Story number 3 for 16 Aug 2001

(International)–FARMS International is a Christian ministry that serves the church around the world by equipping families in poverty with the means for self-support. This year, the organization is celebrating forty years of ministry. FARMS’ executive director, Joseph Richter. “I think one of the things that FARMS has learned is that when we aid poor Christians around the world, there’s always a danger of dependency. FARMS now has established a method and a philosophy that tries to eliminate that through a micro-credit loan program.” Richter says their work helps the church, which in turn, helps evangelistic outreach. “The main way our program helps the local church is through the emphasis on tithing of the loan recipients. Each loan recipient agrees to tithe back into his local church and this is the real way that grassroots evangelism is accomplished.” FARMS is looking to launch new programs in the Philippines, Indonesia and Guatemala this year.