the stewardship magazine Autumn / Winter 2019
SERVING REFUGEES IN JORDAN
BUILDING CHURCH IN MIDDLESBROUGH
transforming generosity
RESTORING HOPE IN SÃO PAULO
Have fun on the run! Here's my contribution to help you smash your target! xxx DONATE £25
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donate to the , causes you love ce. anytime, any pla We’re Stewardship. We’ve been helping the UK Christian community to give and to receive since 1906, when we started out as stewards of church properties around the country. We love making giving easy and each year help over 25,000 individuals to give around £72 million to our database of over 19,000 charitable causes. By offering practical, tailored support, we are committed to strengthening the work of churches and Christian charities.
And we also inspire greater generosity from this community, thanks to our wealth of resources, courses and campaigns for individuals and churches alike, including the award-winning 40acts. For more than a century we have been driven by our desire to give the wider world the opportunity to encounter Jesus through the generosity of His people and the transformational work of the causes they support. We are Stewardship, and this is what we are about.
Contact us 1 Lamb’s Passage London EC1Y 8AB Tel: 020 8502 5600 Email: enquiries@stewardship.org.uk Web: stewardship.org.uk You can contact the editor by emailing editor@stewardship.org.uk Editor: Craig Borlase Design: adeptdesign.co.uk Stewardship is the operating name of Stewardship Services (UKET) Limited, a registered charity in England and Wales no. 234714 and a company limited by guarantee no. 90305
Editorial Recently I was drawn to a story online about a woman attempting to climb Ben Nevis wearing flip flops. The picture had been taken by a fellow climber who couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. Ben Nevis rises to 1,345m above sea level, so this wasn’t a stroll in the park on a summer afternoon. You need the right apparatus, attire and attitude to climb a mountain, so I was not surprised to learn that the lady (and her flip flops) didn’t make it to the summit. This edition of our magazine focuses on ministry in hard places. Images of uphill climbs and stony ground have been foremost in my mind as I have read the fascinating and moving accounts of how Ian, Jamal and Cally are making a difference in Middlesbrough (page 6), Jordan (page 10) and São Paulo (page 18). Each of them faces trials and challenges, but surrounded by the support of others and God’s grace, they are all making great progress. Ian, Jamal and Cally and the ministries they lead represent the many heroes that Stewardship is privileged to support, be it in the UK or overseas. Everyone in ministry knows that engaging with people and projects can be tough and testing, even in the leafiest of valleys or on the sunniest of days. This is why we offer resources and opportunities to equip charity and church trustees, church treasurers and leaders. Amongst other things, we run regular training days for trustees and full-time Christian workers, dial-ins for treasurers (page 28) and inspiration for givers.
In ministry, as it is in so much of life, it’s great to be passionate and spontaneous, to be willing to take risks and tackle mountains. But just think how much further we can all go with the right preparation, the right support, the right people alongside us. Travel well. Frances Miles Chief Relationship Officer, Stewardship
Everyone in ministry knows that engaging with people and projects can be tough and testing, even in the leafiest of valleys or on the sunniest of days.
Like what you read? Use your Stewardship account to lend your support. PS – We won’t be sending out a Share magazine in January 2020. From now on we’ll be producing two issues a year, at Easter and in the autumn. For more great content, keep an eye on our blog, stewardship.org.uk/blog 3
FEATURES
NEWS IN BRIEF HOPE
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News in brief
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In hard places Middlesbrough
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In hard places Jordan
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In hard places São Paulo
To donate using your Stewardship account their number is 20116179.
THERE ARE AN ESTIMATED 350,000 HOMELESS PEOPLE IN THE UK TODAY.
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Legal and financial
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Consultancy helpline
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Why I give: Kezia Owusu-Yianoma
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The housing charity Shelter estimates that there are over 350,000 homeless people in the UK today. That’s one in every 200 people. Our friends at Hope into Action are working to enable UK churches to house the homeless and end the misery caused by homelessness. Some 320 delegates attended the Hope into Action conference earlier in the year, at which tenants, investors, church leaders, ex-tenants, franchise partners, trustees and church volunteers enjoyed a packed day of talks. One ex-addict, also an HIA tenant, spoke very honestly about his journey. “I was accepted but also I could tell them the truth and I had never found this before. They were helping the real me, not helping a lie.” To find out more about Hope into Action’s work, visit hopeintoaction.org.uk
KENYAN PROJECT RECOGNISED Five years ago, we featured the work of Rob and Jane Garratt of 5000Plus. Working with those with very little, they empower them to increase their income through starting up livelihood projects such as beauty salons, dressmaking, brickmaking and tailoring. Rob and Jane’s work has been recognised by the Kenyan government. The government department supervising NGOs has applauded the 5000Plus model as “the best for sustainable poverty relief”. To find out more, visit 5000plus.org To donate using your Stewardship account their number is 20129687.
