make a difference in life or if you are wondering what you can do in missions, this book will give an example of how God can use your skills and help bring about transformation.
From page 160 -" David had learned that a process was involved before loans could be made to people. First you had to get to know a community, build trust, and identify the leaders among the people. Then you had to identify the needs of the community. Did the community need a clean-water supply so that the fields could be irrigated and crops grown? Or did it need an access road so that things produced in the community could be easily transported to market? Only when such issues had been addressed was it time to begin making small loans available to members of the community. And then it was important to identify those people who had an aptitude for business and would develop businesses, that would create jobs for others in the community, thus magnifying the effect of the loan.
We have known and partnered with David, Maranatha Trust and Opportunity International for more than 10 years. He is a personal friend and you will be deeply challenged by this book.
Purchase David Bussau: Facing the World Head-on at World Christian Bookstore
