Local Income Generation

As we rejoice with people coming to faith in Jesus, there is also an opportunity for coming alongside them in the day-to-day struggles.

Among the rural faith communities in Thailand are believers and their families who live with low income and face the ongoing challenges of feeding their families and providing education for their children.

As the Thai team have been welcomed into the communities, built relationships over decades, discipled and journeyed with these people of faith, new and practical opportunities are emerging. The team has been asked by the faith communities to help them and their families find ways to supplement their incomes and improve their quality of life. The team has been asked about the impact of faith on meeting daily needs.

The project will start with four to five families involved in the faith communities. These are families who don’t have the means to provide themselves with training and seed funds required to change their lifestyle.

Glenn, Carolyn, their families and some ethnic Thai faith leaders are establishing two key streams of income generation opportunities:

• Agriculture/business
• Craft

Developing pathways for increased agricultural production coupled with practical and financial training provides a toolkit for the families involved to find their feet in a safe and supported environment. There is also an opportunity for women with fine craft skills and good eyesight to join an existing craft ministry that has been running for 20 years.

Costs have been modelled on an income generation project raising chickens and providing feed loans, training and purchasing start up equipment for the next three years.

Team members involved in this project:

• Dema and Carolyn
• Glenn and Liz

Your support for this project demonstrating the good news of Jesus in practical ways allows this pilot to move from infancy through implementation and expansion. We want to see families be fully self-sufficient, have a greater ability to generate supplementary income, use better farming practices and increase their understanding and management of their finances. These changes improve quality of life and provide new pathways for the next generation to step out of the poverty cycle.