5000+ THEN AND NOW... 2014 2019
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COUNTRIES WORKED IN
525 30 LIVELIHOOD PROJECTS CREATED
605 6221
VOLUNTEER COMMUNITY STAFF TRAINED
SEMINARS GIVEN
23 113
ATTENDEES
1197 6467
FUNDING CONFERENCE MOVING TO SPRING 2020
IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS
The Stewardship Fundraising Conference last November was fully booked with a waiting list, not surprising when you read the delegate feedback. This included someone telling us that she’d been reminded why she got into fundraising in the first place, and another sharing that he felt the speakers drew from the gospel with a spirit of compassion throughout the day. Our next Fundraising Conference will run in May 2020 at Methodist Central Hall. Find out more at stewardship.org.uk/events
DID YOU KNOW?
Regular readers may remember the Library of Things from Share 35, a social enterprise encouraging neighbourhoods to donate and share expensive and single-use items. Now the movement is expanding. Read more at libraryofthings.co.uk/the-platform
Did you know that we run regular Training Days for Trustees, Support-Raising and Full-Time Christian Workers? Our next event is a Trustee Training Day on 14th November at the Edge Conference Centre, Wigan. If you’d like to be kept up to date with what’s coming up, email education@stewardship.org.uk or visit stewardship.org.uk/events 5
FOR IAN WILLIAMSON, THE DECISION TO PLANT CHURCHES IN TOUGH URBAN COUNCIL ESTATES IS SIMPLE. IT’S WHERE HE COMES FROM. AND IF HE DOESN’T, WHO WILL?
OLD LIFE NEW LIFE TO
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t was the most depressing meeting we’ve ever had,” says John Keskeys, Head of Partnerships at Stewardship. “New Life Church needed all the services we provide but could afford none of them.” This was his first meeting with Ian Williamson, pastor of a church surrounded by ten Middlesbrough council estates. “That’s when we started thinking differently about how we can help church planters.” It’s estimated that less than 1% of people in the North of England regularly attend a gospel-preaching church. Since the shutdown of several major industries through the 70s and 80s, Middlesbrough’s mass unemployment and social problems have made it one of the most deprived areas of the country. New Life Church’s main struggles are lack of finance, resources and people – “pretty much everything you need!” says Ian. They have 12 regular members but unbelievers often outnumber believers at their Sunday service. Ian grew up in a single-parent family on a local estate, with no Christian background until his mother came to faith when he was 14 years old. He was attracted to the idea of God being a Father to the fatherless, but his understanding of Jesus was limited: seeing him as a saviour but not as Lord. “Although the church we attended was in a council estate, the majority of the
The churches I went to were all very loving but they didn’t know how to deal with someone like me.
New Life Church congregation were middle-class and would drive in from the surrounding area,” says Ian, “I felt like the odd one out.” As an adult, a lifestyle of drinking and drugs led him to a dark place: “I was addicted to cocaine and gambling and was deeply in debt. At my lowest point I ended up taking money from the safe of the pub I was managing. Because I lived there too, I lost my home as well as my job.” Ian was desperate and contemplating suicide when his mum told him Jesus could help. “I was 40 grand in debt and wondered how Jesus could make any difference, but one night I started praying and cried out to God, ‘If you’re real, I’ll follow you. If not I’ll end it.’” The next morning he woke with a new sense of hope and purpose. “I’d always blamed my problems on my circumstances. But I finally realised that I needed to repent and that my biggest problem was me.” As a new believer, change didn’t happen overnight. “The churches I went to were all very loving but they didn’t know how to deal with someone like me. One pastor told me I was too honest for most people. Many were just too intimidated or embarrassed to help.”
