Parents & Grandparents
Train up a child in the way he should go
and when they are old
they shall not depart from it.
The rich rule over the poor
and the borrower is servant to the lender.
Prov 22:6-7 NIV
You can assist your children onto the path to future financial freedom. How? - By sponsoring them into Liberty Trust towards an interest-free mortgage, and explaining to them “Why”. They can add to it from pocket money or after-school earnings. The goal is that they take over from you when they commence full-time earning. In approximately 15 years, in order of joining, they will be offered an interest-free mortgage of seven times the total contributed i.e. they contribute to a total of 14.3% of the amount they choose to borrow. This represents a huge saving compared to a bank mortgage, where interest often totals 100% or more of the amount borrowed. Through Liberty Trust, they can buy a home in their late 20s and be completely debt-free by their mid-30s. Often parents join for themselves as well. Anyone may join.
Home ownership is linked to better health, marital stability, and quality of community and family life. Today’s young face challenges in regard to money far greater than we ever faced. High house prices, peer pressure from friends to spend and not save, tempting advertising, and easy access to debt, mean that unless your children receive teaching (and training) in saving and handling money they are likely to struggle with finance for the rest of their lives. Your children may not always listen to you, but they will critically watch, and follow your example if they judge it to be sensible.
Liberty Trust teaches the Bible’s financial principles, e.g. sowing before reaping, and generosity, and lending interest-free, and demonstrates their truth by applying them in practice. Our goal is to equip each person with their own debt-free home, as young as possible, in order to financially free them to fulfil the unique plan God has for their lives. Today we are seeing the first sponsored children, now with their own debt-free homes, gratefully sponsoring their own children. The endless generational cycle of mortgage debt is being broken.
Liberty Trust is a charitable trust. Although financially independent, it reports to the Whakatane Baptist and Liberty Life churches. In its first 35 years it has loaned 650 mortgages ($90million), all without borrowing or receipt of grants. All lending is secured by first or second mortgages and repaid in 7–10 years (principal only). Lending is subject to normal bank lending terms. Through its lending arm the Trust can lend up 100% of valuation.
Young people today face financial challenges and temptations unlike those of previous generations. Rising house prices, media marketing, student loans and easily accessible debt mean that without early teaching and wise action your children are unlikely to ever own a home of their own*.
Home ownership is linked to better health and employment outcomes, quality of life, martial stability and educational outcomes for children*. We need to train our children in wise financial habits so they will not spend their adult lives in debt to others, but have the financial liberty to fulfill their purpose in God (Psalm 37:4).
Liberty Trust provides a training method that can enable your children to achieve the goal of debt free home ownership within a short time. By training them in God’s principles they can be free to serve God without the burden of rent or mortgage interest and can use their talents to dramatically advance God’s Kingdom.
Use Liberty Trust materials to teach your children and grandchildren the nature of debt (Prov 22:7) and the cost of interest (Deut 23:20), the benefits of diligence (Prov 10:4-5), planning ahead and resisting frivolous spending (Prov 21:20) and inspire them to serve as responsible stewards in God’s creation using their unique gifts for the benefit of His Kingdom (Mtt 25:14-27).
The wise saves for the future,
but the foolish spend whatever they get. Prov 21:20
Put these teachings into action with your child. Commence a joint contribution into Liberty Trust (minimum $20/ week) so they can later be offered an interest free mortgage and then become debt free. Have the child contribute from their allowance and earnings so they can understand the cost of sowing and appreciate the benefit to come. Discuss their progress with them. Assist them to apportion their income between a tithe given to God, an investment in Liberty Trust, spending and savings at a bank.
In Bible times families provided homes for their newly-weds as one community. They in turn then shared in providing homes for others. Loans were always interest-free in order to assist each other (Deut 23:19-20). Can you imagine the blessings that would flow to God’s Kingdom from this one simple instruction? - They can again!
A Lifestyle of Sowing & Reaping
God’s pattern is that parents train their children. Proverbs 22:6 says: “Train up a child in the way he shall go, and when he is old he shall not depart from it.” This is a promise, not a command. Saving (sowing) is usually a learned habit which commences in childhood. As part of their training we recommend that parents encourage their children to begin “sowing” for a home by contributing into Liberty Trust, together with sponsorship by their parents, at (say) $10/week. Grandparents can do this too.
