Jobs Program Shows Women ‘Who They Are in God’s Eyes’
PARAGOULD, Ark. (BP) — Intent on living up to its name, Future & Hope Christian Women’s Job Corps typically equips 10 to 12 women during in-depth 10-week sessions on such practical life skills as computer skills, money management, parenting and healthy relationships blended with weekly Bible studies and mentoring.
Amanda*, a Future & Hope CWJC participant who has been on her own since age 15, is now a 24-year-old mom with three young sons who currently live in foster care. Candidly sharing her motivation for joining the program in Paragould, Ark., she said, “I came here to try to get my kids back … but I need a foundation before I can get them back.”
Pursuing her CWJC certificate and gaining related life skills, Amanda said, “is going to better my life and my kids’ lives and give me something solid to start with.”
Christian Women’s Job Corps and Christian Men’s Job Corps, ministries of national Woman’s Missionary Union, include nearly 200 certified sites throughout the country. The ministry sites are designed to equip participants in a Christian context for life and employment.
Pursuing the vision of “women helping women change their future and find hope,” the Paragould ministry echoes Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’”
