Legal Loan Sharks take advantage of those under financial strain

As the cuts start to bite, and job losses put household finances under strain, some disreputable credit companies are seeking to take advantage of people trying to make ends meet with payday loans charging interest rates of upto 4,000%.

Church Action on Poverty is campaigning on this issue as part of the Close the Gap campaign. Here's an extract from it's campaigning materials and a link for further information and action...

Since the recession hit, a third of families are now spending more each month than they have coming into their households. 4 in 10 Britons are worried about their debt, five million are permanently overdrawn, and 22% will carry a credit card debt throughout 2011. The payday lending industry is taking advantage of a lack of access to credit faced by many of these consumers as they try to make ends meet, lending them money on which they charge interest rates up to 4,000% or more.

The unchecked and unregulated practices of these companies are causing long-term financial damage to many across Britain. Other countries have introduced caps on the costs of credit which protect their citizens from these problems and encourage companies to lend responsibly. We are all too aware of the consequences of unregulated casino banking; let's not allow unchecked practices in the UK to destabilise our consumer credit market and bring poverty and hardship to our communities.

Two amendments have been tabled to a Finance Bill Parliament is currently debating, calling on the Government to review whether corporation tax or the bankers' levy could be used to deter high-cost credit companies from lending in a way in which is detrimental to consumers. This would be an effective way of tackling legal loan sharking and the problems caused by these companies' loans to thousands of
people in Britain.

To find out more and to email your MP to ask them to support the above amendments to the Finance Bill visit http://action.church-poverty.org.uk/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=128&ea.campaign.id=10540

Prayer Cascade three: Thursday 5th May 2011

This third Cuts are Costing prayer cascade has a focus on the impact of the cuts on people with disabilities and people with long term illness.

 

Next week (11th May) the Disability Benifits Consortium (a group of 40 household name charities and organisations) will be holding a demonstration in London to highlight the disproportionate effect that the cuts are having on people with disabilities, illnesses, and their families and carers. A new post on the blog this week focuses on their campaign called The Hardest Hit (http://cutsarecosting.blogspot.com/2011/05/hardest-hit-is-new-initiative-of.html).

 

Another post from the last week is a report from Unity in Poverty Action on their recent prayer meeting
on the current economic challenges (http://cutsarecosting.blogspot.com/2011/05/unity-in-poverty-action-prayer-meeting.html)

 

Suggestions for Prayer. This week please pray for…

 

• people in our city and country who live with conditions such as cancer, dementia, arthritis, Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis, sensory impairments, learning disabilities, mental health conditions and physical disabilities. Please pray that the support needs of these people are met, and that access to the services that these people need remains available for all. 
• people who care for people with disabilities or illness, particularly where they are facing the added stress and strain of losing finaical support upon which they are dependent.
• for the Hardest Hit demonstration on the 11th May in London, that the march will be peaceful and the genuine concerns and demands of this campaign will be listened to by those making the decisions that effect them.
  

As ever please do let us know of other situations to include for future weeks at cutsarecosting@gmail.com. If you have received this from a friend and want to sign-up to receive it directly email cutsarecosting@gmail.com with 'sign-up' as the subject line. If you no longer wish to recieve these emails please email the same address with 'remove' in the subject line.

Unity in Poverty Action prayer meeting

On Tuesday 26th April Unity in Poverty Action, (a organisation facilitating church involvement with initiatives tackling poverty and exclusion in Leeds), gathered a number of Christians together at St Georges Crypt to pray for the current economic challenges that the City of Leeds is facing. The following report from UPA co-ordinator Dave Paterson, highlights some of the issues rasied...
 

• The question was asked around whether it would be possible for churches to have more information on where the Cuts are taking place in Leeds, what effect they are having and what gaps they are leaving. This would make it easier for Christians to have a strategic response in trying to cater for some  of those gaps.
• John Hardy, counsellor for Farnley, said there was a need for Churches to have a louder voice and challenge politicians on issues which effected there communities. He encouraged Churches to use there position to campaign more on issues they were  passionate about.
• It was said that Christians needed to be aware of each others work so that we could avoid duplication and where possible pool resources in these challenging economic times.
• There was a genuine sense that Christians needed to come together and pray for each other and that there was a need to effectively communicate the different prayer initiatives that were taking place.
• Steve Croker who works for Leeds City Council and is the Leeds year of volunteering coordinator spoke of the value of volunteering and how important it was that we celebrated the efforts made by volunteers across the City.
• It was stated that Leeds has one of the biggest inequality gaps in the Country and that Christians had an opportunity to bridge the gap between the rich and poor in the city.
• Some expressed concern regarding the effect that the economic situation was having on Churches and Christian Projects in the City.

