One of the key topics in our sixth TCT training module is encouraging people to get out of debt. Almost everyone has large amounts of debt, and the interest they pay on this debt plays a significant role in keeping them in poverty.

At the end of the money management training we challenge those attending to make a commitment to try to get out of debt. In one region a number of churches had completed this training and had made that commitment. They made plans with the goal of being debt free in the next five years.

That year the country had a terrible drought. When the church members went to their fields they discovered that all their tapioca plants were brown and seemed to be dead. They met together to discuss what to do. Traditionally when the crops died the famers would take huge loans to get them through the next year. However they were committed to getting out of debt. It seemed there was no hope of honoring that commitment. At each of the churches the farmers gathered to fast and pray and ask God what to do.

Finally it came time to harvest the crops. Even though the crops appeared to be dead, they decided to dig up the tapioca and see if any had survived the drought.

As they dug up the plants they were shocked to discover that they were not dead, and they did not have less yield than usual. They all had two to three times the normal harvest!