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That's when everything came into focus. OI had told him it would take millions of dollars to meet the government's equity requirements to set up a fully licensed microbank for poor Rwandans. Dawson took it as a personal challenge. Through his personal network, he and OI raised millions of dollars to make the bank a reality—all in 90 days.

The money was in position but not the manpower or the know-how. That's when Cavin confronted a fateful question: Should he uproot his family and move to Kigali? Though not many friends encouraged him, he felt, as he told CT, "If God is calling you to something, just respond." So he did.

Experience told Cavin he needed a strong team, so on a Friday afternoon, he picked up the phone and called a close colleague, venture capitalist Todd Brogdon. The call was such a shocker that Brogdon has it committed to memory. Cavin said to him, "Todd, this will sound strange to you, but God keeps your name in front of me." He asked Brogdon to join him in creating a microfinance bank in Rwanda.

Brogdon, then enjoying a promising career, was stunned. "I had never thought of coming to Africa," he said. He had grown up in poor Eastern Arkansas and saw no need to globetrot to help the poor. "We have the poor here!" he said. And while Dawson and Cavin were more financially stable, he was not. "I do not have a big checkbook at home." Nonetheless, he called his wife. Their conclusion: "This could be God."

Finally the core of a new team was in position: the visionary Dawson, the banker Cavin, and the venture capitalist Brogdon.

Since the 1994 genocide when 1 million or more Rwandans were slaughtered, the nation of 9.1 million has become a showcase for economic reform. But even though its economy is growing at a rate of near 6 percent, Rwanda remains one of Africa's poorest nations, heavily dependent on agriculture and a cash economy.

Ephraim Kabaija, presidential adviser on rural development, explained that most families grow cash crops and earn about $225 annually. It's difficult to save anything with such low incomes.

He said, "Do you know how many children die in our country every year because their mothers cannot afford the $2 to $10 needed to buy medicines to treat diarrhea, fever, malaria, and other common illnesses? Do you appreciate how much angst, misery, and despair we could eliminate from our country if every family had $50 in a savings account?"

As part of the remedy, business and government leaders set out a bold objective to transform Rwanda from a cash-based to a savings-based economy. Kabaija said, "We have studied new industrial economies in Southeast Asia—South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Early in their development, they moved to a savings-led economy, and today they have some of the highest individual savings rates in the world.

"Transforming Rwanda to a savings culture will not only provide a cushion for families and communities, but it will mobilize the capital of our people so it can be reinvested in businesses and municipal works and make us less dependent on the outside capital of others."

Back in 1997, three years after the genocide, the evangelical agency World Relief began a nationwide microloan program called Urwego Community Banking, loaning out as little as $20 in Rwandan currency to villagers willing to learn how to start and run a small business. Meeting regularly, the clients would discuss business problems, repay loans, and borrow additional funds as their businesses grew.

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October 2007, Vol. 51, No. 10