I became friends with a family while living in South Korea as an ESL teacher. Unfortunately, their situation has become rather desperate, financially. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR MONEY. I simply want to know if there are any organizations that would assist them directly...(not indirectly such as the Red Cross helping large ppl groups in crisis).

BTW, I'm assisting when and where I can...but the need is more than I can afford by my own.

You could try looking through the International Charities at Charity Navigator:

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.categories&categoryid=7

Catholic Charities, United Methodist and the Adventists might have programs.

There are also groups that do micro loans, usually for small businesses.

Good luck to you!