By Faith Ministries is the international charity arm of Family Life Ministries that helps the poverty-stricken in a growing number of regions in the world to become independent, self-providing and equipped to support others in need. We like to call it ‘Mission Possible’ because we’re making some seriously good things happen for people who cannot survive or thrive without this assistance.
“Sympathy is no substitute for action.”
In Australia, we are fortunate to live in the top ten per cent of the world’s economy, many of us in the top eight per cent, and a few of us in the top five per cent.
The tragic reality is that the gospel message has been going in to countries of poverty for decades, yet according to the United Nations there are currently more than 143 million orphans struggling to survive in the world today, with the proportion of the world’s children who are orphans increasing with time. Today 815 million people are malnourished.
What is wrong with this picture?
Jesus said:
“Suppose a someone is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is that? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:15-17)
The By Faith Ministries Catalogue
You can purchase a number of items to support these micro-industries; from chickens through to fencing materials. Or, you can view itineraries for journeys to the outback or international destinations where you can make a genuine, hands-on difference in person.
Click here to view the catalogue.
Micro-industries is the answer
There’s an old proverb that says if you give a man a fish, he eats today. But if you teach a man how to fish, he eats for the rest of his life. By Faith Ministries establishes micro-industries in these poverty-stricken communities and teaches people how to grow crops, sew garments, raise animals and more. We provide guidance and support so that these micro-industries can grow and prosper and ultimately, the funds raised can help towards establishing more micro-industries.
Every single hour and every dollar spent goes toward changing whole villages at a time.
David Livingston (pioneering Scottish missionary 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) stated that “Sympathy is no substitute for action.” Rather than providing short term solutions to poverty, By Faith Ministries establishes for the poorest of the poor, micro-industries that will multiply thanks to successful and simple methods of networking that we will implement.
How can you play a part?
You, in tandem with By Faith Ministries, have the opportunity to bring about real change in the lives of hundreds. This is through the support of even just one individual micro-industry, which will go on to change poverty situations and to create further micro-industries. We invite you to make monetary donations here. Or, you can learn more about contributing in other practical ways by contacting us.
What kind of micro-industries?
There are many micro-industries By Faith Ministries can establish in these communities. They are created to be self-funding and sustainable, without the need for ongoing donations. You can find out more information about these micro-industries and read more about what By Faith Ministries do:
Beyond each individual micro-industry are more, similar entities that are set up thanks to the funding of those that come before them. This funding also goes towards humanitarian projects such as orphanages as well as skills training in welding and sewing, for example. So you can easily see that by setting up one micro-industry, we are able to change literally hundreds of lives.
Get involved; make a real, sustainable long-term difference. Contact us now.
In Australia, instead of micro-industries, By Faith Ministries works with indigenous Australians by making use of the connections we have with pastors who are really involved in the community. We support what they are doing by providing training and ministry teams, and by offering specific assistance as requested by the pastors.
We are currently focused on providing assistance to our pastors in Bourke, Condobolin, Cootabarabran and Tabulum.
The majority of our work in India is focused on the city with the greatest needs, Kolkata. With a population in excess of 15 million people it is a large bustling city with confronting, complex problems. By Faith Ministries also supports ministries and projects in Hyderabad and in the region of Guntur.
Our endeavour is for people to see their own value and ability to sustain themselves and others. By leaving people in a situation where they are dependent on us they will never get to a place of self-sufficiency and will never be able to help those around them.
Effective programs are in place to help the poor through micro-industries, practical support, education programs and transportation to allow villagers to find work.
• Through the funding of projects such as card making, sewing centres, chicken farms, IT training and computers for online language tuition, India’s poor and outcast are being empowered to not only become financially independent but to also contribute to the needs of others.
• In Kolkata thousands of children are trying to survive in slums. By Faith Ministries partners with a local pastor who operates a free school and English training for these children. There is also a very successful program that rescues women from forced prostitution and gives them sewing lessons so they can work in a sewing centre and start a new life.
• By Faith Ministries also has a proven program to support orphanages so they can become self-sufficient. This program involves equipping them with any equipment that they need such as washing machines, and setting up a new micro-industry that is connected to the orphanage. Profits from the micro-industry give those running it an income, and also fund the running of the orphanage.
For example, we recently set up a sewing centre that employed widows, abandoned young adults and poor women. This funded the orphanage, giving them an ongoing source of finance.
16% of those living in The Philippines live on less than $1 a day and 40% live on less than $2 a day.