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Two men, Peter, a church evangelist, and Brian, a local businessman, helped Ian get a flat and move away from his temptations. “They spent a full year supporting and discipling me – meeting me first thing in the morning and last thing at night and inviting me to spend time with their families.” Ian quit his job as a bouncer and began working with men and boys – as a development worker, in a school and then as a community prison chaplain. After his own experience, as well as seeing the majority of offenders come from fatherless families, Ian and his wife, Rachel, set up SixtyEightFive in January 2011. Inspired by Psalm 68:5 – ‘A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling’ – they work in deprived areas to support fathers and provide role models for those who have grown up without them. This led to planting New Life Church five years ago, and setting up Medhurst Ministries, which has a vision to see churches planted across council estates in the North of England. The ministry is named after Thomas Medhurst, an uneducated man who began preaching the gospel after being converted
A youth group at Medhurst Ministries.
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We want to train people from all different backgrounds. People like me often face too many obstacles to consider preaching or leading, but we hope to make that possible.
to Christianity. Charles Spurgeon trained him up despite protest that Medhurst, a ropemaker, would bring disgrace to the gospel. “We want to train people from all different backgrounds. People like me often face too many obstacles to consider preaching or leading, but we hope to make that possible,” says Ian. “If you haven’t been brought up in a Northern council estate, it can be difficult to understand the behaviours and attitudes here. We can’t just replicate what’s happening in other parts of the UK. Those called to council estate ministry need specific guidance.” The church meets in the only public building in the town – a Methodist church building whose own congregation is no longer meeting. They are currently fundraising to be able to purchase it and keep the only public place of worship in the area. “We reach about 90 people per week through serving in the community, but we’re limited to Sundays and Wednesday evenings for gospel work. With our own building we could expand that, as well as have a base for our training hub.”
Womens outreach doing wreath making in a local hair salon.
We hope, by giving gospel-centred church plants a helping hand, to see a new trend of churches being planted in hard places. After connecting with Ian, Stewardship have begun trialling a new church planting partnership, creating a fund so that churches in a similar situation to Ian’s can access the support that we offer. As an initial plan, ten church plants in deprived areas will receive all of Stewardship’s services for free for their first three years. “It’s not trendy at the moment to plant churches in areas of poverty,” says John Keskeys. “But we hope, by giving gospel-centred church plants a helping
hand, to see a new trend of churches being planted in hard places.” Generosity is embedded in the heart of New Life Church, “Opening our homes and sharing our possessions is essential,” says Ian. “Even though we’re small, we tithe our income to fund mission across the world. We don’t just want to be a receiving church, we want to be a giving church.” You can support the work of New Life Church in training people for council estate ministry by joining their prayer list (contact email@newlifeboro.com) or helping to fund the building project via their give.net page: give.net/churchbuilding
To find out how Stewardship’s services could help your church plant, visit: stewardship.org.uk/churchplanting
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n a decade marked by humanitarian crises, the forced migration of people continues to limit lives and spread despair. But it also provides opportunities for generosity to thrive.
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n the town of Qaraqosh, thirty minutes outside Mosul, Iraq, Sam Kanaan* takes a hesitant step into his house and looks about him. Almost four years have passed since he last stood in the home that has been in his family for generations, and the memories flood back. Countless children’s birthday parties in the yard out front. Christmas morning celebrations where the smells from the kitchen filled the whole house. The sound of thousands of people processing in the streets outside at Easter. But not all memories are good. The way his neighbours told him of militants in the city nearby. The days when fear spread through the house like a virus. And then, in the summer of 2014 the time that threat finally materialised and ISIS arrived. Sam fled in the dark of night, and began the long journey to safety. Sam and his family ended up, like so many Iraqis, in Amman, Jordan. With an ocean of Syrian refugees and so many of his own countrymen crammed together, life as a refugee was not easy. Sam had left more than his home behind in Qaraqosh. ISIS took his business and the people who’d transported him and his family the 700 miles to Jordan had taken most of his savings. He was poor and the winters were cold. The two rooms they rented were damp and barely big enough to house him, his wife and his four children, let alone the other six members of his extended family who had travelled with them. With no possibility of work, he joined the other Iraqis standing vacant on street corners. Businessmen and lawyers, doctors and builders. It didn’t matter what you’d been back in Iraq. Now you were just another faded man in a faded suit jacket.
