BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP)–Social agencies and service agencies are widely available. So what makes Christian Women’s Job Corps any different?
Site coordinators are fast to answer that question. Diane Garcia in San Antonio, Texas, notes that, unlike other agencies, a CWJC program “includes the spiritual component to help women deal with self-esteem issues,” adding that when God changes the women’s lives, they become motivated to do their very best.
Women giving their lives to Christ, marriages being mended and children being guided by parents with renewed commitment to Christ and to their families are some of the outcomes observed by volunteers at every CWJC site.
Julie Busby, of Tupelo, Miss., tells about Greta, who was working seven days a week to support three children by herself. After graduating from the CWJC program, she got a job with benefits and is able to support herself and her children without any government assistance.
Busby says the first woman to come to Christ through the Tupelo site was Christina, an 18-year-old woman who was living in the battered women’s shelter. She had a 3-year-old daughter and was pregnant as the result of a rape. During a Bible study at their center, Christina heard the plan of salvation, but it was after a class in money management that she approached the teacher of that segment and expressed interest in salvation. The teacher led her to Christ, and since then Christina’s younger sister has also received Christ as her Lord and Savior.
Garcia relates the story of Herlinda, who “had her world changed when she asked Christ to be her Savior and Lord,” while participating in CWJC. She was raising a grandson while living with her son and his family. After graduating from CWJC, she got a job at the local Wal-Mart, lost 30 pounds and was able to buy a house for herself and her grandson. She was named “Cashier of the Year” for Wal-Mart for 1999. Herlinda now serves on the governing board for the San Antonio CWJC and, Garcia notes, “She is the first to admit that without God in her life she would still be living a miserable life with no hope.”
Instilling hope in a woman’s life is a common goal at all CWJC sites, but it is not hope built on self-centeredness. Instead, mentors and other volunteers are committed to pointing women to Christ as the only true hope for changed lives.