For this reason, By Faith Ministries has a very active and established presence in The Philippines. The results from skills training, rehab centres, employment assistance, micro-industries that suit the culture and orphanages has been astounding.
• In 2009 almost 10,000 women reported acts of serious wife-beating or rape to the police. The number of women who do not report to the police or have been beaten multiple times is immeasurable. It is hard for these women to escape their situations as they do not have sufficient skills or work experience to earn money to support themselves and their children. By Faith Ministries has set up sewing centres for battered women. This allows them to be self-sufficient, support their families, develop a sense of worth and connect with other women. Our sewing centres are growing rapidly with international orders and government projects as well as a reputation for quality in The Philippines.
More information on our sewing centres here.
• The first of a series of orphanages for abandoned children, rescued victims of human trafficking, and displaced children who are found living in rubbish tips. Using the By Faith Ministries model of self-sufficiency, the orphanage has a fishing industry that provides food and income to support the orphanage’s running costs. It also has rice fields, grows fruit and vegetables, and farms livestock to support itself through food for the children and income to expand the orphanage’s capacity.
• Out of school youth and impoverished men and women are given internationally certified training in welding, carpentry, use of heavy machinery and manufacturing of automotives. Training includes skills that will make them employable all across the Philippines and also in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom, USA and Canada. This includes interview skills, OHS, safety compliance training and workplace etiquette.
• Hardworking, trustworthy village pastors are selected to facilitate pig farms, carabaos and goats as micro-industries for the poor and also for those who would benefit from an income to be able to continue helping the needy around them. Raising carabaos and running goat and pig farms are easy skills to teach and they provide a long-term ongoing income after the initial set-up costs.
People who have been placed in prison for stealing as a means of survival are taught how to set up a one of these micro-industries while they are in prison, so that when they are released they have a means for living and no longer need to commit crimes.
These micro-industries help fund further micro-industries in The Philippines as well as funding ministries that feed the poor and rescue children from slums and human trafficking.
More information on pig farms, carabao and goat farms here.
The United Nations (UN) estimates that in 2007 there were 880,000 people living with HIV, with 14,000 being under the age of 14.
The UN also estimates that Thailand has around 1,500,000 orphans under the age of 17. That is 1,500,000 children who are at risk of being sold into the Thai sex-trade, may themselves have HIV or AIDS, or may have been abandoned because of a marriage break up. Sadly, this statistic grows each year.
For this reason, By Faith Ministries is a long-term supporter of Mercy International orphanages in the Thai provinces of Prayer and Petchabun.
Mercy International has a holistic approach to the children in their care, including children with the HIV + virus – focusing on the child’s social, spiritual, emotional and physical needs.
The children at Mercy International are given a new start and become part of a big family of children of all ages. They are given a primary and high school education as well as a university education.
By Faith Ministries also operates in the USA, assisting our team on the ground in reaching the hungry, hurting and lost. With the assistance of By Faith Ministries in Australia our representatives in the USA, Paul and Patty Palmer, are also establishing unique industries that will finance further micro-industries around the world.
By Faith Ministries is active in many different practical ways in West Timor and Bali.
The focus is to do our part in making sure people in these areas have life to the full, from clean water and employment, to safe roads and medical help.
In Bali we have set up a small business in leather-work, and we are setting up a sewing warehouse which will design, create and distribute international orders. This creates employment opportunities and also provides unskilled workers with training.
In West Timor and Bali we send medical teams into villages that do not have access to medical help, cannot afford it, or do not understand certain illnesses and are left untreated because of village superstitions and stigmas.
Where a medical team are not able to provide sufficient help on the ground, By Faith Ministries arranges for travel to a hospital in Australia at no cost to the ill or their family.
By Faith Ministries accepts un-needed glasses (spectacles) from people and sends them to villages where they are given to those who require glasses. If you have glasses that you no longer need, instead of throwing them away please contact us to donate them to villages in Bali and West Timor.
Other practical help includes helping local residents create roads that will give them access to supplies, employment and medical help. By Faith Ministries builds and installs new toilets and shower blocks in villages to improve hygiene. Solar plants are also installs to generate power in villages.
In Bali we have a unique program that teaches Indonesians to make water filtration systems and solar plants that provide clean water for entire villages.
Click here to donate to any of these projects including:
• new small businesses in Bali
• water filtration in Bali
• solar plants for villages in Bali
• medical assistance in West Timor and Bali.
If you have spare glasses (spectacles) that you would like to donate, please contact us to arrange delivery.
11 million children will die before their fifth birthday. Our action could give them life today. The message of God’s love will give them life forever.