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In 2018, when the news came that ISIS had been defeated and that Mosul and its surrounding towns and villages had been liberated, Sam took notice. He wanted to know if it was safe to go back. And so, in early 2019, he finds himself standing, alone, in his house. He tries to look past the walls blackened with soot. He disciplines himself to not get upset about the fact that whatever furniture they left has either been looted or destroyed. He even ignores the anti-Christian graffiti sprayed on the walls. Walls can be painted. Furniture can be replaced. Hatred can be forgiven. He hears footsteps and looks up. There are two men, both with full beards and AK-47s. “Salaam alaikum,” Sam says. They do not return his greeting. “What are you doing here?” “This is my home,” Sam says. “I have returned.” The men do not exchange glances. They do not pause to consult. All they do is point their guns at Sam. “This is no longer your home. You do not belong here. If you choose to remain, your home will become your grave.” Within days Sam is back in Amman. Sam’s story is not unique. It is not even all that unusual. Despite the fact that ISIS has slipped far down our news agenda, the lives of so many of the hundreds of thousands of refugees remain in limbo. Trapped by the threat of death at home and a future of poverty and struggle in exile, many of them are living in painful despair.
*name changed
Trapped by the threat of death at home and a future of poverty and struggle in exile, many of them are living in painful despair.
Refugees with essential gifts given to them by Global Hope.
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Jamal Hashweh with a young refugee.
But not all of them. Because some are blessed to come into contact with Jamal Hashweh, a remarkable man working with the remarkable charity Global Hope Network International. Global Hope has met and helped thousands of families who don’t have enough money to buy their next meal. They give clothing, food and blankets, educational material and medicine. Sometimes they even pay for minor operations.
“We also go beyond relief work,” says Jamal, Global Hope’s Director in the Middle East. “We train men and women to gain a skill to help income generation. Some are able to pay their rent by doing embroidery or other work. It’s amazing to see people get their dignity back by being productive.” Global Hope does not work alone. Not only do they have a wide range of supporters all over the globe, but they are connected to and work alongside the Jordanian government (who have recognised Global Hope as one of the top ten charities in Jordan) as well as the royal family. At a time when immigration appears to be even more politically toxic than usual, Jordan’s generosity stands out. Current estimates suggest that there are almost 1.5 million Syrian refugees and fifty thousand Iraqis living in the country. It has not been easy. “We’re one of the poorer countries
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It’s amazing to see people get their dignity back by being productive.
in the area, but we are fortunate to have a very wise king and the royal family are doing their maximum to help the needy. Two of the royal princes sometimes partner very closely with us – see how humble they are. It is in the nature of Jordanians to be hospitable, loving and kind. We welcome people in our home. When we visit refugee families we’re not surprised when a neighbour knocks and brings food or vegetables or a meal to help them.”
The impact of all this generosity goes beyond economics. Their weekly special meeting for refugees where they occasionally share in a full meal as part of the service – can attract over seven hundred people, a colossal number for a country where just three per cent of the population are Christian. And it’s not just the free food which pulls them in. “Most of them would say ‘we left everything back home. We came as refugees, but we now know why God has allowed this in our lives, because we would never have discovered the truth that has changed our lives and given us the real hope we never had before.’” Jamal is familiar with stories like Sam’s, and he knows that the dangers for those returning are real. “ISIS is a brand name that may have slipped a little, but the spirit of hatred, of discrimination is still there. I’d say it’s even worse today than it was in 2014.”
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Jamal with His Royal Highness Prince Mired, the Head of the Higher Council for the Affairs of Persons with Disabilities in Jordan, receiving an award of excellence.
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But some of those people whose lives have been thrown into chaos by evil and arrived in Jordan as refugees have a different story to tell. Many of those who have been rescued and restored by love – whom God has reached through charities like Global Hope – find that their journeys are not over. They discover that God has greater plans for them. “They come to our country as refugees but many of them leave as transformed people who will share the message of hope with the world.” Jamal isn’t old, but he isn’t exactly young. After a lifetime of service and hard work, he’s at the age where there are plenty of great reasons to take life easy, not least a good number of grandchildren. “A lot of people say, why not retire? I say not unless He tells us. We’re staying here until we die.” For Jamal, the life of generosity lived out is the richest life possible. Besides, there is work still to be done. “The need is much greater than our limited ability to help people. We have helped ten thousand families in the last year alone, but if we had enough funding to help a further ten thousand families we could find and help them within the next two months. At £50 per family the total would be £1m. “That’s a big figure,” he says. Then he pauses. “But God can provide. He always does.”
