Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed
go free.
Isaiah 58:6

Servants in Faith And Technology is a Christian nonprofit organization that provides training in self-help programs for a needy world. SIFAT offers opportunities for Christians to get involved personally, both to learn from others and to partner with them in missions.

Acknowledging Christ's concern for the spiritual as well as the physical aspects of His children, SIFAT responds to the Great Commission by sharing God's love in practical ways. Faith and technology are merged for the purpose of enabling the poor to develop holistically in Jesus Christ. Since its founding in 1979, SIFAT has trained community leaders from 76 countries around the globe in practical skills to meet basic human needs.

SIFAT's mission is with two main groups: Midpew America, and the poor of the developing world. In Midpew America, SIFAT raises awareness of missions and global issues, providing opportunities for personal involvement. In the developing world, SIFAT trains leaders in practical self-help skills and community development principles to meet basic human needs in Christ's name.

The idea of SIFAT was conceived in the jungles of the Alto Beni of Bolivia in 1976 when Ken and Sarah Corson took their four children and moved to Sapecho to be pastors of a Bolivian church. Realizing that the homesteaders there needed more than spiritual nourishment, Ken and Sarah began work in integrated development with the people of the village.

The mayor of the town, Benjo Paredes, a Quechuan, was converted that year and has been a great Christian community leader for the past 27 years. Benjo and Ken cofounded CENATEC (Centro Nacional de Tecnologia Sustenible), a nonprofit Christian organization in Bolivia. CENATEC was the mother organization out of which SIFAT was born. In 1979, the Corsons returned to Alabama and established SIFAT as a training center for meeting basic human needs. Since then, CENATEC and SIFAT have worked closely in many endeavors.

The principles of development which SIFAT promotes:

• God is the creator of all things. All things are integrated: if a new technology is accepted into a village, it will change that village socially, physically, economically, and spiritually. The Gospel of Jesus includes integrated development and affects the physical, spiritual, mental, social, economic, political, and all other aspects of life.
• SIFAT works with all people, not just those who hold the same beliefs. This does not negate, but rather emphasizes, Christianity.
• SIFAT encourages long-term development, instead of short-term relief.
• SIFAT strives for every word and deed among the poor to build their self-esteem, to affirm their potential, and to help them become more in themselves rather than just having more for the moment. Those things that create dependency are rejected in favor of those that develop self-sufficiency. A brother/sister relationship is cultivated, rather than a paternalistic/materialistic one. SIFAT does not do things for people, but with people.
• To receive help from SIFAT, overseas partners must develop a plan for their priority project that appears to be sustainable. They must identify their resources and communicate the resources they lack. Then SIFAT considers whether a partnership would be effective.
• Help is not doing for people what they can do for themselves, except occasionally lending a hand as a way of walking in someone's shoes and showing solidarity. Help is doing what they cannot do, after they have done or are planning to do all they can.
• SIFAT welcomes others to join the exciting journey of allowing the Spirit of God to change to change people's vision and alleviating some of the alienation and lostness in our world today.

Read true stories from Ken and Sarah's mission adventures.

Map to SIFAT