Furthur information on prayer

There is a prayer site that has been set up,  www.cutscosting.blogsspot.com, to encourage Christians to pray for those who are most effected by the economic cuts and to pray for those who have to make very difficult decisions regarding where spending cuts should be made. It would be great if people could contribute to the site with there own prayer requests and accounts of how the cuts are effecting real people.

Leeds Churches Together in Mission is also encouraging churches together groups to get together to pray for the current situation.

Here are some further dates where Christians are coming together to pray for the City.

Leeds Faith in Schools, Space, Leeds Youth Cell Network, Kidz Klub and N:FUSE are holding a prayer meeting to pray for youth and childrens work in the City at City Church on Saturday 7th May, 7pm - 9.30pm.

On Monday 9th May there is to be a prayer meeting for West Leeds at Bramley Baptist. 7.30pm - 9pm.

On Sunday the 12th June Hope for the Nations are holding a prayer meeting for different nationalities. This will be held at the New Testament Church in Chapel Town.

For more details on any of the above please contact Dave Paterson at Unity in Poverty Action on davepaterson84@hotmail.co.uk

The Hardest Hit

The Hardest Hit is a new initiative of the Disabilty Benifits Consortium to challenge the cuts to disability benifits. The DBC is a national coalition of over 40 different charities and other organisations committed to working towards a fair benefits system including RNIB, Mind, Scope, Age UK, Livability and MenCap. The following information, taken from the Hardest Hit website (http://thehardesthit.wordpress.com), details some of the impacts of the spending cuts on disabled and ill people and their families...


Disabled and ill people and their families are being hit hard by cuts to the benefits and services they rely on.


Many are living in fear of huge cuts to essential benefits including Disability Living Allowance (cut by £2.17 billion) and Employment and Support Allowance (cut by £2 billion). The total cuts will mean an estimated £9 billion loss to families’ incomes over the next four years, on top of cuts to many local care and support services. This affects people and families across the UK living with conditions like cancer, dementia, arthritis, Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis, sensory impairments, learning disabilities, mental health conditions and physical disabilities. Their everyday lives depend on support that is under threat. The Government’s plans to cut billions from support for disabled people and their families. Their proposals include:

• Cutting 20% from the budget for Disability Living Allowance (DLA). Disability Alliance estimates that over 700,000 disabled people could see their benefits reduced or removed. DLA helps disabled people with the extra costs of disability and without it more disabled people would be pushed into poverty. The cuts could have a knock-on impact on Carer’s Allowance, leaving thousands of families even worse off.
• Taking mobility payments away from disabled people living in residential care and children going to residential schools. Cutting these payments would trap many in their own homes.
• Cutting off payments of contributory Employment and Support Allowance after a year to people struggling to get back into work due to disability or serious illness.

The Hardest Hit campaign brings together disabled people and carers and organisations and groups who represent them and to send a message to Government -  you are hitting disabled people and their families the hardest: stop these cuts.

Click here for full report on the Government’s plans, what they will mean for disabled people and what needs to change.

About the DBC

The Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC) is a national coalition of over 40 different charities and other organisations committed to working towards a fair benefits system. Using our combined knowledge, experience and direct contact with disabled individuals and carers, we seek to ensure government policy reflects and meets the needs of all disabled people.

Members

Action for Blind People, Action for M.E., Age UK, Arthritis Care, Breast Cancer Care, Carers UK, Child Poverty Action Group, Citizens Advice, Clic Sargent, Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Deafblind UK, Disability Alliance, Every Disabled Child Matters, Guide Dogs, Haemophilia Society, LASA, Leaning Disability Coalition, Leonard Cheshire Disability, Macmillan Cancer Support, Mencap, Meningitis Research Foundation, Mind, Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association, MS Society, Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, National AIDS Trust, National Autistic Society (NAS), National Deaf Children’s Society, Parkinson’s UK, Rethink, Royal Association for Disability Rights (RADAR), Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), RSI Action, Scope, Sense, Skill, Sue Ryder, TUC, United Response, Vitalise.

Prayer Cascade two: Thursday 14th April 2011

This week there are two new blog posts. One from, Rod Levene of Chapeltown and Harehills Churches Together group, is a list of suggestions for ways groups might like to pray together about the current spending cuts. The other is from Jonathan Dorsett from Leeds Churches Together in Mission that highlights the Church Action on Poverty ‘Close the Gap’ campaign and the impact the current cuts will have on inequality in the UK.