JORDAN IN NUMBERS NUMBER OF REFUGEES PER 1,000 INHABITANTS
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PERCENTAGE OF REFUGEES LIVING BELOW THE POVERTY LINE
85% PERCENTAGE OF REFUGEES WHO ARE CHILDREN
48%
PERCENTAGE OF FUNDING REQUESTED BY UNHCR THAT HAS NOT BEEN GRANTED
81%
Global Hope Network International 20139201 16
Source: The UN Refugee Agency
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ally Magalhães runs The Eagle Project, rescuing children and young people from their lives on the streets of São Paulo, Brazil. Focusing on the youth prisons, they help 15 to 19-year-olds through psychodrama workshops, individual counselling and support through their next stage of life. Ruth Leigh met Cally to find out how she ended up in one of the world’s hardest places.
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Favela in the city of SĂŁo Paulo.
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Cally Magalhães. President and Co-ordinator of The Eagle Project.
CALLY MAGALHÃES
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n January 1999, Cally found herself standing in a Brazilian favela in the heart of São Paulo. The heat was blistering, she was surrounded by shacks and open sewers and worst of all, she had absolutely no idea what anyone was saying to her. Her two Portuguese phrases, “My name is Cally,” and “Where’s the loo?” got her through the first week, followed by immersing herself in Brazilian culture by living and working in the favelas where no English was spoken. Her journey to Brazil began years before. “I read a magazine article about São Paulo. I was heartbroken when I read about the street kids there who are treated like vermin. They’re beaten and sometimes killed by the police and have no rights at all. The thing that reduced me to helpless tears was reading that they sleep under the streets, in storm drains and sewers, to escape the paedophiles and the corrupt police at night. In the rainy season, water rushes into the tunnels and they drown in their sleep. I wept and wept, crying
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out, ‘No, Lord, no, no! I can’t live here in my nice house with my nice car and my nice job knowing that there are children dying on the streets of São Paulo.’” Despite feeling a strong calling, Cally had no means of funding herself. She was working four days a week as a supply teacher and running Christian assemblies at schools for the rest of her time. Yet her church stepped in, with people giving £5, £10 or more per month. Twenty-five years later, some of those first people who caught her vision are still part of her supporters’ network. Even though the funding was coming in, Cally remained in England. “I was so desperate to get out to São Paulo and start making a difference. It frustrated me when my church said it wasn’t the right time and God confirmed it. Looking back on it, I can see God’s hand at work. If I’d gone straight out there, I’d have had no support. As it was, my very first supporters started contributing monthly to my work in the schools and that’s what got me on the road of support-raising.”
I was heartbroken when I read about the street kids there who are treated Like vermin. They’re beaten and sometimes kiLLed by the poLice.
A boy plays in a Brazilian favela.
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In 1998, Cally felt the time to travel to Brazil was near. “I prayed for God to give me a sign. I remember walking along the road, crying and praying when I saw a bright yellow skip with the word “Brasil” on the side of it. That’s the Portuguese spelling. There was no rubbish in it and no other writing on the side, simply that one word.” Which brings us back to that slightly overwhelmed young woman standing in a favela in 1999. “In that first year, I visited the families and taught English in a favela. It was a brilliant training ground for the work we do today. After a year, I got in touch with YWAM and two other Christian organisations that worked with street kids and started to learn from them. We’d make friends with the kids, get the broken glass out of their feet, use wet wipes to clean up their noses which were all gummed up with glue and play games with them. I know now that most Brazilians are terrified to walk into the slums, but I walk into any favela in the city with no fear.” Cátia, Laisa and Cally outside the women’s prison ready for a psychodrama session.
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After that first year, Cally had a much clearer idea of the situation with street kids. “There are very few orphans on the streets. Often there’s no father in the family. There may be a new stepfather and he doesn’t want the kids around. They’ve lost their place; they might be abused or beaten and they find it’s preferable to live on the streets than come home to abuse. Through our work, we’ve reunited quite a few families.”
