If you are already feeling depressed, don't read this.

If you are feeling brave, read this article from today's New York Times. Entitled "Jobless Rate Rises to 6.7%,
this is a must-read for anyone working in my line of work. Right now our Jobs for Life class in Lafayette, GA has 4 students, all of whom are desperate for new, better, steady employment. What am I going to tell them? Go for education or healthcare. Those are the only jobs on the increase right now. Do not go for service industry. I could go on, but really, read this article instead.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/business/economy/06jobs.html?_r=1&hp

Mobilizing Your Church for Effective Mercy Ministry: A Seminar by Randy Nabors

I was reading through a notebook from this 2006 seminar and came across this quote:

"We want this mobilization to result in effective mercy ministry, and not just a new organizational chart, or new pamphlets, or new slogans. Effectiveness implies really solving a problem or meeting a need. Far too often we engage in producing repetitive activities that don't seem to move us very far ahead in accomplishing anything. Mercy seeks to eliminate need, to heal the sick, to feed the poor, to house the homeless, to give hope to the hopeless, and not to keep people in perpetual need and make them dependent. This is tough, and it will require wisdom from God."

What do you think?

Hope: what we do

It just occurred to me that I have not made much of an effort to explain what it is we do at Hope for Northwest Georgia.

...

Hope for Northwest Georgia

Hope for Northwest Georgia equips churches to minister to the poor in Northwest Georgia. Churches in our area have long-attempted to minister the love of Christ to the poor and needy in our community, but have struggled to find a way to do so which promotes long-term change and Gospel transformation. Hope for Northwest Georgia helps churches minister in ways which manifest the love of Christ and promote real and lasting change.

Hope for Northwest Georgia is not a para-church ministry, operating outside of the local church, but rather a cooperative ministry of churches in the North Georgia area. Hope does not replace church ministry, but establishes ministry in local churches, organizes cooperative ministry between local churches, and equips local churches to work with the poor in the love of Christ.

As a ministry of cooperation and coordination, Hope builds on assets and services already in the community. Hope seeks to engage and partner with other organizations, individuals and services, being salt and light, and pooling (and organizing) or resources in partnership rather than either competition or isolation.

What are the ministries of Hope for Northwest Georgia?
1) Community Resource Coordination
2) Community Development/Mercy Ministry Training for Churches
3) Jobs for Life Job Training Program
4) Financial Literacy and Financial Counseling

Ways to help Hope for Northwest Georgia
1) Become a Prayer Partner, and sign up for the email prayer letter.
2) Becomg a Ministry Partner with a regular financial gift.
3) Become a Church Partner by committing regular financial support.

Thank you for your interest in Hope for Northwest Georgia. For more information, please contact us through the address below:


Hope for Northwest Georgia
P.O. Box 161
3371 Chattanooga Valley Road
Flintstone, GA 30725
(706) 820-2833
heather.hope4nwga@gmail.com

Finding Jobs where there are none...

Yesterday was the first day of class for Jobs for Life at Highlands Prebyterian Church. In a town that recently lost over 1000 jobs in the last week and is likely to lose another great employer, finding jobs is a daunting task. With four attending students and possibly six more, I have never felt quite so dependent on the Lord to sustain His people and create hope in a time of hopelessness.

"According to state labor statistics, Northwest Georgia has taken the hardest hit in recent job losses. In September, the percentage of laid-off workers filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance rose by 76.3 percent over the same period in 2007."
Times Free Press, October 11, 2008

In other news, Hope for Northwest Georgia is due to begin Church Mercy Training the end of this month. More to come on that.

joe, etc.

Today I talked with Joe Smith. Well not really, but I'll call him that for the sake of privacy.
I didn't want to talk to Joe, because it was inconvenient. It was uncomfortable. I was busy.
To be honest, I was busy being relaxed, being comfortable, and being on vacation.

I won't go into the details of our conversation; however, I will say that I had nothing to fear.
After dialing his number and leaving a short message, I hung up. Mission accomplished. I had
done my part, as far as I was concerned, and could now check Joe off the list.

But as I think over this and many similar situations in which I have found myself over the last
year or so, I find a problem. That problem is my sin coming into contact with the lives of others.
It happens.
I make myself something, and call them "other". I compartmentalize, and it is easier. It seems good
to me that I do generally good things for general people. The name is crossed off, and simultaneously,
I am patting myself on the back. I am safe, and they are cared for. Mission accomplished. the world can
now go on.

but here is the problem: the poor are not items or tasks. They are not vessels made to carry my pride
and good name. They are not trophies or even stories to be told among the right people. They are people,
made in God's image, created to bring Him glory. When I lose sight of that, I am worthless at my job.
It makes me sick to think of some of the things I have said, as my heart has become hardened.
Is the truth in me? I can't see it sometimes. I am looking today, and I see only a selfishness that has
nothing to do with the God I claim to love. How do I continue to seek Him, every day, with my whole self?
How do I keep my heart from hardening?

Really, I think I should probably be asking Joe. No, I don't think that "the poor" are somehow better, or
above sin. But when Joe called back, he didn't say a word about how long it had taken for me to call him back.
He just asked if we could still meet. It seems simple enough to me. Just meet Joe, as I am at 11 am.

Making Poverty Less Permanent

Check out this article in Byfaith magazine. "Making Poverty Less Permanent" by Robert J. Tamasy, Vice President of Communication for leaders in Legacy, Inc. In the article, Tamasy takes a look at Jobs for Life, and their take on "a more efficient kind of ministry."
Here is a summary of Tamasy's Top 5 Reasons for Job Training, taken from Davis Spickard, JFl's president and CEO since 2006.

Why should churches consider job training in their outreach to the poor?

1. As they discover what the Bible teaches about work, they will encounter Jesus Christ in the process.
2. One of the most important things the church can do to transform lives is 'teach the poor to fish', helping them to find value through work.
3.It puts the church in a position to serve where government is overwhelmed.
4. It provides businesses with employees who have strong work values.
5. Engaging in active ministry will change members' lives and transform the church.

Paul Green, Executive director of Hope for the Inner City, points out that successor failure rates are not due to a deficiency in the Jobs for Life curriculum, but "the difficulty in overcoming deep-rooted problems endemic to the poor, including:

The survival mentality
Financial management problems
Basic interviewing and communications skills
High-risk behavior
Inadequate education
Lack of proper role models

...and that is what we are all about. I can't wait.