Suggestions for Prayer. This week please pray for…

• all in our city; that we will remember that we are connected, dependent on each other, and responsible for each other's well-being.
• those who are unemployed or facing redundancy; that the pressures facing them will be relieved, and that there will be supportive people, communities and structures around them.
• the Churches in our city; that we will find ways to respond to the increased needs of the poorest and most vulnerable in this time.

As ever please do let us know of other situations to include for future weeks at cutsarecosting@gmail.com. If you have received this from a friend and want to sign-up to receive it directly email cutsarecosting@gmail.com with 'sign-up' as the subject line.

Closing the Gap

Inequality is bad for everyone. The rich as well as the poor.

Research presented in the book ‘The Spirit Level’ shows that societies in which there is a greater parity between the most well-off and the least well-off are healthier than those with larger extremes of rich and poor.

In more unequal societies there is a greater occurrence of issues around mental health, teenage pregnancy, childhood obesity, imprisonment, domestic violence and a host of other indicators. Educational attainment is lower, physical health is worse and life expectancy lower in societies where there is a large division between the wealthiest and the poorest. (See www.equalitytrust.org.uk for more information and accompanying statistics)

The UK is already one of the most unequal countries in the world with the richest 20% being seven times better off than the poorest 20%. Since the 1980s the gap has continued to grow year on year.

The present public spending cuts will have a disproportional effect on the poorest people in the UK, and will only further widen this gap.

The recent budget commitments to see a £18bn cut in welfare and housing benefit are the largest proportional cuts in living memory, while £95bn remains lost to tax evasion and avoidance by businesses and wealthy individuals each year, with corporation tax reduced and a broken promise from the present government to clamp-down on tax avoidance.

Closing the gap between rich and poor will be better for everyone in the long run, but the present public spending cuts pointing us in the other direction. There are alternatives, and Church Action on Poverty are praying, campaigning and acting for this. If you want to know more visit the ‘Close the Gap’ section of the Church Action on Poverty website at www.church-poverty.org.uk/close-the-gap

(Information sourced from www.church-poverty.org.uk and www.pcs.org.uk)

Ways to pray - formats for prayer meetings from Rod Levene (Chapeltown and Harehills Churches Together)

Below are an assorted collection of thoughts and ideas for prayer sessions from various sources. I wouldn’t presume to be teaching folk how to pray but rather, regard them as suggestions and reminders for ways to pray and issues to focus on...

Rod Levene. (Chapeltown and Harehills Churches Together)

Some areas for prayer focus

The government, the services and armed forces, those facing redundancy,  those trying to continue businesses,  the unemployed,  the NHS and those who are ill,  families and youth, education, schools and colleges,  churches and charities,  town centres and high streets,  the increase in smoking, drinking and drug taking,  crime, the prison service and the police,  the financial institutions and their directors,  political groups which may be exploiting the cuts,  the effect on the world’s measures to control climate change,  the effects of the recession in other countries and civil unrest,  individuals to be prayed for confidentially.

Being aware of the latest news and researching the background to the cuts can give us important background knowledge. This will inform our prayers, making them more effective.
Take some time to consider the people involved- Those in authority, those in public services, those in and out of work, the different ways we are affected by the cuts and their families. Those who are trying to maintain a stable home for their families. Again, it is good to pray specifically, and hearing people speak on news broadcasts or reading quotes in our newspapers gives us a focus for prayer.

ACTS of prayer

Start with a short prayer of thanksgiving. Perhaps start with some worship songs that would quiet your spirit and prepare you as a group for intercession. Praise God for who He is, and for the privilege of engaging in the same wonderful ministry as the Lord Jesus
Praise God for the privilege of cooperating with Him in the affairs of men through prayer. A balanced session comes through the ‘ACTS’ structure of Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. Submit your mind to be used by God...

 
2 Corinthians. 10: 3-5  For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Admit to God that His thoughts are much higher than our thoughts and that you should be prepared to change your ideas of how you thought the prayer time should go. God might have other plans for the session.

James 4:7- Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Deal firmly with the enemy. Come against him in the all-powerful Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and with the "sword of the Spirit"--the Word of God.

Wait on the Lord, in silence for a few minutes. Expect the Lord to speak to the group.

John 10:27-  My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. It might be good to ask someone to have a pen and paper handy to write down anything they feel God is saying to them. It could even be shared among our partnership later.

Ask the Lord for protection as you pray. Rebuke the enemy and remind yourself of your authority in Christ...
Some suggested formats for prayer

Try varying the format of prayer meetings - involving praise, silence, praying in twos, or fours, or all together as a church listening, petitioning for those in need. The wonderful reality of God's character is that He wants to communicate with us in many different ways. All too often, it's us who restrict the conversation!