There are ChiLdren on the streets and chiLdren of the streets. ALmost aLL of the chiLdren come from the sLums.
The children fall into two groups. “There are children on the streets and children of the streets. Almost all of the children come from the slums. Their mum might be an alcoholic with 12 kids and no money, so she sends the kids out on the streets begging or cleaning windscreens at the traffic lights. At night they go home to their shack hungry and tired. Mum’s drunk on the bed, she goes out and spends all the money on booze, or they lose it and get beaten. Fairly quickly, they metamorphose into children of the streets. It’s better than going home. Someone gives them their McDonald’s leftovers, they join up with a group of other kids, start sniffing glue and, pretty soon, they live on those streets permanently.” The vulnerability of the children breaks Cally’s heart. “We hear such tragic stories. The kids get run over when they’re high on glue, they’re exploited by adults and paedophiles, they’re kidnapped at Halloween and used in Satanic rituals. We visited a project helping prostitutes leave sex work. Little girls as young as four and five are sold into prostitution by their fathers. Life’s cheap in São Paulo.”
The prison asked if we wanted to work with first-time offenders or serious and extremeLy serious reoffenders. Without hesitation, we said the Latter.
Boys in a youth prison unit lining up in formation to move to another part of the prison.
As a professional actress, Cally wanted to use her gifts. In 2006, she and her husband started The Eagle Project. Having read two books on psychodrama (a form of psychotherapy where people act out events from their past, often role-playing their victims where crime is involved) and restorative justice, she wrote a programme called Breaking The Chains. She presented it to a youth prison and it was accepted. “The prison asked if we wanted to work with first-time offenders or serious and extremely serious reoffenders. Without hesitation, we said the latter. They’ll be in and out of prison reoffending, end up in adult prison or die. It really is that stark.” Now working in three youth prisons, The Eagle Project delivers at least 12 sessions of psychodrama per boy. As a result, 80% of them leave prison and don’t reoffend. The boys role-play their victims, their families and friends and so get the chance to empathise and understand the impact of their crimes. Cally and her team befriend and support them, staying in touch once they’re released and helping them build new lives. The stories coming out of the project are nothing short of miraculous.
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LUIZ HENRIQUE
Imprisoned twice for stealing up to 10 motorbikes per day and robbing people at gunpoint after leaving the bank. Now runs his own barber’s shop and dreams of setting up his own barber’s school.
it’s easy to think, ‘I couLd do much more if onLy I had more money.’ I’ve Learned to Look at what I do have, not what I don’t. “One of our boys, Luiz Henrique, is now an incredibly successful barber. He dreams of starting up a school to teach other boys to become barbers. Another, Walace, went from youth prison to working for his university degree.” Both the boys’ stories can be viewed here: youtu.be/T7VWtaB6YgI So far, Cally estimates The Eagle Project has worked with around 300 boys. “Our project is unique because we follow up. You think you’re helping just one boy, but it’s more than that. Look at Walace. His relationship with his old criminal friends is completely different now. They look at him and see that their lives could change. He had no relationship with his father, but now he lives with him. There is a huge impact on everyone every time we work with a boy in the youth prisons. 24
WALACE
Imprisoned three times for drug trafficking and theft. Pictured here in the stockroom of the clothes store where he works. Walace is in his second year at university studying radiology – his university fees are paid by a sponsor.
ALEX
Imprisoned in the youth prison twice, enjoying using chopsticks for the first time during a meal with the team. He is working in a supermarket and dreams of studying nutrition at university.
“As a Christian worker, it’s easy to think, ‘I could do much more if only I had more money.’ I’ve learned to look at what I do have, not what I don’t. My supporters are amazing, generous and loving to me. Since 2006, I’ve sent out a regular newsletter. Most Sunday afternoons, I sit down and write an email. It’s in two sections – praise in purple and prayer requests in red. My supporters can choose one or the other or both. At the end, I give details of how to donate through give.net. My thinking is that if my supporters have chosen to support me and the project, they deserve to know where their money’s going. I’ve got a personal relationship with them, some going back 25 years, and they are some of the most generous and inspiring people I know. I want to keep in touch on a regular basis.”
