Official Blog of FARMS International

In this post we will highlight two participants of the a FARMS program in Thailand. Sing and Chantida Sing and Chantida have two boys and one girl. This is the first time that they have used the FARMS loan program and they have agreed to pay the money back in a years’ time. Their loan was for 60,000 Baht or about $1,715. With their loan they are funding their coffee production, linchee fruit trees, and their yearly rice planting. They needed the loan to plant more trees, to buy adequate fertilizers and other items needed to increase their harvest. The main reason for the expansion of their farm is to provide for their children’s college education. All three of their children are near college age. Normally, higher education is only a dream for tribal families. However, we see this dream come true for project holder’s children over, and over again. Your help makes this possible. Su Yuan and Nan Ti Gan Su Yuan and Nan Ti Gan have two young girls, 9 and 12 years old....

Suntalee and Kitti Safon Suntalee (holding her four year old boy who was born deaf) has been a Christian for some time. Her husband came to know the Lord about seven years ago. They applied for their first loan with FARMS to improve their coffee crop. Their loan was for $430. It is their hope, that they will earn enough from their project to send their little son to a school that teaches sign language. The mother is required to attend and the father is encouraged to attend also. The school is in a large city three hours away. Pray for this young family and for their little boy. Pray that God will bless the work of their hands and give them the desires of their hearts. Ying and Jiawseng Farm Ying and his wife Jiawseng have had several loans from FARMS. Their present loan is for $1,715. They are using the loan to improve their coffee yield with fertilizer application and irrigation. They also will use part of their loan for their yearly rice crop. This family has been extremely...

Micro-credit was hailed as a cure-all for poverty. Nevertheless, several recent studies have documented the true picture. Little evidence was found for the illusory claims of reducing poverty. In fact, studies have shown that instead of the poor being released from poverty, secular micro-credit programs have encumbered the poor with layers of debt! This horrendous outcome is not surprising to me. Why? Because the whole scheme was built on the backs of the poor. The poor pay for this help, by supporting those running the programs as well as funding the cost of their credit, enabling the financiers to become richer and richer. This unbiblical approach to poverty, funded by interest rates of 35% and above, is a travesty. One study reported that the poor paid over 21 billion dollars in micro-credit interest in 2012! But there is good news! FARMS International has a biblical approach to poverty. Local volunteers run our programs, so the cost is very low. Also, we do not charge interes...