Would you pray for our new frontline workers and partner churches?

Across the UK, hundreds of churches are already hard at work stamping out poverty through a partnership with CAP. From Sunday 25 to Tuesday 27 February, we're excited to be growing this invaluable network by welcoming new frontline staff to CAP HQ for training.

They'll be preparing to get out there and visit clients, run group services and bring the hope of the gospel into thousands of broken lives. Plus, this intake will see a whole bunch of new centres opened, which means more communities with access to CAP's life changing services.

I'm sure you'll agree God needs some serious praise for all this. Let's join together, thank him and pray his abundant blessing over this training.

• More than 600 churches have made the decision to partner with CAP and free people from poverty in their communities. Quite simply, we couldn't do this without them. Praise God for these churches and the brilliant teams within them.
• Please pray that each church would be positively impacted by this new (or expanding) partnership as they experience astonishing transformation in broken lives and see people from all walks of life joining their congregation. We've seen churches totally transformed as God moves their hearts to help those in poverty on their doorsteps.
• If this training intake is anything to go by, God isn't showing signs of slowing down with CAP any time soon! It's such a blessing to be joined by more people who are passionate about and committed to ending poverty and changing lives. Praise God for his ongoing and relentless provision.
• Please pray for those coming to train next week. There's going to be a lot of information to take in and lots of people to meet, so let's pray for energy and focus.
• Praise God for all the families who will now be able to access help from CAP thanks to the new centres and new frontline staff. Lives changed: that's what it's all about!

Thanks as always for your support and prayers.

No one left in the cold

Winter can be a particularly difficult time for those struggling with money and/or living on a low income. As well as the pressures of the Christmas season, we know that too many people across the UK struggle to heat their homes and put food on the table in the cold months. Please join us in praying that these people will reach out for the help they need sooner rather than later, whether that's through CAP or another service.

Our biggest ever training

Our biggest ever training is taking place this month, with lots of new staff being trained and sent out to start their new roles for CAP across the country. Would you pray for each of the new frontline staff starting, that they would be effective and fruitful in their new roles, meaning that even more people can become debt free, get back into work, find freedom from addictions, learn how to live better on a low income, and ultimately commit their lives to Jesus?

Taking CAP to the capital

25 November is the date of our 2017 London fundraising dinner! This is a huge event with enormous potential to push CAP forwards to transform thousands more lives across the UK, so there's lots to be praying into!

• We currently have more matched funding pledged than ever before! Please join us in thanking and praising God for this and pray that we raise enough on the night to release all of it
• So far we have over 865 guests attending, but we would love to reach the full venue capacity (1,100)
• Pray that every person attending the dinner really gets a sense of God's heart for the poor and vulnerable in their community
• Pray for the Spirit to move everyone attending the dinner to be generous and inspired to support CAP's mission

We’ve got a jam-packed month coming up. As well as our usual poverty busting, we’d really appreciate your prayers for the following events and projects happening throughout October.

Praise God for commitments

Last month at The Gathering it was announced that we’ve seen 1,000 commitments in 2017, making the total since CAP began a whopping 7,000! We’re still absolutely buzzing from the news – how awesome is our God? Let’s be thankful and praise him for what he has done in these people’s lives over the years, and remain prayerful for even more to come to know him! We have more than 80 client events coming up before the end of the year – these are a great opportunity for our clients to socialise, hear testimonies and learn more about God. Please pray for all those organising and speaking at these events, and for the clients to be moved and inspired by what they hear.

Uncovering the link between poverty and mental ill-health

15 October is our official CAP Sunday – exciting! Please pray as congregations up and down the country host a CAP Sunday in their churches and home groups, hearing about the link between mental ill-health and poverty, and how CAP is working to tackle this issue. If you’d like to host a CAP Sunday in your church too, we’d love you to join us! See capuk.org/capsunday for details.

