The company founded by Christian financial expert Dave Ramsey paid off $10 million worth of debt owed by 8,000 individuals this Christmas season in order to “show the love of Christ” to those in financial trouble.
Ramsey’s company, Ramsey Solutions, purchased $10 million in medical and automobile debt from two private debt collection companies simply “in order to forgive it,” Ramsey Solutions said in a press release.
Ramsey and his team of 900-plus employees then made phone calls to the individuals who owed the debt, letting them know it had been forgiven. The individuals also will be notified via traditional mail, the press release said.
Ramsey’s website, DaveRamsey.com, includes a video for those who may believe it’s too good to be true.
“This year has been one of the hardest years for some of you. People have struggled financially in ways they never had before,” Ramsey says in the video. “And that's why we wanted to take this opportunity to show the love of Jesus, by taking on the debt of 8,000 people across the country. A total of $10 million of debt. And we are completely forgiving it. We bought it, and it's forgiven. That's right -- we bought some of your medical or your car debt from a debt collection agency, and it's paid off. … You may be thinking, 'Is this a scam?' Nope, it's not a scam. We've just been where you are. We know how it feels.
“... We hope this will be a jumpstart on your journey toward financial peace so that one day, you can live and give like no one else.”
Ramsey said he and his wife understand the “pain” of “having creditors call at all hours, pestering.”
“We know what it feels like to live paycheck to paycheck and wonder how we're going to keep the lights on,” he said. “We truly were borrowers that were slaves to the lenders. But we said never again to living in debt. We dug ourselves out.”
Ramsey Solutions, founded in 1992, provides biblically based financial education. It perhaps is best known for its Financial Peace University classes. Ramsey also hosts a radio show, the Dave Ramsey Show.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Dave Ramsey.com blog
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
