“Blessed is he that considereth the poor”Special Thailand Trip Report: May 2006

Dear Friends in Christ,

IWANT TO THANK ALL OF YOU for makingthis ministry to the poor of God's kingdom areality. It was my privilege to visit Asia this past

January and February. My first stop wasBangladesh. We have three excellent programshelping Christians in various parts of that country.Many families have been given an opportunity towork and give their way out of poverty and God'skingdom has prospered because of this. The pur-pose of this visit was to evaluate a new area and agrowing outreach for a possible fourth program.The leadership there shared a real excitement for ourapproach and it appears that this growing group willbe a good fit for FARMS.

From Bangladesh, I traveled to northern Thai-land, where we have two loan programs helping var-ious tribal Christians. One is helping the Lahu peo-ple and the other is with the Hmong and Mien peo-ple. Each program was doing very well and I wasvery encouraged by the obvious impact the pro-grams were having. The peoples of northern Thai-land share borders with unreached countries thatneed the Gospel. It is always our prayer that thosewe help will share what they have in Jesus and inmany ways, this isalready happening.

In this newsletter, Iwill share three of themany exciting testi-monies I recorded whilevisiting our Hmong-Mien program. God hastruly blessed this pro-gram in remarkableways. I trust you enjoytheir testimonies and thisreport.

In Christ's Service,

Joseph E. RichterExecutive Director

Hmong-Mien Program Synopsis

OUR HMONG-MIEN PROGRAM

was started in 1998.Mike P., is a residentmissionary, involved intraining leaders andoverseeing church plant-ing efforts among tribalgroups in northern Thai-land. Even though,many were coming toChrist through this min-istry, their economic sit-uation was still extreme-ly difficult. Mike want-ed to find help for them,but not the kind of helpthat would foster depen-dency. When Mike wasintroduced to the self-help approach of FARMS, heagreed to form an indigenous committee. The pro-gram started with seven families and has now hasgiven loans to over 233 families. The average loanhas been about $400. Because the loans arerevolved, $103,125 in loans has actually been givenout of their total loan fund of just $29,000! In addi-tion, the estimated income generated from this oneprogram would be up to $1,000,000 and growing!Therefore, it is easy to understand the power ofrevolving loans as a means of poverty elimination.Furthermore, when you combine this approach withour tithing requirement, you see families growingspiritually and their churches prospering!

The FARMS Hmong-Mien committee is present-ly helping 113 families with loans, with a goal ofhelping 200 families at any given time! Most ofthese tribal families were either resettled fromrefugee camps or were forcibly relocated due to theVietnam War. The majority live near the Laotianborder in hill top villages and face extreme econom-ic hardships. Because of their refugee status, theyare not helped in the same way as normal Thai citi-zens. It is a great privilege to work with these hardworking and generous Christians.

Bangladesh • Guatemala • Haiti • India • Moldova • Nepal • Niger • Philippines • Rwanda • Senegal • Thailand • Vietnam

Mike P., missionary, withMr. Yang and sample of hismusical instrument craft

FARMS International, Inc. • P.O. Box 270 • Knife River, MN 55609 • (218) 834-2676 • 1-888-99FARMSE-mail: info@farmsinternational.com • Website: www.farmsinternational.com

In Their Own Words!In Their Own Words!Interview: Hmong farmer

Shuwa is a Hmong man living nearChiang Kham in northeast Thai-

land. He is one of the original loanapplicants and the transformation ofhis life has been amazing. He is avery humble, hard working family manwith a gentle spirit. This was my sec-ond time to visit him and to see hisproject. God has certainly blessed himeven beyond expectation. Following ispart of our interview with Shuwa.

Note: Shuwa has used SALT tech-nology (Slopping Agricultural LandTechnology) to improve the hillsideland he acquired. This organicapproach, using contours and nitrogenfixing trees, has produced a highlyprolific site for agriculture. On hissite, he has two fishponds, several veg-etable plots and about 140 fruit trees.He has done very well and his future ismuch more secure.

Shuwa: "Four times I havereceived loans from the FARMS com-mittee. I don't know about other peo-ple, but my experience has been verygood! I have seen very good fruit fromthe FARMS program. So, what you seearound us is the result of the FARMSprogram." [A four-acre hillsideorchard and vegetable farm.] "BeforeI received this money from the FARMSprogram, I was a very poor person.My family was very poor. It has reallyimproved my life in many ways."

Question from Mr. Suwang, Com-mittee Chairman: "Has it been abenefit to the local church?" "Oh, yes,it has been a real benefit to the localchurch because I give 10% of all myprofits to the church."Question:"When you give 10% to the Lord doyou see that the Lord blesses you inany way?" First answer: "Yes, I havemore peace and more joy in my life."The chairman adds,"You also have anew truck!" "Oh, yes I do now have atruck, which I was never able to affordbefore." [Shuwa only had a bicyclewhen FARMS began to help him.]Question: "Do you have anything tosay to Joe Richter?" "I just think that

the FARMS program is a real benefitto us Christians that have had difficulttimes. It helped us get started. Also,what I have found is that if you aresincere with God and use what Godgives you, God will bless."