The Eagle Project is going into some of the most deprived and poverty-stricken parts of Brazil and giving the very poorest and vulnerable a chance to find and follow their dreams. Now expanding into women’s prisons, Cally and the team are reaching out with God’s love into the favelas, replacing hopelessness with bright futures. If you currently raise support for ministry and want more information on how to write an effective newsletter like Cally, use the following link: bit.ly/2lwtvOw
The Eagle Project 20098650 25
As Christians we know that ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it’ (Psalm 24:1). We look back to God’s promise to bless all peoples on earth through Abraham (Genesis 12:3) and forward to the New Creation where people from every nation, tribe, people and language will worship God together (Revelation 7:9). And so we’re glad to support our givers in their generosity to Christian causes all around the world.
GLOBAL Yet giving overseas is not easy. Some countries have introduced restrictions preventing local NGOs from receiving overseas funding. International bank transfers can be complex and expensive. HMRC and the Charity Commission have increased their scrutiny of overseas grants, requiring us to carry out more due diligence on overseas recipients and to ensure the money will in fact be applied for purposes which are charitable under English law. With effect from 1 July 2019, Stewardship has introduced an additional 1% deduction for overseas grants to ensure that we can continue to make these payments in a legal and compliant way for the foreseeable future. 26
Over the last few months, we’ve been working on several initiatives to make international giving easier. We’ve become an affiliate of the TrustBridge Global Network, an international group of Christian donor-advised funds which aims to make global giving more efficient by reducing transaction costs and administrative burdens. Through this network, we’ve already been able to help our donors fund some exciting projects such as a church planting scheme in Eastern Europe. We’ve also been able to help our UK recipients receive grants and social investment cost-effectively from overseas donors.
Donations to Stewardship America will be eligible both for UK Gift Aid and for a US federal tax deduction.
GIVING Over the summer we launched Stewardship America, a dual-qualified donor-advised fund which will serve donors with tax liabilities both in the UK and in the US. Donations to Stewardship America are eligible both for UK Gift Aid and for a US federal tax deduction, depending on your personal circumstances. Stewardship America giving accounts operate in the same way as Stewardship giving accounts, with donors able to top up their account on a one-off or regular basis and to request grants to Christian and other charitable causes in the UK, the US and around the world.
For more information about how we can help with your international giving, please contact the Philanthropy Services team on philanthropy@stewardship.org.uk
Rachel Steeden Rachel is our in-house legal advisor, working with the Philanthropy Services team to serve Christians making large charitable gifts.
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Ask Steve
Professional advice for churches and charities In this issue, rather than answer specific questions I want to cover two areas that continually crop up through our consultancy helpline and during the Q&A sessions of our dial-ins.
What do I need to do to make successful Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS) claims? The GASDS has now been operational for a few years, and yet across the charity sector as a whole (there are no figures for churches specifically) remains underused. The scheme is suitable for almost every church and it enables churches to claim a GASDS top-up payment of £2,000 (more in some cases) every year on eligible small cash donations. This is true even when churches and charities do not know the donor. Overall, our message to churches is that the GASDS: c Provides really useful extra income; c Is generally straightforward to administer;
and c Should be used wherever possible.
There are of course rules to follow, but the scheme is relatively easy to operate. The donations themselves must be made by individuals; made in the UK; made in cash or by electronic transfer; be for £30 or less (increased from £20 from 6 April 2019) and be banked in full into a UK bank. Recent comments from HM Treasury suggest that donations (not a payment for goods) received for the provision of refreshments, can be included in a GASDS claim. Where churches operate out of more than one ‘community’ (there are rules to determine this) building then the £2,000
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limit applies to each building. So churches receiving donations in three locations have a potential annual GASDS claim of £6,000. Even more reason to make sure claims are submitted. Claims are made in much the same way as for Gift Aid, with a dedicated template (available from the HMRC website) attached to a claim made via the Government Gateway. Basic record keeping which records the amount of the gift; the date received; and the location in which it was received should be kept to support a claim if requested. GASDS claims must be made within two years of the end of the tax year in which the donations were collected (which is a tighter timescale than for Gift Aid claims) and in certain cases may be limited if a church receives only very small donations which are eligible for Gift Aid. We have written a briefing paper called Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme: A Practical Guide which is available on our website and explains the scheme rules (including examples) in more detail.
