the underground world of generosity

For those who regularly travel on the London Underground, tubes can sometimes feel a tad unfriendly. There’s nothing like spending your commute squeezed into someone else’s back to ensure you arrive at your destination a little flustered. 

However, over the past seven months, The London Underground have been displaying a series of posters by the artist Michael Landy, inspired by people’s stories of nice things that have happened to them whilst travelling on the tube as a result of the generosity of others. Here’s just a few of the countless stories Landy has received so far:

“I was made redundant on my birthday. I was feeling pretty deflated and the staff at Pimlico noticed my change in mood. Imagine my joy and surprise when they presented me with a massive chocolate birthday cake! That gesture really gave me back my sense of self worth. I took some back the next day with cans of pop for them at break times. Our tube workers are everyday subterranean heroes. Thank you.”

“I lost my gloves on the Central line. A good three months later I was about to get off the Tube at Mile End and a passenger said, "I think these are yours?". They were mine and they were/are special gloves to me. As I was getting off I only had a second to say, "thank you". I have not seen him since, but he had taken those gloves on to the Tube every day for 3 months hoping to reunite them with me. A true act of kindness that I still say a BIG THANK YOU for.”

 “I was on the way to a party where you had to be smartly dressed when I realised my shoes were dirty. I was frantically trying to brush them clean with my hand and noticed the woman opposite me rummaging in her bag. She whipped out a brand new suede brush and asked "could this be what you need?". It was exactly the thing. I walked off the Tube with clean shoes and a big smile! I wonder what else she had in her Mary Poppins bag!”

“The underground, such a public place to be hit by private grief. I just couldn’t help the tears. I had to get off the tube, onto the platform and aim for a seat. A stranger in the rush asked me “are you ok? Can I help?” She had already.”

“As I leapt through the closing train doors at Finsbury Park, my left foot was caught and one shoe fell off onto the platform. I sat down, one shoe missing as the train pulled away. ‘I’ve just bought these’, said a woman opposite, opening a Russell & Bromley bag. ‘See if they fit’. They were perfect. The woman gave me her address so I could return her brand new shoes. Which of course, I did.”

What is striking about these acts of generosity is their simplistic nature. None required much of the giver, but open eyes and a giving heart.

As we approach the period of Lent, many people will be looking at those things they may want to give up. Here at Stewardship we are challenging people to go one step further this year and to not only give something up, but to give something out to others as well in an act of generosity. 

Over 40 days, we will challenge people to take part in 40 simple acts of generosity. Will you join the 40acts movement? Sign up at www.40acts.org.uk or visit www.facebook.com/40acts for more info.

To read more stories of kindness on the underground, please visit the TfL website here.

charity campaign of the month: 'Flour-ish' by Spark+Mettle

To kick off our new charity campaign series we ask: how do you turn baking into an alternative fundraising drive? This month, Spark+Mettle's 'Flour-ish' caught our eye and made our mouths water. Read on to find out why.

About the charity

Spark+Mettle is a start-up organisation who help people to - you guessed it - flourish. They give less-privileged young people an opportunity to unleash their potential and harness it to a fulfilling career through their training programmes and resources.

About the campaign

The third Monday of January is typically heralded as Blue Monday (the most depressing day of the year), so Spark+Mettle enlisted the help of Delia Smith, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Prue Leith to create a website full of recipes designed to help people 'flourish' and beat the blues. We really liked the Toffee Apple Cake. You can also use a text-donation service to donate to Spark+Mettle's work. Visit flour-ish.org.uk to find out more about the campaign.

If you think your charity campaign is worthy of a mention in next month's blog, or you've seen one that made you look twice, drop us a line at enquiries@stewardship.org.uk or leave a comment below.

3 mission minutes with... Petra

To kick off our first '3 mission minutes with...' series, we spoke to Petra Wainwright from El Refugio Ministries in Colombia about the challenges and joys of working with underprivileged children, being held at gunpoint, and South American chocolate:

When did you first join El Refugio ministries?

I came to Cartagena in Colombia after several years working in other countries on a more short-term basis training and language learning. All that preparation led me here in January 2010. El Refugio is a children’s project in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of Cartagena in Colombia.

What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the start?