Prayerwalking
Prayerwalking is an effective way of praying for your neighbourhood. This can be in small groups praying as they walk around your small local area, or more structured prayer campaigns aimed at particular aspects concerning streets and homes. Prayerwalking can also give us insights on our city as the Spirit provides insight as we walk the streets. I know we are told not to pray loudly in public so discretion is important.

Group Prayer
Group prayer was a characteristic of the early Christians:

Acts 12:12 - Peter went to the house of Mary where others gathered for prayer.

Acts 1:13-14 - scripture records that all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer. Remember that the purpose of your prayer time is to communicate with God. It's not merely a ritual to get done or for preaching at each other.

It is good to have something to focus on or remind the group about the topics for prayer. Sheets can be stuck to a notice board or wall or written and projected from an OHP. These can be changed as the session progresses.

Take a newspaper from that day or week and find issues and people to pray for who are being affected by the cuts. Remember those in other countries who may be having a worse time of it than us. Get info. from charities and churches to find out how they are managing and what their current problems are. Then, pray with this info. displayed, projected or close at hand. Perhaps it could be made clear that members are free to get up and read some information from a wall or table during the prayer.

Take some time waiting on God individually to see what is on His heart about how He wants the group to pray or what aspects should get particular attention. Come back together and write on a dry erase board what God impressed on them. Split up the prayers among the group members and take turns praying them.

For some of the time, play a CD of worship music softly in the background while praying or better- live music from your church’s music group or pianist. This can itself be a source of inspiration. It can also be used to mark the end of a portion of the prayer.

The whole group can pray out loud, together, their individual prayers about one aspect of the cuts. The leader starts the prayer and after say, 4 minutes the leader signals with a bell or music and then moves the prayer to the next aspect.

It’s good if a prayer group actually discusses what you're going to pray about before the session starts. Have people share their thoughts and burdens concerning the cuts, encouraging them to be specific rather than general. This enables the group to pray "in agreement". The different aspects of the prayer can then be assigned to different people. That's not to say that the prayers should be limited only to what's been discussed. Believers are often moved by the Spirit to take a different direction. The pre-prayer discussion is not there to put a straightjacket on prayer time, but to better inform and clarify.
Conversational Prayer
During conversational prayer group members should talk to God as they would talk to a friend. Encourage the group (especially a group unfamiliar with group prayer) to feel free to pray sentence prayers. Everyone is free to pray, or not to pray, as the Spirit directs. Don't worry about silence. Allow God to speak to everyone in the group during times of silence.
Introduce a prayer topic one at a time, then allow the group a few minutes to pray for it. When finished, the leader introduces another aspect. Designate a specific person to close at the end of each time. This helps insure that the prayer time will not bog down when everyone has had the opportunity to pray if they so desire.

Show how to pray ‘conversationally’ in a group. Imagine the group sitting at the table talking with Jesus. Rather than one person telling Jesus every part of the need while everyone else is left out of the conversation, several people can each tell Jesus different aspects by interrupting or agreeing or adding comments as we would do when chatting.

Sentence prayers

Each person, one at a time, offers a certain aspect, ending with "Amen" or some other refrain. No explaining it, just saying it and leaving it. (Allow those who don't want to share to say just "Amen" so it passes on to the next person.)

Silent intercessions

The leader briefly reads some information about an aspect (such as cuts to the NHS), and is then silent. Time is then taken to silently pray for it. After a while, the leader then moves on to the next aspect.

Tray of prayers

Each person writes just one aspect or concern that is most on their heart, onto a slip of paper. The papers are gathered on a tray and the group prays over them as each paper is taken and read out or leaving them unread, all together on the tray. Candles could also be lit as each prayer is contributed or read out. Pinning the papers to a cross at the end helps to symbolise leaving those issues with Jesus.

Written responsory prayers

A petition about one aspect of the cuts is offered and then ended with a clear ending like, "O Lord" or "in Jesus' name", followed by a standard response spoken by all, such as "Oh Lord hear our prayer" or "let it happen, Lord". Then the next written petition is spoken, and so on. Members can each be given a paper with the petition written beforehand, so they can take turns reading them and maybe enlarging on them.

Other logistics

I wouldn’t think of organising a special prayer meeting without refreshments at the end. It’s a good time to enjoy fellowship especially if other churches are involved and to discuss the prayers and the cuts themselves. It might be that leaders can find leaflets from various organisations / charities which are helping those in need at this time. These can be seen at refreshments time.

It’s good to have and publicise a definite approximate ending and refreshments time. It’s unfair for those attending not to have an idea of when they will be leaving.