For 10 years, Christian Women’s Job Corps has been changing lives

Posted: 8/31/07

For 10 years, Christian Women’s
Job Corps has been changing lives

By Jessica Dooley

Communications Intern

Supporting a family can be hard when a person is unemployed, but it can be even harder to find the skills necessary for a decent-paying job. And without money to receive higher education or specialized training, learning those skills becomes almost impossible.

But Christian Women’s Job Corps and Christian Men’s Job Corps, make the process easier—teaching not only job skills, but also life skills in a Christian context.

The ministry started 10 years ago with an idea and a dream. After hearing disturbing facts and real life stories about women in poverty, national Woman’s Missionary Union took action.

San Antonio soon became a pilot program for Christian Women’s Job Corps, along with Chicago and South Carolina. Soon, other cities across Texas joined.

“I stand back in awe watching God’s people at work as they offer a gift of hope to those desiring to change their lives,” said Christine Hockin-Boyd, missions consultant for missions and ministry for Texas WMU. “I’m thankful for the leadership that serves and lives out God’s call to this exciting ministry. They truly are serving as missionaries throughout Texas.”

For 10 years, Christian Women’s Job Corps has helped women across the nation receive training for not just a job, but a new lease on life. In 2004, Christian Men’s Job Corps was launched to help men receive training as well.

The mission exists “to provide a Christian context in which women and men in need are equipped for life and employment; and a missions context in which women can help women and men can help men.”

Along with learning necessary skills such as computer training and parenting, participants also are encouraged spiritually.

“I came to get job training skills, but I think Bible study is part of what impacted my life the most,” a participant from Kerrville said.

Currently, there are more than 55 sites around Texas. The Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions makes Christian Women’s Job Corps and Christian Men’s Job Corps possible.

Each site includes a trained coordinator, and volunteers from local churches help with lunches, mentoring and other needs. Although each site runs differently, there are similarities.

The ministry revolves around eight key elements—certification training, advisory council, needs assessments, networking, covenants, evaluation, Bible study and a mentor for every participant.

The mentorship is an important element in the job-readiness program, and it is what gives the ministry its uniqueness.

“Each participant in the program is paired with a mentor—a mature Christian woman who agrees to keep close contact with her for at least a year,” Texas City Site Coordinator Lena Hair said. “I think that and the power of prayer are what make our program so different.”

Since most of the men and women have children, the sites also offer health classes that teach proper nutrition and exercise.

Through the past 10 years, participants’ lives have been changed. They have discovered self-worth, and they are encouraged daily by Christian women or men from their community. Many have gone on to earn their college degrees.

Christian Women’s Job Corps is seeking to broaden its national scope, and workers have trained potential site coordinators in Moldova, Mexico and Liberia.

But no matter where the location, the results are the same—women and men are experiencing Christ and learning a better approach for life.

“There is so much more to CWJC than equipping a woman with much- needed life and work skills,” said Jeane Law, former president of Texas WMU. “There is the presence of Christ’s love, embodied in all those who serve the participants. Lives are touched and changed for the better, and there is hope for the future.”