I was very blessed in the way God led me into full-time mission through various short term missions: each one gradually lasting for longer and in different cultures which meant I had a gradual introduction into life as a missionary. So I can’t really remember ‘starting’ as such. But I would thoroughly recommend anyone thinking of life as a full-time missionary to spend time on short-term mission at first, if possible in a similar locations to that which you feel called to long-term.

What’s the most inspiring story to come out of the ministry so far?

It is hard to think of an inspiring story, working with children from a community with so many social, economic and cultural issues such as we do at El Refugio. During my 2 years or so here we have had some children and families who have made small breakthroughs and they to us are big! Kener is one young boy whom I call to mind: he is in the middle of a family of 8 siblings, mostly boys, the older ones all left school early with no encouragement to study from the family. Kener has many behavioural problems which caused him to fall behind at school and he was expelled without being able to read and write. Last September we had a teacher working with us who was able to take a small group of children who were not at school and teach them the basics of literacy; Kener was one of this group. After a tough beginning, all of the kids got used to a class environment and with lots of encouragement and creativity in the teaching we saw Kener start to make rapid progress in his studies and to show a lot of intelligence. After time, encouraged by his own achievement he also began to improve in his behaviour, even telling the others to behave as he wanted to study. Unfortunately though, he has begun to slip away with the pressure of his elder brothers to join in their life of crime.

Assuming you already have a bible, what’s the one thing you couldn’t do without while in Colombia?

My laptop. I was unfortunate enough to have my laptop stolen at gun-point at the beginning of the year but thankfully God provided a new one brought over from England in May by my Mum. However, during the months I was without one I realised how important it is, not just for work purposes, but also for social needs: watching DVDs, communicating with friends and family and even being able to attend my home church through their live streaming. I have also been blessed with a near constant supply of Cadbury’s chocolate which is also a definite need! Latin chocolate just isn’t as good!!

What’s the largest challenge you’ve faced so far?

Personally the largest challenge was the armed robbery: having a gun pointed at you is not something you overcome easily. However God was faithful and through the experience He was able to bring about a resolution to my biggest ministry challenge which was with our youth. As I have mentioned, this community put a lot of pressure on their children to drop out of school, become involved in sexual promiscuity, drinking, drugs and gangs. So starting our first youth group was a challenge because these young people are very much at the edge of the temptation to follow that path. Also, youth in any culture can be very difficult to please. I found myself in a position where the youth didn’t respect me or my authority; they would laugh at me and misbehave or have a bad attitude. The robbery took place during a youth group meeting in front of all of them, and since then they have all changed their attitude and now have a lot of respect for me.

How have you found the experience of raising your own support?

Raising support was very difficult for me in the beginning, issues such as my British reserve coupled with the fear that others will react negatively, expecting that you should get a paid job and not ’live on handouts’. Also while I was training it was hard for people to see the purpose in what I was doing. Since actually being in ministry it has become easier to raise support and when I came to Colombia in 2010 for the first time I had enough support to pay my basic needs. After going back to the UK for Christmas 2010 armed with videos and stories, I was able to increase my support to a level where I am now comfortable.

What’s your favourite part of Latino culture?

I love the openness of the people here, despite their problems the people I work with are so open and friendly and they accept me for me. The same goes for the team I work with who are mostly Colombian. I also love the liveliness and colour of the culture with the music and dancing.

If people want to support you, how can they do that?

People can support me through my Stewardship Account. (a/c number 2009 0351)

Where do you see the ministry being in 5 years?

It is my vision to expand the current ministry to work with girls who have become involved in sexual exploitation. It is estimated that there are 2000 underage girls being used in prostitution, mostly sex tourism, in the city of Cartagena.

Thank you for taking the time to speak to us! Any final thoughts?

I have a very good friend and supporter who supports not only me but another missionary. He has often said that when he hears missionary stories he feels like he should also be on the field doing something, but doesn’t really have a call to mission. It is something I believe God puts in the hearts of all his people, to “go into all the nations” however, it is my belief that he calls some people to “go” and some people to “enable”. Someone once said it is like the bees and flowers: the bees travel around spreading the pollen, but if there weren’t any flowers to pollenate what would the bees do? My friend is a flower that gives in order that I and others can fly around spreading God's love. The mission supporter is a very important person in the life of a missionary and is often undervalued. I have 16 very special people who give me a little of their income each month so I can fulfil my calling and I hope I never undervalue or dishonour them in any way. I know many missionaries, especially Latinos who work with me here, who are not so fortunate. More Christians at home need to realise that this is a very valuable and much needed way of fulfilling God’s great commission.

