Hands of Faith Fair Trade

A ministry of Lord of Life Lutheran Church dedicated to changing the world one purchase at a time

Lord of Life’s Hands of Faith Fair Trade ministry began in 2005 with fair trade coffee sales to the church community. In 2013, we opened the first Hands of Faith Fair Trade store in a small classroom in our building. This growing ministry, run completely by volunteers, now has its own storefront facing the Lord of Life parking lot. We currently sell items from more than 40 countries in every region of the world.

Hands of Faith Fair Trade has been a registered and verified member of the Fair Trade Federation since 2018, and we proudly promote fair trade principles. Hands of Faith Fair Trade is the only Fair Trade Federation member in the Houston area with a storefront selling a wide variety of goods—including coffee, food, clothing and accessories, jewelry, home décor, and paper goods.

What is Fair Trade?

“Fair trade” means that your shopping dollars go directly to farmers and artisans, skipping distributors that scale their operations by paying less than a living wage. Fair trade supports lives, ends exploitation, and builds independence.

Behind items we consume every day (coffee, tea, and chocolate to name a few!) are farmers struggling to survive and support their families. Living in poor, rural regions of the world where paved roads and internet access are rare, small-scale farmers who produce these items do not have their pick of buyers. In conventional trade, middlemen take advantage of this and pay unfairly low prices that don’t even cover the farmers’ costs. Families are left with no money for nutritious food, medicine, clothes, or education. Children are forced to work instead of attending school.

Fair trade is a way of doing business that acknowledges the worth and basic human rights of all people. When you buy fair trade items, more of the money you spend reaches the hands of the people who crafted them. It is our way of pursuing Lord of Life’s vision that all may find life through the love of Christ, in line with Martin Luther’s teaching that we should “fear and love God, so that we neither take our neighbors’ money or property nor acquire them by using shoddy merchandise or crooked deals, but instead help them to improve and protect their property and income.”

Learn more about the Fair Trade Federation, fair trade principles, and the code of practice for FTF members.