EVANSVILLE, Ind. — With the help of national non-profit RIP Medical Debt, Evansville's City Church is paying off $1.5 million in medical debt for Evansville families, pastor Jeff Kinkade said.

The church won't pick or know whose debt is paid off, but those families will receive a note from the church that says, "We may never meet, but as an act of love in the name of Jesus Christ, your debt has been forgiven."

Kinkade explained that RIP is able to buy back the debt for pennies on the dollar and selects residents living at or near poverty level incomes. City Church will purchase $1.5 million of medical debt for $15,000.

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“Our vision has always been to demonstrate the love of Christ to the city of Evansville, not just talk about it,” Kinkade said. “We’re not a mega-church with enormous resources so we are always looking for ways that we can make the biggest impact with the resources we do have. Christ’s sacrifice paid our moral debt, so sacrificing money to pay someone else’s financial debt seemed quite fitting to us.”

He said he heard about the program through Twitter and after researching it the church decided it would be a good way to make an impact on the community.

Kinkade said anyone who has medical debt, especially crushing medical debt, knows the kind of anxiety and pressure it can create and how it can impact every aspect of someone's life.

"It can feel like a noose around your neck," he said. "Anything we can do to help with that, especially for those who are already at or near the poverty-level, anything we can do to help free up their income."

City Church launched in July 2013 with a commitment to serving the city of Evansville with a vision of bringing spiritual, social and cultural renewal to the city and beyond through a movement of people who are being transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, according to a release from the church.

Those interested in contributing can contribute directly to RIP Medical Debt by visiting ripmedicaldebt.org or they can send contributions to City Church at 314 Market St., Evansville, IN 47708 with "RIP Medical Debt" in the memo.