All Posts
About Our Work
Impact
You can tell that someone is flourishing by the fruit they bear. Jesus said that “every healthy tree bears good fruit” (Matthew 7:17, ESV). But growing a healthy tree from a seed takes hard work and faith.
The true goal is flourishing: vibrant communities where individuals don’t just endure but thrive. This kind of transformation doesn’t happen overnight. It’s not a quick fix or a one-time intervention—it’s a patient, intentional, and generational investment. Sinapis donors understand this. They’re playing the long game, planting seeds of opportunity and growth, fully aware that they may never sit under the shade of the trees they’re nurturing. Yet, they invest anyway—because flourishing is worth it.
Sinapis takes a holistic approach to building communities and breaking the cycle of generational poverty by walking alongside men and women as they launch businesses for the glory of God’s kingdom. Gifts from donors equip these entrepreneurs to flourish in four important areas:
How: Through biblically-integrated curricula, discipleship, and prayer, Sinapis invests in the spiritual health of those we serve.
Why: Every person is made for a relationship with Jesus Christ, who offers hope for today and eternity, and invites us to work for shalom wherever He places us.
We long to see each individual grow in relationship with Christ, becoming His ambassador in their business and community. As Sinapis and our generous donors equip entrepreneurs, we invite them to deepen their relationship with God, apply Christian ethics to their business practices, and cultivate a company culture that values each employee, blesses the community, and disciples others to do the same.
How: Donors equip us to facilitate connections with other entrepreneurs, mentors, and investors. Our programs also help entrepreneurs intentionally invest in the lives of their employees and communities.
Why: Kingdom flourishing encompasses our relationship with ourselves and others. Despite the temptation toward isolation, we find deeper joy in relational harmony and community. Shalom.
Since people spend most of their waking hours working, businesses are crucial for skill development, collaboration, and talent discovery. Businesses can create goodness and beauty in society, solving community problems. Even social services, nonprofits, and churches all depend on for-profit businesses to exist.
How: Sinapis donors equip entrepreneurs to launch and grow profitable businesses that create jobs. That enables employees to provide better quality food, education, housing, and health care for their families.
Why: Humans have a basic need for food, clothing, and shelter. Economic flourishing happens when these needs are consistently met through dignified, gainful employment. As profitable businesses grow and pay fair wages, people can provide for their families and share from their abundance, meeting the needs of the less fortunate.
This ripple effect is the way of the Kingdom. It begins with an entrepreneur and touches the lives of everyone along their value chain and beyond.
How: With the support of donors, we encourage entrepreneurs to consider the environmental impact of their business decisions. Many of our alumni are building regenerative business models.
Why: In Genesis, God invited Adam and Eve to join Him in stewarding the good world He created. That invitation extends to each one of us in our personal lives and in our work.
At Sinapis, we believe Kingdom businesses can demonstrate the essential role of profitability while allowing God’s creation to thrive for future generations. Generous gifts from donors help entrepreneurs build business models that strive toward environmental shalom.
Since we began serving entrepreneurs in 2011 in Nairobi, Kenya, our offerings and geographic footprint have expanded. Now available in 15 countries, Sinapis manages our programs within East Africa in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. We partner with organizations in 12 other nations who contextualize our services for their country’s unique needs and opportunities.
Their support enables us to carry out our mission to make disciples and alleviate poverty through the power of entrepreneurship.
By equipping entrepreneurs and entrepreneur-support organizations in frontier markets, our programs grow profitable kingdom businesses so communities can flourish.
We know communities are flourishing because we track their progress. Every year we survey our graduates to track their collective business, social and spiritual impact.
By the numbers, here’s the impact Sinapis graduates made in 2023:
67% of graduates reported that their businesses helped lead new followers to Christ
76% actively integrated faith into their businesses
64% reported new mindsets about relating faith to business
36% launched spiritual or social impact programs
67% of graduates learned something at Sinapis that saved their business from failure
79% was the average growth rate of graduates’ businesses in revenue (CAGR*)
$94.3 million in revenue was generated
$93.6 million in investment capital was raised
2,810 entrepreneurs graduated from Sinapis in 2023
10,860 jobs were created by graduates
43,440 additional dependents were impacted by these jobs
285,617 lives improved throughout the businesses’ supply chains
36% of graduates ran social or environmental projects in their communities through their businesses
That means that in 2023, roughly 3,000 entrepreneurs improved more than 300,000 lives. And the seeds given by donors equipped them to do it. Thank you for your support and the faith you put in these bright and hardworking entrepreneurs. The seeds you help them plant are bearing fruit as flourishing businesses and communities.
Read the full Impact Report to learn more about successes and challenges we faced in 2023, and read inspirational stories about entrepreneurs, partners and donors.
