CAP Bath, Blog Update | February 2022
"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me... He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners"
- Isaiah 61:1
Have we arrived in a foreign land?
I don’t know about you but even though it seems as though we are getting to the other side of Covid, the landscape which is emerging seems a little unfamiliar. The ground which felt fairly firm two years ago, is a bit squishy and uneven, there are more ‘unknowns’ than before. In other words, we have all had our world shaken. I am therefore sure that there are many people out there who are still feeling shaken as they struggle with loneliness, mental health, technology and may have lost tract of their debts. Many agencies still haven’t returned to working in person. Covid has simply magnified their problems. It is heart-breaking and my first client is in this very situation.
Zoomed out but blessed in the process?
During 2020 and 2021 our Christians Against Poverty Team couldn’t meet face to face with clients – our personal presence being something that defines us in how we support people through a difficult period in their lives. But it’s not been all bad, Amanda was joined during that time by Vicki who has boosted the CAP presence and now I am excited to be part of that outreach to the city of Bath and beyond. We are now able to meet our clients face to face in their homes and have been blessed with an office space in the middle of the city, at Manvers Street Baptist. Wow! So, God IS still working. Everything is beginning to open up and blossom for us. It is incredibly encouraging and exciting.
Our lovely family
As we get back to fully supporting people who are in debt, we wanted to reach out to our Holy Trinity Combe Down family and other wonderful churches in Bath to thank you for your prayers, gifts, volunteering and other support over the past months. We appreciate doing this with you.
This is a recent comment from a CAP client called Jude:
‘Being in debt was awful. I had to cut back a lot, skipping meals and going without different things. There was no one to talk to. I picked up a leaflet about CAP at the hospital. That’s when my Debt Coach, walked into my life, it was like an angel had been sent to me. At last someone was here to listen to me and help me.’
We all need a vision. Here’s the CAP one!
TRANSFORMED LIVES
THRIVING CHURCHES
AN END TO UK POVERTY
This is a brave vision statement which invites us all to partake.
Transformed lives – people who are at the end of their ‘rope’. When the spiral of debt and poverty becomes unmanageable, a CAP debt coach can come alongside a client. With CAP head office working hard in the wings, a Faith-filled befriender also alongside to encourage the client and to support them, we believe we can bring hope and a solution.
Matthew 5:3 ‘You’re blessed when you are at the end of your rope.’ (MSG)
Thriving Churches – our CAP debt centre is gifted to the Bath community by Holy Trinity Combe Down. It is an wonderful provision. When we visit our clients, we pray before we go, we let them know we are Christians, and will always offer them prayer on our visits. We believe our Father God wants to be invited to walk with and be actively involved with our clients on their journey out of debt. With the help of a volunteer befriender, together we can get to know a client, build relationship with them and work together to find a solution to their debt. We will also end up having many conversations about numerous life challenges as we meet up, supporting and encouraging our clients. We pray that through our growing relationship that each person we work with will see Jesus and want to know Him. If Amanda, Vicki and I had just one new client every two months to work with, and if every one of them found faith, that would be eighteen new baby Christians every year. What an amazing and challenging thought!!
An end to UK poverty – This is something that will be the greatest challenge of all. But as we continue to have generous, compassionate hearts and we lift these situations up to God in prayer, we know God is faithful and hears our prayers.
So how can you help?
Pray for the work of CAP. I like this quote from Martin Luther. ‘Work, work, from morning until late at night. In fact, I have so much to do that I shall have to spend the first three hours in prayer.’
Subscribe to our email updates. Email Claire on clairecollins@capuk.org or let the church office know. We will keep you updated on prayer requests, praise reports, and other encouragements.
Volunteer. There are several ways you could get involved. However, a key way is to become a Befriender. We would love to have a special friend for every new client we get. That person would come along to the client visits (these usually happen daytime Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) and then they would also keep in touch with the client, helping them with paperwork and perhaps meeting them for a coffee or a walk, and encouraging them in faith.
Give. If you wanted to financially support us on a monthly basis then please get in touch. We need to raise enough money each year to help keep the service going so all financial support is appreciated.
For further information please visit the Christians Against Poverty website. This is full of the up-to-date information about the service that is offered all over the UK. You can also subscribe to receive updates from CAP direct. https://capuk.org/about-us
You can contact clairecollins@capuk.org for further information about how to get involved on the local level. You can also visit htcd.church/cap for more details on HTCD's partnership with CAP.
Thanks for reading. This is my first year as a debt coach so I plan to write a quarterly blog on my experiences.
Claire Collins
Debt Coach - CAP Bath