Michael Wood, founder of Rope, on the Beacon Award, Faith and the Poor

Michael Wood was recently awarded the prestigious Beacon Special Prize for his outstanding commitment to the poor and underprivileged around the world through the ministry he founded 15 years ago, Rope.

Rope has expanded to 85 countries around the world, resourcing Christian nationals to help their own countries' poor, deprived and oppressed people, particularly widows and orphans.

Christian Today spoke to Mr Wood about his reflections on winning the Beacon Prize and his work with Rope.

CT: Congratulations on winning the Beacon Prize. Were you surprised you won it?

MW: Yes I was. I was rather surprised with the glowing testimonies they gave to our work. Of course it is a team effort and I just happened to be involved in it.

How did you feel as a Christian winning it?

I think it is very important that Christians realise it is extremely near the heart of Jesus Christ that you care for the poor wherever they may be found. And it is that that hit me 15 years ago to form Rope and I am particularly influenced by James 1.27 which says that we have to care for the widows and orphans and so on. And that's what we do really.

We set up Ropeholders around the world and we are actually in 85 countries across the world. These Ropeholders are nationals and Christian people there who want to help the poor but very often lack the resources to do so. So we motivate them, fund them and make them strictly accountable. And they basically care for the widows and the orphans there.

Why did you feel this particular calling?

My many years of experience travelling; I've had a buzz towards the needs of the poor and very deprived people, and Rope seemed a logical development of what I had been doing through a private foundation and it was inviting the public to participate in this.

How great a part did your Christian faith play in motivating you to set up Rope?

Well totally. I felt it to be a calling all my life. And all Christians should be very, very concerned for the fate of the poor of the world.

Matthew 25 speaks about caring for the deprived and oppressed people and it seems that is very near the heart of the ministry of Jesus.

Do you feel enough Christians get actively involved with these kinds of issues?

That's not for me to judge but when I am speaking in churches all over the country I just emphasise that it needs to be part of our Christian commitment and particularly to start by getting information about a country's situation and we can supply all that and to see if you can't take some small section of it on board.

So you support every day, 'ordinary' Christians in that?

Oh totally yes and challenge them a bit to be involved.

Did you ever feel overwhelmed by God's calling for you?

Oh totally. The needs are just enormous. And as I've travelled the world and visited refugee camps and squatter places and the streets of huge cities and saw the needs there, one is completely overwhelmed but instead of getting depressed about that you just do the best you can.

Now you have handed over the leadership of Rope how do you want to see it grow?

I would like to see more and more people understand that we are by no means better than other agencies but we do things in a different way. Firstly in the use of nationals so far as the country is concerned and then targeting real needs wherever they are, particularly small businesses. We've started many hundreds of those around the world.

How important is it for you that you use nationals?

Many agencies spend a great deal of time sending out white people from Western Europe and America to show national people in developing countries how to do certain things. I am not saying that is without its use but if you have people who already know the language and the customs and so on you are actually able to find out where the needs are and scratch where people they are itching, and they are able to cut through the jazz and the bureaucracy and deal with things very much more quickly.

The cost of sending out a European person to Africa is so great you could almost start a children's home.

Are you surprised by how Rope grew?

Yes, I think people got the idea because they like particularly the fact that we don't deduct anything for administration expenses from gifts received. We make it quite clear these are funded by another trust called Friends of Rope. So if you want to contribute to that because obviously we can't run on thin air. But if you contribute to Rope 100 per cent goes to help the poor.

So what do you plan to do with your time now that you have retired?

I have a programme speaking in the churches wherever they will receive me. I come with a PowerPoint presentation and explain what our latest activity is and what we are working on. I am hoping to develop some DVD work as well which takes a bit of time. But wherever I get an entry to a church I look forward to just coming and sharing a very cost effective way of helping the poor.

And what about your personal faith; how do you see this growing now you have retired from Rope?

I think as you get older one's faith gets challenged in various directions. I think it would be idle to say otherwise. Because I think it's been a calling all my life, particularly it gives me tremendous satisfaction when I get a bit of feedback and I feel that people have been blessed. So it helps me.