Joining over a thousand believers in worship and receiving inspiring teaching is always an incredible experience. This July, CAP had the privilege of doing just that, as we attended the New Wine conference in Sligo.
Many of you might not be familiar with New Wine. They describe themselves as:
…a movement of churches working together to change the island of Ireland through a network of church leaders, our summer conference and training events. New Wine website
Their vision is powerful: to see churches across Ireland renewed, individuals and families transformed by meeting Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and compelled to share the good news of Jesus—forgiveness, healing, hope, restoration, and new life—across Ireland and beyond.
Christians gathered from all corners of the island. There was a strong presence from Northern Ireland, with smaller numbers from the Republic, including Dublin, Cork, Galway, and the Midlands.
At the CAP Ireland stand, we were encouraged by the number of people who already had personal experience with CAP. Many told of completing money coaching courses in Northern Ireland. They were enthusiastic about the positive changes they were now enjoying in their lives.
Even more heartening was connecting with several CAP Ireland money coaching participants from Cork, Dublin, and Galway. They shared powerful testimonies of how money coaching had genuinely helped them. One woman, initially hesitant to set limits on her spending for fear of restricting family life, revealed how months after her coaching, her mindset had shifted. She’s now comfortably living within her budget, proving the lasting impact of the program.
It was also a fantastic opportunity to catch up with several Money Coaches from our church partners. We shared encouragement and excitement, especially as they gear up for the busy autumn money coaching season. We also made new contacts, with people eager to learn more about CAP’s vital work.
What is Jesus doing?
The theme that emerged from the conference teaching was one of inner renewal, of seeing and following. We were urged to seek God. To ask him to open our eyes to see what Jesus is doing in our world. And then to ask how we can be involved.
The message shifted our focus from asking God to bless our plans to instead aligning ourselves with His plans. We heard inspiring reports of young people coming to faith and attending church in record numbers. Bible sales are accelerating. The team at the Our Daily Bread stand confirmed a surge in demand for their resources. Devotional apps are particularly popular. As we travel across the country we are hearing testimony of the truth of these things. Churches full of people in their teens, 20s and 30s, generations we had seen leaving the church in previous years.
God is at work, whether we see it or not. On our latest Induction training course for volunteer coaches we have a volunteer who was not even a Jesus follower when CAP Ireland launched in Sept 2023! God is working out His plans, we need to trust and ask Him to show us what He is doing.
Jesus, money and the poor
A highlight of our week in Sligo was the opportunity to lead a seminar. CAP CEO Alan McElwee began his talk by taking us back to Genesis, a time when God’s creation lacked nothing, and poverty simply didn’t exist—until the fall of mankind.
There is murder and deceit and all kinds of poverty as a consequence of The Fall. Mankind is now out of alignment with God, unable to fix or lift themselves out of this poverty. As they get out of alignment with God, we see the Hebrews and God’s Chosen people start looking to themselves as well as outside of themselves including to false idols and man-made efforts to bail themselves out.
Alan McElwee CAP Ireland CEO
The world that Jesus entered was one of inequality and oppression under the Roman Empire. Poverty; sickness and debt were systemic. It could be argued that the modern world is not very different. Jesus addressed these issues in his teaching. His parables often used money and worldly wealth to illustrate the conflict of allegiance that people faced.
In his talk, Alan highlighted Jesus encounter with Zaccheus. His meeting with Jesus resulted in a radical transformation. This was not just a heart decision to follow Jesus. It had major practical consequences for his life. He was seen as a traitor by his own people, collecting taxes for the Romans and cheating his own Hebrew brothers in the process.
Zaccheus’s wallet was affected by his encounter with the grace of God. He paid back money he had cheated in multiples of the original sums.
99% agree
God cares about how we use our money.
99% of those we surveyed at New Wine agreed with this statement. You probably do too.
Money can be a big distraction in our Faith. Through the constant pursuit of more, like Zaccheus, or the lack of it. So what can we do to have a right relationship with money? It starts with the Grace of God and trust, knowing that he supplies what we really need. Although not always what our modern world tells us we should desire.
How we manage our money plays a big part in whether it becomes a distraction to our faith. So few of us are actively taught how to take control of our money. Simple things like making a budget and learning how to stick to it are foreign concepts to many in Ireland. Many think they can’t save. This can result in wasted resources and stress, and at the sharp end of low incomes; poverty and exclusion.
God’s heart has always been for the poor and margianalised. Poverty often starts with a lack of money, but it’s fingers reach into every area of our lives. Feeling excluded, unable to participate in society due to a lack of resources, has far reaching effects. It can affect our mental and physical health. It also affects our children and the opportunities they are offered, resulting in intergenerational poverty and disadvantage.
Approximately, 844,660 people in Ireland experienced enforced deprivation last year. * Many more are experiencing financial stress that is impacting their daily lives. You may be one of them.
Responding to God’s heart
So, how can we be involved in God’s mission to the poor, the excluded, the disadvantaged? How can we better manage the resources that God has given each of us, so that money is not a distraction in our walk with God? What can the Church do?
Often we think of giving to the poor and our ministries in this area are lifelines to many. But we can go a step further. We can give people the opportunity to gain more control over their money and in turn, their lives. We can help people to learn how manage what they have well and dare to have goals for a better future.
Money Coaching from CAP is a simple ministry that every church in Ireland can adopt. Lone parent Diana was thankful to have money coaching accessible to her in Galway. But if Pastor Paul Cullen at Discovery Church hadn’t supported this new ministry she could still be, in her words, “drowning” in money troubles today.
A small group of volunteers in your church, trained by CAP, can offer money coaching group workshops. We have the expertise and resources to help you to do this. Don’t count yourself out. Find out more on our money coaching page.
Will you join us in our mission to see many more people like Diana helped through money coaching?
We have several events coming up where we would love to meet you in person.
Join us in Limerick or Crumlin for a Money coaching Taster Event.
We will be at the Kinfire Conference in Kilkenny with a stand and a Taster Event.
Lastly, we are also hosting a garden party for existing and potential donors.
* Basic or enforced deprivation occurs when someone can’t afford at least two of 11 essentials, like nutritious food, adequate heating, or suitable clothing. SVP