The Community of Disciples of Christ in Congo (CDCC) in what today is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was founded in 1889. The church has been affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States since its inception.  The church functions with 22 ecclesial regions located in the Equator, Bandundu, East Congo, Lower Congo and Kinshasa regions.  The communities where the congregations are located are confronted with many socio-economic problems.

The formation of Microcredit and Savings Projects among the women of the CDCC is a source of hope in an otherwise dim existence. The projects allow people to live in “dignified poverty” rather than hopeless destitution. The CDCC microcredit project offers two ways to affect change. The first is through offering loans to people in the community so that they can start a business or make a needed investment. These loans are then paid back with interest. The interest then becomes income to women who have invested with the group and is the second way that the project helps people financially. As individuals demonstrate their ability to repay the loans and interest, they are able to borrow again and subsequent loans may be larger because they have proven themselves trustworthy.

Women who have money to invest buy “shares” of the project and interest paid on loans is distributed amongst women who have invested according to the number of shares they have. Women who have initially borrowed funds may choose to buy shares once they have money to save from the profits of their investment but this is not a requirement for the loans. Funds are held for periods of six months and then distributed with interest. Women may choose to reinvest for another six months or may use funds otherwise.

The group is governed by women who hold shares with any funds being locked in a box with three locks. The funds cannot be accessed without the consent of the women who keeps the box and each of three women who have a key to each of the three locks. Loan decisions are made by the shareholders.

The Community of Disciples of Christ in Congo is seeking start-up funds to expand the network of microcredit and savings projects. Funds would be used to grant initial loans.