SAN DIEGO, CA (December 31, 2007) – Vaughn Spethmann and Dustin McBride graduated in Spring 2007 with international business degrees from Azusa Pacific University.
Today, the entrepreneurial missionaries are overseeing a bicycle manufacturing business they started in Zambia, which is lifting its workers – and customers – out of poverty.
Their company, Acirfa (Africa spelled backwards), has manufactured more than 200 bicycles since starting production in October. They have distributed them to pastors, teachers, and orphan care workers, says Spethmann, a member of Clairemont Covenant Church and chief operating officer of Acirfa and its African business, Zambikes. Other bikes will soon be distributed to medical workers throughout Zambia.
“From the initial stages of planning at Azusa Pacific University, to carrying out our plans and vision in the heart of Zambia, we have been continually reminded of God’s faithfulness and direction in this endeavor,” Spethmann says. “What has been accomplished has been, without question, the hardest thing we have done in our lives. But, it has been the most rewarding and encouraging as well.”
In 2006, the pair sought a grant at the Urbana 06 Missions Conference to start a bicycle manufacturing business in Zambia. The business would provide jobs. The bikes would be sold at an affordable cost and enable others in communities to find work or travel to current jobs.
The two fell just short of getting the grant, but they didn’t lose either their desire or the admiration of committee members – several members continued to help them develop their business plan. Spethmann and McBride continued to work towards their dream. Based in San Diego, they raised $200,000 in startup costs and assembled a board of directors with extensive business experience. The dream became a reality.
In a country where unemployment ranges from 50 to 80 percent, Acirfa has trained more than 30 bicycle mechanics and employs 14 men to assemble their bikes. But the company hopes to provide more than jobs and employment opportunities, Spethmann says. Because people must purchase the bikes, Acirfa also replaces a poverty mindset that keeps people dependent on handouts as well as thinking they can never rise above their condition.
The business already is dramatically improving lives, such as those of two brothers, Dennis and Patrick. The pair had listened closely to the Parable of the Talents during their training at the Zambikes Mechanic School. They took the lesson to heart. The men developed a detailed plan and applied for a micro-enterprise loan from Acirfa to start a business that would purchase and distribute charcoal in the surrounding area.
Having acquired the loan of $6 (U.S.) for startup capital and to purchase a bicycle, Dennis and Patrick began multiplying their “talents.” They repaid the loan by the end of one week. In only three weeks, they made an additional $160, enabling them to purchase a farm and house that offer them the opportunity for a secure future.
It is one of the success stories that have continued to amaze the founders of the school, who also arranged the loan. “The largest lesson we have been experiencing is that God’s plan is bigger and oftentimes different than the plan we originally intended to pursue,” Spethmann says. “However, we have realized that we will readily adopt his plan any day instead of holding on to our own.”
Inspired by God’s faithfulness, the pair continues to dream big. “The goal for 2008 is to provide about 3,000 bicycles to individuals throughout Zambia,” Spethmann says. “We are currently in the process of raising an additional $600,000 to purchase a piece of property on which we can build a training and assembling facility, vehicles to transport equipment and assembled bicycles, invest further resources into research and development, and manufacture additional carrying racks for the bicycles.”
The two men have lived in Zambia, but have returned briefly to the United States as they seek additional donors, meet with board members and spend time with family. That already has meant missing one of the highlights of their work.
A professional bicycle designer and engineer and two other employees distributed about 20 bicycles to Salvation Army medical workers. “Dustin and I were bummed that we could not be there for the handing-over ceremony, but at the same time so excited knowing that we have some of the most incredible and capable Zambians still on the ground moving this project forward.”
To learn more about the project, visit the Acirfa website, which also contains videos and pictures of the mission work.