Follow Petra's story on Twitter: @Petrat76

El Refugio Website (Spanish)

ministers in debt... tackling the taboo

"As a chartered surveyor in Local Government, I enjoyed a good salary and loans with preferential rates. Then God called me into the ministry. Living by faith in Bible College was somewhat different!”. Restructuring debts and taking on a second job, whilst working for the church, seemed like the only option. “We ended up using credit cards to buy groceries, we felt we had no other choice; we chose more debt rather than allow our children to go without.”

This is how Julian’s story begins; one of a number of Church ministers who have found themselves reaching out to Christians Against Poverty’s debt counselling service in recent years. And Julian isn’t alone. Our own anecdotal research suggests that debt amongst senior church leaders and ministers is rising, with many feeling forced to suffer in silence.

“Being in debt is a massive taboo subject especially for a church leader – who can you confide in? You worry that your ministry will be affected if people in your church learn of your struggle and not everyone has a family friend they can turn to.”

Which is why this week we are celebrating the launch of CAP Money Ministers - a new, confidential service for senior church leaders experiencing personal debt issues, working in partnership with Christians Against Poverty.

Mike O’Neill, Stewardship’s Chief Executive, adds “We often hear from church leaders who lack confidence in their own finances and in their ability to speak confidently about money with others. That’s why we are so thrilled to be partnering with CAP to launch CAP Money Ministers; a service which we hope will release hundreds of church leaders from financial worry and, in doing so, free them to do the same for their congregations."

For Julian, the lifeline came when a friend referred him to CAP, who quickly worked to turn his situation around.

“The great thing that CAP did for us was to give us hope: hope that we could sort out the debt, hope that it wouldn’t last forever. There is a way out of debt.” Read the rest of Julian's story here.

Anyone can struggle with their finances and fall into debt, particularly in the current economic climate; those that lead churches are no exception. Even those leading churches, who are expected to be perfect all the time!

If you are in a ministerial position and need help with money management, contact CAP Money Ministers’ confidential helpline on 01274 760780, or click here to find out more.

online giving reaches record high

Image source: Flickr: Easterbilby

Did you know that online giving among the good people of Great Britain experienced an increase of 75% between 2008 and 2011?* Pretty good hey?

A survey published this week by the Evangelical Alliance also revealed that within the UK evangelical Christian community, over half of those respondents surveyed said they had made online donations to a charity or ministry in the last 12 months.

The survey also reports that direct debits, standing orders, traditional cash or cheque donations still remain much more popular whilst another pioneer giving technique – texting – remains low in the popularity stakes with just 13% of survey respondents saying that they have given in this way in the last 12 months. Text-giving was, however, more popular among women and the 35-55 age group.

Here at Stewardship, we have been encouraged by the popularity of our own online giving service, successfully launched a year ago. During this time we have seen over 8591 people logging on to use their Stewardship giving accounts and in just 12 months, £7 million in online account donation requests have been fulfilled.

Over a third of all one-off gifts made into Stewardship accounts are now made online and last year £6,000 of online donations were made on Christmas day! Take a sneaky peek at how YOU could join the ever-growing generous bunch of online givers at www.stewardship.org.uk/give-funds.

So how do you like to give? Do you prefer the good old traditional giving techniques or have you dipped more than a toe into the ever expanding cyberspace giving community? Leave us your comments!

*Source: www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/sites/default/files/clickable_UK_Giving_2011.pdf

27% of Christian workers earn less than 10,000 pounds, our survey reports

Our recent international survey of full-time Christian mission workers has revealed that 27% of those surveyed rely on an annual income of £10,000 or below.

Of those Christian workers who took part, the average income for survey respondents was revealed to stand in the region of £15,000 per year.  This is at a time when the average salary in the UK is reported to be £27,415 (Source: PayScale).

