Christians Against Poverty (CAP) is a debt counselling charity which works in partnership with local churches such as Northcote Baptist to provide a free service for people who are struggling with unmanageable debt. CAP provides financial expertise such as creating budgets, liaising with creditors, advocating for clients, insolvency services and general financial support and advice.
The partner church (a CAP Centre) is the face and feet of CAP in the community, providing a supportive framework for people living in the church’s area who are struggling with debt and who are feeling alienated and marginalised. Working together, the church and CAP provide a hope and a solution for clients in the local community who would otherwise not have access to a professional and free debt counselling service or the advice and support that the CAP team provides. It’s amazing to see clients responding to this practical solution offered by the church – we have seen 50 people come to faith in Christ since CAP started in NZ two years ago!
Every story that we hear from CAP clients is amazing. We have had clients who now have savings after over ten years of living in debt and who are able to live a normal life, rather than the terrible, fearful existence they knew before. We also have clients who have had relatively small amounts of debt which have been cleared within a few months, but who nevertheless felt that they had been drowning in debt. It’s amazing how when people are in situations where they feel helpless and vulnerable, even the smallest barriers and difficulties seem insuperable and terrifying, even if that is not the reality.
We have seen clients whose homes have been saved from repossession, whose marriages have been healed and whose lives have literally been saved from alcoholism, drug abuse and suicide. We have seen children being sent to school with lunch instead of going hungry and we have seen families able to buy each other small Christmas presents again, instead of having nothing to give. It’s so often the small things which mean something to our clients, the things which we take for granted. We recently did a client questionnaire and found that all of the clients surveyed had felt that working with CAP have improved both their finances and their life.
