CHICAGO, IL (October 5, 2012) – Khiyan Jai-Ping, an elderly woman living in the mountain village of Huay Khaap, was left to fend for her and her husband after their children moved to the city to find work. The couple was barely able to make a living farming rice and often did not have enough to eat.

With money raised through the Covenant Cares catalog, the Bo Klua Pig Project was able to provide a sow to the woman that eventually gave birth to 10 piglets. She sold seven of them at about $30 each, which enabled her to purchase food for her and her husband as well as build a better pigpen.

This year, the woman is raising the three remaining pigs, which she hopes will yield another litter of pigs this year. One of those pigs will be loaned back to the project and loaned to another family.

“She considers herself blessed by this project and is grateful that she can be a blessing to others through it,” says Evangelical Covenant Church missionary Bob Shim.

Twenty other families were provided pigs through Covenant Cares donations, says Shim. The pigs project currently serves 61 families in six villages and has helped more than 100 families overall.

Covenanters purchase the designated gifts on behalf of loved ones for Christmas and other special occasions. The funds are used for a breadth of Covenant projects that include providing clean water, offering malaria medicine, and supporting education in Kenya.

Last year’s gift totals included:

• Fish – $12,365
• Water – $17,347
• Medicine – $12,372
• Pigs – $6,852
• Sheep – $15,237
• Family gardens – $9,570

In India, the Hindustani Covenant Church (HCC) provided 60 goats to two women’s self-support groups. Each group has 10 members.

Fifty-eight female and two male goats are given to these women’s groups for their economic development initiatives and to supplement their income. All the beneficiaries are from a tribal community, are landless and work as laborers in agricultural lands, said Steven David, HCC moderator.

The women agree to make sure the goats are well cared for. Each goat also is insured.
As the goats multiply, the first-born will be given to other families, David says. In that way, the group members will benefit by multiplication of goats, selling of milk, and by using and selling waste matter as organic fertilizer.

The first catalogs have been mailed with this month’s Covenant Companion and more will soon be available. The catalogs also are available online through CovBooks.com.