FERDINAND from Rwanda was living in poverty. He wasn’t working and none of his seven children were in school.

His local church asked him how his life could be changed for the better. They wanted to know what his hopes and dreams were, and they also prayed for him. Ferdinand realised that there was a patch of land where he could plant some coffee plants.

He joined with others in the same situation in a ‘self-help group’, each contributing the equivalent of 12p a week, and then loaning part of this money to each other as needed. They even pitched their ideas to each other in a Dragons Den-style session, so that they’d know what was the priority.

Ferdinand’s first loan was the equivalent of £30, which he bought 70 coffee plants with. He then grew the plants, sold the coffee beans and was able to repay his loan and also make a profit. He’s now been through this process multiple times – he has 3,000 coffee plants and is leasing farmland to others. All his children have been to school and his eldest has just graduated from university.

All this has been possible because Tearfund have been encouraging local churches in Rwanda to set up these self-help groups, and training them in how they might run. It means that local churchgoers there are inspiring local people to help each other to thrive – rather than any of them relying on aid handouts.

This is one of the projects that your donations may be funding, as part of the Bishop’s Lent Appeal for 2025. The funds you raise will be split between Tearfund, USPG and the Vista project in Harbour Church, Portsmouth.

Tearfund’s partnerships executive Serena Dalton, who met Ferdinand in Rwanda, said: “One of the other things that happened as a result of this is that Ferdinand gave his life to Jesus. And the self-help group also meant that people in his community were able to rely on each other. As well as helping them economically, it helped them socially – some of them were lonely and this brought them together in community.

“We have some peer-reviewed research that shows that every £1 given to Tearfund that is spent in training the local church in developing countries inspires local people to invest the equivalent of £6. And then the return gained from that is 28-fold. In other words, every £1 you give would be worth £28 to someone like Ferdinand.”