Looking for a Loan

“Would you possibly be able to loan us $150 so we can cover the costs of our wedding?”  A church member I’ll call Bertino, with his fiancée beside him, earnestly appealed at the street corner where we’d arranged to meet on my way home from work.  It was 2020, and after seven years of dating and a two-year engagement, their big day was just two weeks ago.

Here in Africa, I’ve been asked for loans more times than I can count.  Instead of budgeting and saving, most locals quickly spend any funds they receive.  Then, if a financial need arises before their next payday, they turn to their friends for loans.  A rich white foreigner is, of course, a logical first recourse.

My petitioners quickly discover, though, that my perspective on financial planning is different from theirs.  They’re probably bewildered by my stock answer:  “Proverbs 22:7 says that the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.  I value my friendships and don’t want my friends to become my slaves, so I don’t loan money to my friends.”  I typically follow that shocker by suggesting Biblical ways to provide for one’s needs and promising to pray for God’s provision.

In Bertino’s case, because of the respectfulness of the request and my closeness to his fiancée, I wanted to help.  So after consideration and counsel, I asked the couple if they would receive the $150, not as a loan, but as a wedding gift — encouraging them at the same time to not only start but also keep their marriage debt-free.  They gratefully accepted my offer, and their special day was beautiful.

Three years later, Bertino called me one Saturday,  He explained the disadvantages of renting a hut in the village where he travels weekly for his job, and requested a $600 loan to purchase living quarters there.  Signing inwardly at his apparent forgetfulness, I cited the same disadvantages of indebtedness as I’d mentioned in my wedding letter, and once again told him that I don’t lend money to my friends.  He thanked me for my time and we hung up.

After two more years — last Sunday — Bertino called me yet again requesting a loan.  He urgently needed $80 and promised to repay it at his next payday.  I delivered my usual spiel, declining to loan money but committing to pray for God’s provision, which I did after our conversation ended.  I wondered if my African friends would ever catch the vision for financial planning.

I had nearly forgotten about the matter when Bertino texted me the following Tuesday evening:  When I asked for a loan on Sunday, my family and I needed it very badly.  Your response wasn’t what I desired because I wanted help, but I accepted it.  God was gracious to my family and helped us with money to take a step towards our dream.  So I understood that when you said, “I’ll pray for God to help you,” God really helped us!

After I responded with joy to his testimony of God’s goodness, Bertino continued:  There’s something I’ve never told you that I should tell you now.  As my wedding day approached, I understood that I didn’t have sufficient means to get married.  I met with my then-fiancée (now wife) at 7:00 pm and told her, “I don’t have money and I don’t know what’s going to happen!  But God will help us.”  I said to her, “Honey, let’s ask God for money because He’s the only One who can give it to us.”  She and I bowed our heads and I prayed, “Father, please give me the money for our wedding that I lack.  Amen.”  The next day, I contacted you, and you said that you don’t lend money and that you would give us money as a wedding gift!