With a small donation and big faith, John Kirkby started Christians Against Poverty in 1996. He believed God was calling him to sacrifice his career in finance and use his knowledge of the industry to help those in financial crisis.
In his hometown of Bradford, John set off on the incredible journey of CAP. His faith adventure led him to people crippled by debt; parents who couldn't feed their children, families facing eviction and desperate people living in fear and without hope. He used his expertise to set up budgets, give financial advice and offer a lifeline to those trapped in debt and financial crisis.
John knew that people all over the country were struggling in the same way and he began looking to replicate the work across the UK. With the vital ingredients of a church to partner with, a passionate person to be trained as a CAP Center Manager and the faith that God would provide, four new CAP centers were opened at the end of 1998.
Since then, CAP has rapidly grown its debt centers network across the UK partnering with hundreds of churches and expanded its services to tackle the causes of debt and poverty too. CAP also expanded internationally into Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Now we are celebrating being in the United States of America for 5 years!
Hear more about John's story and why he started Christians Against Poverty...