Interview: Hmong Instrument maker

Mr. Yanglives in a

Hmong refugeeresettlementvillage. He hasa plain home,but his joy inlife is very evi-dent. Thebamboo instru-ments hemakes are tra-ditionalHmong. Theyare used at var-ious occasions, especially funerals.There is a high demand for these quali-ty instruments, even in the USA.

Question: "What was your life likebefore you had a FARMS project?""We had many ideas and many desires,but we had no money to do anything.Not until FARMS helped our family.Before I had a chance to borrow thismoney, I could survive. But, it wasvery difficult; sometimes I was justworking for people. Sometimes, Iwould just go out to the jungle and getthings to eat. It was just a day-by-day

Mr. Yang Demonstrat-ing how bamboo isbored to make a musical instrument

Mr. Shuwa and some of his squash

Mr. Shuwa showing Joe Richter some ofhis plum fruits

Bamboo boring toolsShuwa's orchard and garden

type of thing,I never reallyhad any typeof vocation oranything, andI could neverget ahead."

Question:"How did youhear aboutthe FARMSprogram?" "Iasked at theBible School,when I wasstudying in Chiang Kham [Mike P’straining school], if there was any typeof project that I could borrow moneyto could help our family get ahead. Myteacher said that I should ask aboutthe FARMS loan program. So, I wentto the committee and they helped mewith a loan. Previously, I was a silversmith and exported jewelry to the Unit-ed States. But now, I changed my pro-ject to making traditional bamboomusical instruments. Our family nowactually has a project that makesenough money, so that our family canactually live, have things to eat, goodfood, and do things we like. I justreally like to say thank you for theFARMS program, it has been a realblessing to our family."

Second Hmongmusical instrument project

Mr. Jur was also one of the origi-nal FARMS loan recipients.

Like many others in his village, he wasresettled from a refugee camp in Thai-land. This was my second time to visithim and I was very impressed at how

his business had grown. He now hashired several other men. He has a wifeand four children. Mr. Jur and hiswife are a very hard working couplewith a real love for the Lord Jesus.

"Before I worked with a FARMSproject, I worked with silver. This waseight or nine years ago. I also didthese musical instruments. I foundthat making these instruments was agood profit-making venture and with agood profit margin and a lot of moneycould be made. [The price of silverhas made silver smithing much less

profitable.] It has been about 8 yearsthat I have been making these instru-ments. It has been a real blessing andI continue to make a good profit out ofthem. Actually, my profit is between100,000 to 150,000 Baht per year.[$2,500 to $3,750, which is high forhis situation] This has made it possi-ble for me to buy a brand new motor-cycle, actually my second motorcycle,and to work on my new house andmake it very nice. My long-term goalis actually to buy a pickup truck. Theidea for the truck is so that we coulduse it to send people around to doevangelism."

"I just really want to extend a thankyou to the FARMS loan program; ithas been a real blessing. I know it hasnot been easy and I know there aresacrifices on Joe's part and the peoplethere [USA]. I just really appreciatewhat they have done for us. Last thingthat I would like to say is thank youvery much and that this FARMS pro-gram would grow and become a bless-ing to many just as it has for us."

Mr. Wang crafts silverjewelry for export tothe USA.

Close up of hand crafted silver jewlerly

Mr. Jur and his family, one boy missing.

Mr. Jur with some of his bambooinstruments

Mr. Jur and new motorcycle madepossible by FARMS project earnings

NONPROFIT ORGUS POSTAGE

PAIDDULUTH, MN

PERMIT NO 492

MembersAssociation of Evangelical Reliefand Development Organizations220 I Street N.E. • Suite 270Washington D.C. 20002

FARMS is able toaccept credit carddonations on our web siteor by telephone. We trust this newservice is of help to you.

Moving or a change of address?Please send us your new address. If youwant to be removedfrom our mailing list,please let us know.

NEW!

FARMS International, Inc.P.O. Box 270 Knife River, MN 55609

Return Service RequestedDoing good

that is good!Doing good

that is good!

Memorial & Honor Gifts

A higher standard.A higher purpose.

FARMS Welcomes Emebet Davies:

EMEBET DAVIES has recently joined the teamof FARMS International as our Staff Accoun-

tant. Emebet became a Christian in her homecountry of Ethiopia during the repressive Marxistrule of Mengistu's regime. She has lived in theUSA for the past 15 years. Emebet lost her hus-band shortly after her son, Gabe (7), was born.She and her son reside in Duluth, Minnesota.

Emebet has a very accomplished background inbusiness account-ing and bankingand we are veryglad have her jointhe team. Herheart's desire is touse her talents toserve the poor ofGod's kingdom.

Gifts in Honor of: Given By:Mr. and Mrs. Robert G Barr Betty Mergler

Ray & Anne EllisonJim & Kathy Badgley

Memorial Gifts In Memory of: Given By:

Aunt Norma Vernon & Juanita BundtBertil K. Holm Winnie Holm

Gareth Miller MemorialCharles and Mary Sue McDonald

Howard Irwin Memorial (Program sponsorship to be announced)

Mrs. Jimmie Sue Irwin