For the First time I have Hope

One of the things that is so difficult when blogging the work of DCM is to tell the stories of what God is doing in peoples lives but at the same time keeping confidentiality. So many of the people we help are so very fragile and some of the people who come to Basics Bank so desperately broken that if ever the found out that we told their story on the internet they would be hurt even more. It is a fine balancing act. However in one week last week we had 32 clients come through the door of our debt clinics. Stories of families living in total poverty sometimes a family of four living in one room, no furniture no heat, no way to pay the bills. In the last quater we have helped over 71 people with severe debt problems and 14 of those are now debt free thanks to Debt Relief Orders and the work of Andy, Ruth and Sharon.

We have taken the decision to seperate slightly the Debt, benefits and welfare advice from the food bank project and to rebrand the Debt advice project. In future the Debt benefit and welfare advice will be known as the Jubilee project after Leviticus 25 The year where people were released from debt and justice was restored. It was to this year that Jesus referred in Luke 4 when he said
God's Spirit is on me; he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to
the poor,
Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and
recovery of sight to the blind,
To set the burdened and battered free,
to announce, "This is God's year to act!" Luke 4 The Message.

Our heart in DCM is not just to preach a message of forgiveness but deliverence from the oppression of sin.

The other day Daniel Cullen went to speak to a Neighbourhood watch group in Austin Estate and shared about the work that Street pastors were doing there. At the end a man of 80 years old stood to his feet and asked if he could say something. He then began " I've been coming to these meetings for 20 years, on the whole I find them depressing, tonight for the first time I have hope for my community" Daniel phoned me to share this story it moved me to the depth of my being because that is our heart. We believe the local church is the hope of the world. when hope comes back in to a Community of dispair we're seeing the Kingdom come.

John Augustine phoned me to tell me about the Caxton Arms in the middle of Austin and how they had a prayer meeting there. The first night the new landlords opened the pub it's windows were smashed. When we heard about it the Street Pastors went straight round. They asked can we pray ? So in the middle of one of Derby's roughest pubs, heads were bowed and hearts were lifted to heaven asking for peace on the estate and for the community to come back........... let's watch this space for Gods reply !