Ukraine and Mortgage Distress

Good Morning and Welcome to this week’s Gospel and Culture update, by Alan Vink
Ukraine and Mortgage Distress
Tuesday 19th April 2022

Ukraine – An Open Letter

Four week ago Anastasiya Gutorova (of Ukrainian descent and an award winning lawyer in NZ) wrote a stunning open letter to our PM on a full page of the Sunday Star Times. You can find it here on her Linkedin.

She asked the PM and New Zealand’s Government for three things:-

1. Take away Putin’s power – we need to target Putin’s supporters to undermine his powerbase in a way which does not indiscriminately affect ordinary Russians.
2. Increase humanitarian aid – we need to help people in Ukraine who are desperate for food, shelter, medical supplies and basic necessities.
3. Offer a safe haven to people directly affected – we need to offer refuge to Ukrainians fleeing the war.

I reached out to Anastasiya over the weekend. She said in a reply email:-

“You can see what the New Zealand government has done to assist Ukraine on MFAT’s website. It gets updated regularly. The need, unfortunately, remains overwhelming and is expected to remain or increase in the foreseeable future. There are a number of charities assisting different causes”.

I accept our world is in great turmoil at present. But can there be anything worse than an aggressor like Putin bombing a sovereign nation and killing civilian and displacing over a million people.
I’m sure many of you reading this piece have already made some kind of response but can you do more?

Here are two invitations to contribute. Tear Fund and Anastasiya’s Give-a-little appeal to raise funds to help with the relocation costs of Ukrainian’s fleeing the war. Could you as a church reach out to some local Ukrainian families and offer them your time, talent and treasure as they reach out to loved ones back home?

Mortgage Stress and Distress

Yesterday the Reserve Bank said this:-

“There are fears thousands of first home buyers will be tipped into financial distress by rising mortgage rates, as the Reserve Bank tries to battle inflation. Many will be paying thousands extra each month to service their mortgages. The Bank's own research, released to the Herald under the Official Information Act, reckons as many as half (49 per cent) of the people who bought their first home last year during the market peak could face serviceability stress if interest rates hit 6 per cent”.

Most of the major banks are now nudging 6%. That means on an average loan of $550,000 that would mean an extra $1500.00 loan repayment compared to this time last year. That is a massive increase. And that is saying nothing about the other costs of living that are all heading upwards.

POV. I accept that there is not much a local church can do about this. Heaven’s, not even our Government can do a great deal. But perhaps pastorally we can be aware and offer whatever support and practical help young couples in our churches will be facing.

Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.