Charity Bank
(Letter from Pastor. John Joseph)
  The concept of Charity bank was very appealing to me. The simple and effective way it operates really surprised me. The problem of bad debts was very nicely solved. Here is how they are working: 

A small loan of say Rs.2000. is given to a deserving member of their church. 

The Charity Bank board receives application from different needy persons. 

Its scrutinizes and short-list the application according to the funds available. 

The short-listed candidates are called for an interview. 

The projects presented by the candidates are reviewed and its loan repayment capacity is analyzed. 

After the candidate is selected, the pastor of the village is called and his approval is taken. 

The pastor has to stand as guarantee for the candidate. 

Just in case the candidate is not able to repay the loan then the pastor has to repay back the loan. This way the pastor is very much involved in the project and ensures that the project is successful. 

The pastor is benefited in time to come because when the business flourishes the member is supposed to pay his regular tithe. This way the church and the pastor is benefited. 

Loan is only given to persons who are members of their church for more than 2 years. This way the allegations that money is being given to people to become Christian is ruled out. 

Goat Farms: Very early in the morning we went to this village. This village is located on the mountain top and we had to walk a long distance. Babu has been given two goats. One mother and a kid. The total cost of these goats is Rs.2500. The Charity bank gave him Rs.2000 and Babu added the rest. It is expected that these goats will multiply to at least 8 to 10 animals in one years time. The selling price of each will be Rs.1000 to Rs.1200. Very soon the loan will be repaid and tithes will start coming in the church. 

Markos has purchased 3 kids goat with the Rs.2000. given to him. He is an old man living with his wife. He has also purchased two rabbits and some chickens. There is no other source of income for this man. He is very happy to have these goats. 

Quail bird farm: Quails are very rugged birds but only weighs about 250 gms. Their meat is of medicinal value specially to diabetes and heart patients. Its eggs are very small but are Cholesterol and fat free. Therefore this bird very much preferred to Chicken. Quails require less feed. In fact one chicken eats the food of 5 quails! The space required for its cage is also very small. A simple cage made of wodden planks, measuring 15 x 5 feet x 1 feet (Ht.) can be used to house 175 birds! The quail chicks start giving eggs from 45 days old and can give upto 7 months, then it is sold for meat. The cost of quail eggs is only 70 paise compared to Rs.1.50 for chicken eggs. 

The owner of the farm where I visited was Chako (Jacob) at village Chembenkondom. He is an old man and has his son and daughter-in-law helping him in this business. I was told that he is a good member of the church and therefore given this loan. He already has 275 quail birds of his own. The Charity Bank gave him 125 birds more at the cost of Rs. 2000. His son has a good knowledge about these birds and answered many questions. 

These 400 birds are giving him approx. 230 eggs per day, which he is selling for Rs.159 per day. He is getting a monthly income of Rs.4770. If he has 500 birds then the manure can be used to get cooking gas for his kitchen. Presently the manure is being used to fertilizer his coconut farm which is giving 50% more yield because of this manure. 

Phenol (Disinfectant) Company: A Phenol concentrate is bought at Rs.55. per litre. This is added with water and it gives 25 litres. The market price of each litres is Rs.22. The wholesale price of each litre is Rs.10. The manufacturing price comes to Rs.5. 

Used/ rejected water bottles from mineral water bottle company is purchased at a very low price. These are repacked with Phenol with a new label and sold in the market. This business is three weeks old and flourishing. Shaji has already hired three full time salesman to sell these products. 

Earlier Shahji was not a good Christian and without job. But now because of this business he is very thankful to God and regularly attends church. 

Appam (Breakfast food): This man when he was not a Christian lost everything in business. He came to Past. Daniel’s church through the free food program. Pas. Daniel helped him to start a flourishing Appam food industry with only Rs. 2000. He now earns almost Rs.1000 per day selling these breakfast items to hostels and hotels. 

Pastor Daniel also has many other Christian outreaches. I have never seen a Mercy Home so beautiful. This is a three story building. The ground floor is the pastor house with a small chapel. The first floor is the home for 9 children, along with their study room. The third floor is an enclosed terrace for the children to play, dry their clothes and also to hold a small gospel meeting. Pas. Daniel has 10 such Mercy Homes and plans to start some more. The cost of maintaining a child is Rs. 600. per month. 

I was blessed to see the beautiful church building which Pas. Daniel has built some two years back. The ground floor consist of his office, a 5000 books library and some classrooms. The top floor is a beautiful sanctuary with a seating capacity of 300 people. 

I got an opportunity to preach to his Bible School students. He has 50 students in this school and the cost of running this Bible school comes to Rs.600. per student. He soon plans to start an English medium Bible School. 

Daniel has started a tailoring institute for the female students that are in the Bible School. This way they will have a trade in their hands once they graduate from the Bible School. 

Finally, I found Pastor Daniel a very thorough gentleman who has a very kind heart and wants to help poor pastors. He speaks good English and is very up-to-date with church matters. I personally want to thank you for this privilege you gave me to visit this area. It was an eye opener for me and there was lots to learn."		  
     
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