With more professionalism expected from trustees, are your financial controls fit for purpose? Almost every week we come across churches that have encountered failures in their financial control framework. Thankfully, the consequences of most of these failures are minor and are easily fixed, but there are times when they are more serious resulting in both financial and reputational damage to a church. We are aware of churches that have lost tens and even hundreds of thousands of pounds where a failure or weakness in the financial control framework has been a major factor. A good financial control framework allows a church to function effectively, unhindered, and operating the right side of the increasing number of regulations that we all face. Good financial controls do not pin churches down to such an extent that nothing really ever happens, but they should serve to stop money needlessly leaking away. They also provide protection to the church and to the staff and volunteers that handle money. Some key areas for controls include:
Subscribe to Stewardship’s consultancy helpline service, visit stewardship.org.uk/consultancy Subscriptions for churches and charities start from as little as £50 per year. If you have a question you would like addressed in a future edition of Share, please write to us at editor@stewardship.org.uk
c Income collection and recognition; c Authorising and paying invoices and
expenses;
c Operating a payroll; c Handling cash; c Understanding bank accounts; c Budgeting and reporting; c Claiming Gift Aid and GASDS.
Financial controls often go unnoticed until something goes wrong, by which time churches are left picking up the pieces. This warning, together with the Charity Commission’s raised expectations may mean that now is a good time to look again at your own controls framework. To help you do this, we have written a briefing paper available on our website called Financial controls in churches and small charities and would also point you in the direction of the Charity Commission’s CC8 which also provides guidance on ‘internal financial controls for charities’.
Stephen Mathews Stephen heads up the Stewardship consultancy helpline team, a specialist service offering expert knowledge to churches and charities.
Visit stewardship.org.uk/briefing for links to all the briefing papers mentioned 29
I’m Kezia – I like writing, thinking, laughing, dancing, dreaming and sleeping. I also help to organise campaigns here at Stewardship.
WHY I
GIVE Kezia Owusu-Yianoma
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What were you taught about generosity when you were a child?
What do you know now about giving that you didn’t know ten years ago?
Growing up in an African home, food was always a big part of our culture. At dinner my mum would always make enough food for us to eat plus two extra guests (in case someone turned up unannounced at dinner time). If no one turned up then we were free to eat those leftovers in the coming days. In addition to that, there would always be food to take home from family parties. It was just always the way – making more than enough so we could share it. That’s how I view generosity.
To be honest, it’s only very recently that generosity really clicked for me. Generosity is a mindset. I realise that being generous isn’t a spontaneous knee-jerk decision, it’s the attitude of someone who realises that they have been blessed so that they can be the answer to someone else’s lack.
What’s the hardest thing? The hardest thing about being generous is letting generosity win over my selfishness.
And the easiest?
I am always inspired by the stories of people who give out of their little. It just reminds me that being generous is a matter of who you are, not what you have.
What’s the best resource that helps you give generously? The Bible – genuinely. I just think there’s no greater resource to understand generosity than looking at how God works and displays his generosity throughout the Bible. Once we know our giving is a response to God’s generosity then we can give more freely with time or money or some other resource. And if that’s too much of a Christian cop-out, then I’m always inspired to be more generous by taking part in 40acts.
Who has been the biggest influence on your giving? I’m not sure that there is one specific person; I am always inspired by the stories of people who give out of their little. It just reminds me that being generous is a matter of who you are, not what you have.
The easiest thing is actually doing the giving. When you give a gift away it’s no longer yours but belongs to the person the gift was intended for. All we’re asked to do is be cheerful givers, we don’t need to micro-manage its use and find out if it’s being used the way we would use it.
What Biblical passages inspire generosity in you the most? 2 Corinthians 8:11 says “Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.” It’s really easy to want to help. But the truth is if I really wanted to help, I would find a way to do so. This verse reminds me that generosity isn’t only about intention but it’s also about action.
What’s the best example you’ve seen of generosity in action? I have an aunt and uncle who really embody generosity for me. They do everything with others in mind. When we stayed with them recently, they even gave up their car for us so that we could take a day trip in their car, while they found other ways to get to work. All that so we wouldn’t have to spend money on renting a car. They always think of others first and it’s incredible. 31
99%
of Christian workers live below their recommended living costs.* Find out how you can support full-time Christian workers this Christmas.
stewardship.org.uk/missionchristmas
*According to Stewardship’s full-time Christian workers annual target figures.