With nearly 13 per cent of Australians living below the poverty line, the work of one charity—Christians Against Poverty—is changing thousands of Australian’s lives not only financially, but spiritually.

Started by a UK businessman who ‘lost it all’, CAP is a charity which provides free debt reduction strategies through local churches.

Referred on from welfare agencies, those in need are given hope through CAP’s budgeting strategies and payment plans, which are facilitated by a trained Debt Manager at a local church.

Through their free programme, which offers prayer and the invitation to get to know Jesus, CAP has seen more than 1000 individuals turn to Christ since it was established in Australia in 2000.

National Development Manager Alison Buttenshaw says at the first appointment, the debt manager from the church will offer to pray with the client, and will leave behind the Two Roads tract for them to read. She says she can count on one hand the number of clients who haven’t wanted prayer and that for many people in crippling debt, the relief of finding someone who cares and will help them is overwhelming.

“We’ve had clients who have been so desperate and so overwhelmed that as soon as the centre manager has walked in, sat down and listened to their story and said, hey would you like to invite Jesus into your situation, they’ve fallen in a heap and said yes. And they’ve lead them in the salvation prayer there and then.”

“The fact that someone from the local church is going out into their homes, they’re taking time out of their day to sit down and listen to their needs—that’s good. Every time we find a solution to the family’s solutions—that’s good. We offer prayer for our clients—that’s good. It provides the centre manager with an incredible opportunity to provide good news.”

The training required for a church to become a CAP debt centre is a week-long course for the person who will become the church’s debt manager. Once trained up, the debt manager will call up financial institutions and negotiate payment plans on behalf of their clients.

“We basically train them to negotiate with creditors, to get interest rates reduced. And we’ve seen some amazing miracles where creditors have completely wiped debt. In fact, just last week we had a client whose bank wiped her debt off when our debt management team rang them.”

She says CAP is able to give the financial institutions confidence the debt will be repaid.

“We have got such a good relationship with financial institutions, and it’s because our clients actually do pay their debts. They know that if someone from CAP is working with them, they will get their money. They may not get it soon, but they will get it. It’s better than someone going bankrupt and the financial institutions getting nothing.”

Some of the stories of people whose lives have been transformed by CAP are remarkable. There are stories of single mothers, people struggling with illness and disability, drug abuse and gambling who have all been helped by CAP, many of them given new life in Christ and not just financial security.

Alison says for churches, it’s a great opportunity to show the love of Jesus to the vulnerable in their community.

“What we say to the church is, this is an amazing opportunity for you to build a relationship with this client. So we are always saying to the church, please invite them out for coffee, please invite them to things you’ve got going on in your church. And we’ve got so many clients who go to church for the very first time through CAP.”

CAP also provides financial stewardship courses which churches can run in their community as outreach, and has a National Evangelist who runs events in local churches for CAP clients, including pamper nights and backyard blitzes.

If your local church is interested in becoming a debt centre or running a financial stewardship course, you can contact CAP on 02 4914 0500.

Image by Vinni123, used under CC License.