When queried on perceptions of a ‘suitable’ level of income; mission workers regarded an annual income in the region of £21,500 would be adequate in meeting their financial needs and those of their family. The results of the survey conducted by Christian charity Stewardship, an organisation who supports a network of over 2500 individuals in or studying for ministry, serve as a reminder that the financial needs of many Christian mission workers around the world are not being sufficiently met.

Michael O’Neill, Chief Executive of Stewardship comments;

“The figures from our latest international survey suggests that a large percentage of Christian mission workers are surviving on an income which is a third less than they require.  As an organisation we are committed to seeing mission work generously resourced, however these survey results will certainly challenge Christian mission workers, their supporters, sending agencies and churches and reveals that we still have a long way to go.”

Read the full survey breakdown here.

The Christmas Tree - an advent gift from Stewardship

The Christmas Tree is an advent gift from Stewardship to you.

Inspired by the tale of two trees; surprise gifts for two unsuspecting families, we offer simple tales of miracles, hope and generosity.  We hope to inspire you.  To remind you of the wonder of Christmas; a celebration of generosity, of God’s greatest gift to all mankind.

Take a moment to explore our Christmas tree.  Play. Sing along. Giggle. Be inspired. Share.

Wishing you a blessed Christmas.

Stewardship.

the real gifts of Christmas

Despite making a conscious effort each year to avoid the Christmas consumer frenzy and keep my mind focused on the real meaning of Christmas, the reality is that it’s very difficult to keep an eye on spending during the festive season.  It’s a bit like hoovering up the needles under the Christmas tree, just when you think you’ve finished, more appear! 

Even if you rigorously scale down on present giving, only send e-cards, or make all your own decorations, there are plenty of other little extras that can catch you by surprise and eat up your cash. 

To avoid being tangled up by unexpected expenditure, why not take some time out over a coffee and review your Christmas spending with the help of our Christmas budget challenge?

There is also another lurking danger which may not be quite so obvious: that faced by the overt message of commercialism we can refuse to participate at all and stifle the Christian message of generosity so apparent in the Christmas story.  If you’re in need of an antidote to commercialism or feeling a bit ‘bah humbug’, perhaps take a look at a short clip from Operation Christmas Child following a journey of a shoebox.  Volunteering to fill and check boxes is a small act of generosity which happens every year in churches around the UK.  Maybe there are similar opportunities near you that might be able to give a little time to?

Giving our time to preparing for Christmas, whether it be planning activities or budgeting spending could help you to maintain a clear head when faced with the seasonal onslaught and give you that important head space to concentrate on the real gift of Christmas – one that never tarnishes, runs out or disappoints.

stewardship is shining for Cancer Research UK

We have set a fundraising target of £5000, with each of us aiming to raise varying amounts. All of us have a story to tell, and you can head to the following pages to read them, see who has already donated, and make a donation yourself:

Frances' Page

Daniel's Page

Alex's Page

Joanna's Page

Greg's Page

Christine's Page

Jules' Page

Lisa's Page

Kirstie's Page

Lots of our family and friends have already made donations - and we're so grateful that they believe in us! - but one particularly encouraging story of generosity emerged from a social network - Twitter. One of our supporters attracted the attention of a complete stranger - a Secret Millionaire in fact - on the social network, and asked him if he could advertise the fundraising effort via his Twitter account. Given that philanthropists and celebrities tend to get these kinds of requests on a daily basis, it came as a really lovely surprise to see that the Millionaire in question not only advertised the fundraising effort to nearly 700 followers on Twitter, but also made a donation himself. 

Thanks so much to those who have given so generously; we look forward to seeing some of you at the finish line, and will blog the full story (with photos!) after the event.

hope for the community

Not to be confused with Hope Corner, Hope Centre is a story just as inspirational. 39 churches in the Macclesfield area came together to inspire hope in the local community, and out of it was borne the Hope Centre - a coffee shop and Christian bookshop designed 'to respond to human need by loving service'.  In addition to serving up quality coffee and Christian literature the Centre has also been able to respond to prayer requests. 'We're reaching out to lonely, isolated people in our community.' Bob Boland, Chairman of the Trustees, said.

Stewardship was pleased to be able to provide a £20,000 grant which contributed to the start-up costs and we look forward to hearing more stories of hope as the Centre moves into new areas of outreach.

For more information about Hope Centre, visit their website.

You can support Hope Centre using your Stewardship account, using account number 20118387