On Sunday, January 28, a list of 2,973 debts was symbolically burned during our worship service, representing $6,560,412 in crushing medical debt owed by poor families in Wake County, NC. Our Christmas campaign for the Debt Jubilee Project planned to raise $20,000 over six weeks — but ended up raising $43,169! We partnered with Raleigh Moravian Church, The Table Moravian Church, Fries Memorial Moravian Church, and the Men’s Fellowship of Ardmore United Methodist Church. Many individual donors from all over the state helped push us over the 200% mark. We were aided by a surprise front-page column by Scott Sexton, Aiming High At A Pile of Debt on Dec 31.

Th Debt Jubilee Project has purchased all the available medical debt in Forsyth and surrounding Piedmont counties. In an investigative article, NC Medical News recently revealed that Atrium and Novant, the major health systems in our area, have decided to no longer sell medical debt. We will be working to change this policy so that we can continue to help poor families in our area.

Trinity has been honored with the HERRNHUT AWARD by the Moravian Church Board of World Mission. This is a recognition of congregations in North America that are doing exemplary mission and service work both in their local communities as well as in global mission efforts. This award has been given to only one other Moravian Congregation at this point.

The Rt. Rev. Chris Giesler and Rev. Angelica Regalado presented the award in our January 28th service, not only to recognize the recent Debt Jubilee Project, but also LOGOS, our children’s ministry, our support of Anthony’s Plot. and our founding of Sunnyside Ministry. To read the entire proclamation, click HERE.

This Sunday, Jan 7, Trinity is responsible for eight hours of the worldwide Unity Prayer Watch – from midnight until 8:00 am.  We have divided the eight hours into 16 half-hour slots.  Please click on this link:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0845A4A828A5F49-47036343-unity

To sign up for a slot.

You can download a PDF guide of prayer topics from our website at

http://trinitymoravian.org/content/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2024-Unity-Prayer-Watch-Topics.pdf

Thank you for being a link in this unbroken chain!

Pastor John

P.S. The free version of Signupgenius which we are using will probably present you with several “free” offers after you sign up. I recommend you decline these unless you are really interested in one.

Our Summer 2023 newsletter is here — members should have received a copy in the mail. Or you can read it here online!

DOWNLOAD SUMMER 2023 NEWSLETTER HERE

Yes, the Debt Jubilee Project went viral on April 12-13 – no kidding!  We were viral on Twitter, TikTok, and Reddit, where the story from WXII-12  was posted and reposted.

TikTok – 13.5 Million views

Twitter – 28.8 Million views

Reddit – Top Favorites page on 4/12, 3,300 comments.

As a result, we were mentioned on the syndicated radio programs the Bobby Bones Show and the Glenn Beck Show.

Listen to Glenn Beck Show – begins at 13:40

Listen to Bobby Bones Show – begins at 50:30

It was announced today that the recent Davidson County campaign was able to purchase and forgive $3,296,863.64 in medical debts.

• Davidson County: 3,133 individuals totaling $2,988,937.45
• Davie County: 155 individuals totaling $192,815.53
• Yadkin County: 67 individuals totaling $115,110.66

The average medical debt forgiven was about $1,000.

When poor families cannot afford to pay their medical debts, after initial collection attempts, the debts are often sold off to third party debt collectors for a penny on the dollar or less in a practice called factoring. The third party collector then has the legal right to demand the entire amount. Some use very aggressive tactics. This is where our Debt Jubilee Project, working with RIP Medical Debt, can intervene and purchase the debts – but we forgive them rather than collecting. Watch out for the next Debt Jubilee campaign!

For more information on the Debt Jubilee Project, visit the website at debtjubileeproject.org.

This Saturday, January 7, is Trinity’s turn at the great Unity Prayer Watch. Every minute of every day, a Moravian somewhere is praying for the ministry of the Moravian Church. We have again been assigned the hours of Midnight to 8:00 am.

Please consider signing up for a 30 minute slot — or perhaps splitting a slot with a spouse or friend. We will all be praying at our homes.

You can download a Prayer Guide that will guide you through prayer for all our provinces and ministries. DOWNLOAD HERE.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP!

This prayer watch, inspired by the “Hundred Year Prayer Watch” in Herrnhut, has continued unbroken since 1957.

The web edition of our December newsletter is available online — read details about special Christmas music, lovefeast services, and our puppet ministry!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

EDITOR’S NOTE: Our initial announcement was based on the typical projection. When RIP Medical Debt went to the market with our funds, they were able to purchase over $1.1 million in debts, about $500K in Forsyth County and $600K in Davidson County.

On Sunday, September 18, Pastor John Jackman announced that the Debt Jubilee Campaign of Trinity Moravian Church had successfully raised enough money to purchase and forgive just over $500,000 in medical debt owed by individuals in Forsyth County, North Carolina. The campaign, originally scheduled to run through the end of October, was concluded early after only six weeks of fundraising.

“This has been an amazing experience,” said Pastor Jackman. “Everyone I have told about the program has a story to tell — either someone in their family or a close friend who has been crippled by unexpected medical debt. I have to hear their story, and then they make a donation.”

According to Rihanna Joseph, Development Officer at RIP Medical Debt, the process of actually purchasing the debt has commenced; upon receipt of official confirmation of the debts and forgiveness, the church plans to symbolically burn a list of the forgiven debts in a special service. “It’s like a real-world parable of how God forgives our debts, said Pastor Jackman.

How is it possible for an average sized congregation to make this big a difference? Trinity has partnered with RIP Medical Debt, a highly-rated nonprofit in New York, which was started by two executives who worked in the area of debt factoring. As experts in the field of the resale of debt, RIPMD is able to purchase “aged” medical debt (debts which have not been successfully collected for a period of time) for literally a penny on the dollar. In this process, called “factoring,” the debt holder can receive a small amount and write off the debt; usually a third party debt collection agency purchases the debt, and then has the right to collect the full amount if they can, often using aggressive measures. In this case, however, Trinity and RIP Medical Debt use the system to do good: instead of collecting, they forgive the debt. Each debtor will receive and official letter indicating that their medical debt has been forgiven, and is wiped off their credit report. Trinity Moravian Church has had a campaign to raise $5,000 in cash, which will be used to purchase the factored debt.

But this is not the end of the Debt Jubilee Project! The next target is Davidson County, where there is an estimated $4.7 million dollars in unpaid medical debt available for purchase on the secondary market. According to Pastor Jackman, the project will be partnering with other churches and groups to raise the money to purchase and forgive that debt. The Moravian Ministries Foundation has already provided a matching grant of $2,500 to match the initial donations.

For more information about the Debt Jubilee Project, the latest news on medical debt issues and health care issues in North Carolina, visit https://debtjubileeproject.org. Organizations that wish to partner with the Jubilee Project may visit “Partner With Us” on the website.

June 2022 Newsletter – special Synod edition.

DOWNLOAD HERE