When the child begins earning, he/she can take over the membership with the goal of receiving an interest-free mortgage of 7 times their total contributions, without the need for a deposit, by (say) age 28 or younger. With sponsorship from their parents some can even receive their mortgage as young as 20! Then they can repay in 10 years or as soon as reasonable, often with the help of both working spouses before they commence a family. Their home will be debt-free, while most of their friends are still be saving for a bank deposit, or have given up completely. What is more, they will do the same for their children, and they for theirs etc. -You will have commenced a Godly heritage. Also the they donated will be helping to build a part of God’s storehouse where it continues to help thousands of others - whereas bank interest simply builds the world’s system.
Teenagers
Some have found that unless their children are trained in the Bible’s financial principles before becoming teenagers, the influence of their peers will outweigh the teaching of parents. If you have found this in practice, we recommend that you commence memberships in the name of your teens just the same, and explain to them what you are doing. Teenagers carefully watch and learn from the example of their parents. With encouragement from parents they respect, these young adults will take over the membership when they commence earning.
How Does It Work?
Contributors are offered an interest-free mortgage of seven times the total they have contributed, after around 15 years. This is “Sowing before Reaping”. Loans are offered by Ark Resources Ltd in the order participants join Liberty Trust, and are repaid over 7-10 years, or as soon as reasonable, subject to normal bank lending conditions.
Your Family
Ownership of a home will be an impossible dream for most of today’s young, unless we together help them as one community. Those who do succeed in obtaining a bank mortgage without substantial finance from their parents will likely be still be paying it off until well into their retirement (and paying the bank more in interest than they borrowed). Those who don’t get a mortgage will rent all their lives at even greater cost. Both will spend most if not all their lives in debt. The principle of Proverbs 22:7 “The borrower is servant to the lender” and the 2 Cor. 6:14 warning against being “yoked together with unbelievers”, applies equally whether you are borrowing a house or borrowing a mortgage for a house.
Unless God’s people apply His financial principles today, our churches of tomorrow will largely be filled by Christians who will be in debt all their lives, unable to give in “liberty”. How can they be “the head – not the tail” – the financial state promised by God for those who obey His principles? Or how can they function financially as “stewards” of God’s resources as God has planned for their lives? God doesn’t plan that we be wealthy however. He is equipping the saints for the work of His Kingdom (Eph. 4:13).
God’s pattern is “Sowing before Reaping”; the very opposite to the world’s teaching. Although “Teaching the Bible’s Financial Principles” is the Trust’s first priority, it must be accompanied by practical application of those principles (James 2:17).
A Goal and a Purpose
A child’s Liberty Trust membership also provides parents with the ideal opportunity to explain to children the long-term goal and importance of saving and ultimately owning their own home, coupled with the goal of being debt-free ASAP. As you know, many young people today have no sense of purpose or direction. Consequently they have no idea of what they should train for. “The world” teaches them to live only for themselves. It is only later, often when they begin a relationship with their future spouse, that they realise that the world’s teaching is “a lie”. By then, they and their future spouse are generally into serious debt. Together they must un-learn their habits of spending, and begin to save for a home. The tragedy is: it is generally too late. ‘Finance’ and ‘Spending’ will probably always be a cause of stress in both their marriage and to their family, unless they can reverse the years of “sowing” to themselves.
Those trained to apply “Sowing and Reaping” in their finances will avoid this whole life experience. Furthermore they will each be fulfilling God’s individual purpose, serving as stewards in His Kingdom. They will live with purpose.
Tell Me More
You can learn more by viewing our website: www.libertytrust.org. This includes teaching, newsletters, application forms, interactive examples, endorsements from Christian leaders and scholars, and hundreds of inspiring testimonials from those who have received interest free loans. We also have teaching books on Biblical financial principles for Kiwi Kids and Kiwi Teens at $10 each.
Alternatively phone: 0508 Liberty (542 378)
email: info@libertytrust.org.nz
post: PO Box 2211, Whakatane 3159, New Zealand
Liberty Trust is an approved Charitable Trust run under the guidance of two local churches. Apart from minor overheads your entire donation is retained in the Trust and lent and re-lent to future generations.