Full Faith and Credit for The New York Times
In 1996, Derek Drewery was enlisted in the Air Force, stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, transferred from Georgia, when he needed a small loan. He went to a payday loan agency, which is a short term, high interest loan company near base, and fell into the cycle of taking out another loan to pay off the first while his debts to the agency continued to compound.
Now a pastor, Drewery is part of Faith for Just Lending campaign, a diverse group of conservative and liberal churches from multiple denominations that oppose predatory lending on the grounds that the practice “conflicts with God’s plan for human relationships” and “is a direct violation of the Love Commandment.”