My life started in a place of poverty and struggle.
I was the eldest of five children, and my mum and dad worked every hour of the day to provide for us. They both worked full time, and on top of this they ran a shop-cleaning business and a fish and chip van.
I used to help out. I’d be up at 5am to go cleaning with my dad. Then after school, I’d come in and cook for everyone. I used to do the weekly shop, travelling to and from the supermarket on the bus with a food shop for seven people. With all that going on, I struggled to concentrate at school, so it’s perhaps no surprise that I didn’t do well.
Poverty took us to some dark places. My mum and I experienced some horrible things. She suffered with serious mental health issues, because of what she’d been through. But because of that, she was searching…
At one time my mum would drag all five kids to church. Week after week, we visited different churches, until finally she found some kind of acceptance and love.
That was my first experience of Jesus. I remember hearing a prison chaplain preaching, and thinking, ‘If someone in prison, who’s done terrible things, can know Jesus, then what’s stopping me?’
That was the day Jesus came into my life…
Drowning in debt
‘Amanda, we are really struggling.’ Until Carl, my husband, said those words to me, I had no idea we were in debt.
Up until then, our life together was good. We’d been married twelve years, we had four kids, Carl was in a good job and, even though I’d been very unwell, I was working part time. But then Carl got made redundant and things started to spiral.
We found ourselves using overdrafts and credit cards. Carl was out of work for three months before he found another job, but the salary wasn’t as high as before – and debt started to grow.
We tried to sort things ourselves. We re-mortgaged the house. Covered our priority debts, like gas and electricity. We were managing to buy food. And every month we made the minimum payments on credit cards. But the debt kept building.
On the surface, life seemed fine. But in reality, we were struggling with things like sending the kids on trips, making sure they looked ok at school, and buying clothes. It caused so much stress.
To be honest, we were drowning in debt – and we couldn’t find a way out. I realised we were at breaking point.
Then one day, we were at a Christian conference and CAP had a stand there. We reached out for help. From that moment, everything began to change…
The help we needed
Sheila, the CAP Debt Centre Manager, was sitting in our living room… It was our first face-to-face meeting, and it was becoming clear just how much trouble we were in.
‘You could lose your home,’ Sheila warned. We took a deep breath, said to God, ‘Whatever happens, you’ve got it,’ and started our journey out of debt.
The CAP debt centre in Blackburn had just opened and we were among Sheila’s first clients. CAP’s debt advisors drew up a repayment plan. We struggled to stick to it at times. But after seven long years of effort and sacrifice, we paid it all off.
I’ll never forget the phone call to say we were debt free. We jumped around, full of joy. A couple from church took us out for a posh meal to celebrate. It was an amazing feeling.
God has blessed us and we’re so grateful. It was only afterwards that I realised how many people helped us along the way. Kind, generous, compassionate people. People I’ll never meet, but who are part of my story. People like you.
Full circle
‘You should go for this job!’ my husband Carl announced. He’d seen that CAP were looking for a Debt Centre Manager at the Blackburn and Darwen centre.
My immediate response was: ‘absolutely not, I’ve been out of work for three years.’
But God had other ideas… The Holy Spirit was prompting me about CAP, so on the closing date I put in my application.
It turned out the job was based in our new church, and it would be running the Debt Centre that helped us all those years before.
When I turned up for the interview, I was amazed to see Sheila – the Debt Centre Manager who supported us – on the panel! Sheila saw my passion for CAP and, I’m thrilled to say, I got the job.
Now, when I visit a new client, one of the first things I do is share my story. The story you’re reading. It’s my way of saying to people: I know the shame, the feeling of drowning in debt. But there is a way out – because it happened to me, and now I’m here to help you.
Thanks to you, my life has come full circle. You are part of my story – and you’re part of the ongoing story of this life-changing movement of CAP and the local church. Thank you.
Thank you for helping to write my story. You don’t get to meet the people you donate to, but you should know: you have transformed and changed my life and my whole family.
If you support CAP, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for being faithful, being generous and making a difference to me and so many others.
