| Christians Against Poverty - Barry's story |
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When I was in debt, I felt like I was stuck in a rut. I had no sense of hope and felt only frustration and anger. The  creditors were hounding me all the time. I felt as if I was at the margins of society. No one would listen to me or would bother about me. I felt like just a number – it was like there was no future. It’s been absolutely brilliant since CAP got involved. They took a big weight off my shoulders by setting up a CAP Account for me. All my bills and debt repayments are paid through this account and it means that I don’t have to worry about them any more. One day, I was chatting with Anne (CAP Middlesbrough Centre manager, pictured with Barry above) about Jesus and the reason why I never got into religion. I had read a book by a Hell’s Angel once. He’d been out of prison only a couple of weeks and some people came round to his house with a load of shopping out of the blue. I just thought, “I don’t believe that – that doesn’t happen in the real world.” God bless Anne – she was bold enough to tell me that I was wrong. She said that there were people who cared in the world; who would encourage you and support you. She asked me what my cupboards were like. Then that night she came round with bags of shopping for us. It was more than appreciated! I went to church that Sunday and I’d never met people who were that nice to me before. I’ve made some good friendships with people from church. One friend, Richie, invited me round for a meal the other day – life’s all go! Now, I pray every day. We are taking one day at a time and instead of being part of the problem, I want to be part of the solution. I don’t want to do all the negative things I used to do any more.’ Barry was helped by Christians Against Poverty, a national debt-counselling charity working in partnership with 131 churches across the UK. For more information about CAP, call 01274 760720 or visit www.capuk.org. If you want to find out if there is a CAP Money course near you visit www.capmoney.org It is free to attend and you will be steered through the simple budgeting plan by people who care about you from your local church. Christians Against Poverty is a national debt- counselling charity working in partnership with 125 churches across the UK with the vision to have a centre in every town and city by 2014. For more information about CAP, call 01274 760720 or visit www.capuk.org. |
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