Freeing clients from a life sentence of debt

In our latest campaign, we’re aiming to raise the fees for 500 clients to go through a Debt Relief Order. Why? Because these are clients who will never, ever be able to pay off their debts. On average it would take them 618 years! It’s a life sentence that they’d never be able to escape, but a Debt Relief Order is a way out of the prison. Please pray for God to provide what’s needed to help these 500 families. We’d love to be able to celebrate them becoming debt free within a few weeks!

Food and funds

And finally, we’ve got two fundraising dinners coming up in October in Guildford and Northern Ireland. We’re looking forward to sharing a meal with our amazing supporters, inspiring them about the work of CAP, and raising vital funds. Would you pray for our guests to be open minded and open hearted, and able to see our heart and passion for giving the very best service to those with the very least?

100 days to Christmas

Yep, it's that time of year once again. 16 September marks 100 days until Christmas Day. Although for many it's an exciting time, for others it's a stark reminder of the impact of their financial struggles. As the weather grows colder, many people will dread the cost of heating the house over winter. As the Christmas adverts begin, pressuring us to spend, many families will be worried about putting food on the table every day - let alone a lavish spread on Christmas Day. And as the sparkly decorations go up and the happy songs start to play, many people won't feel at all like celebrating.

Please would you join us in praying that those struggling financially will get the help they need sooner rather than later, whether it's from CAP or another source, that they would be surrounded by friendship, joy and faith throughout this season and that they wouldn't feel alone? Let's pray and believe for lots and lots of happy Christmases across this nation!

Prayers answered

Last month we asked you to pray into our Discovery Breaks taking place across the country. We're delighted to say they all ran smoothly and hundreds of clients and their families have been able to relax, reconnect, make new friendships and find out more about God. Here are a few quotes from the Sneaton Castle break, which was funded entirely by the staggering generosity of our supporters through a crowdfunding campaign:

'I have really enjoyed spending time with my son Oliver and seeing him letting Jesus into his heart and making friends.' - Shelley (She and Oliver had never had a holiday before!)

'The break has given me an opportunity to spend time with my kids. I've made lots of new friends. I don't feel like I'm on my own anymore. Even when I go home now I won't be alone because I've opened my heart up to God.' - Sam

'Thank you CAP for making me happy and so I could have a fun time.' - Josh (Sam's son)

 'I feel so calm now. It's been fun meeting new friends as we're all in the same situation. It's brought me back to God. I would never have joined in before but here I have because of all the staff and new confidence I have.' - Lee

'This break has meant a lot to us as a family, I finally got the answers from God I needed. CAP have helped me whenever I need them and my debt is 100% better.' - Skye

Thank you so much for your ongoing prayers. They are making such a difference!

Still engaging

Our Engage internship programme continues this month, with another bunch of lovely people coming to CAP HQ to help out, gain valuable experience and get a taste for CAP life. Please continue to pray that these individuals will be positively impacted by their time at CAP and that the precious time they're giving up over the summer will all be worth it for the lives they'll help to transform!

Summer stresses

With the kids off school and the sun shining, August is a time for fun, joy and rest. Or at least it should be. Sadly, for some families it will be a time of worry and stress, due to the financial pressure involved in keeping the kids entertained and satisfied. Your prayers are seriously invaluable here. Please pray that these families would remember that spending time is so much more important than spending money, and for God to bring peace and a solution over any worries they might have.

Of course, there are lots of clients working with CAP to sort out their debts and they'll have a CAP Plan to stick to. Please pray that this budget will help them to manage their money over the summer and give them the freedom to enjoy it!

Discovery Breaks

We've got lots of Discovery Breaks happening in August, in Devon (2-4), Hertfordshire (17-19), Norfolk (21-23) and North Yorkshire (28-30). These breaks are a chance for our clients to get away from the ordinary, relaxing, rebuilding relationships, and hearing the Gospel. For some, it'll be their first holiday in months, years, or ever. Please join us in praying for all the families attending these breaks, for the teams running the show, and for decent weather! Your prayers are also appreciated for our crowdfunding campaign, which aims to fund 90 clients going on the North Yorkshire break.