Maybe there are cries of desperation, internal and inaudible. Maybe there is shame over actions, inactions or wrong decisions far too painful to discuss. Maybe there are miscellaneous hard times such as health or financial problems.
Many participants in Christian Women’s Job Corps bring their children with them to the training site. Shepherd’s Door ministers to about 65 children in age-level missions education programs like this Girls in Action group.Whatever the reasons, there are those who feel unloved and unfit for God’s use. These are the people Marlaina Sheppard wants to reach through the Christian Women’s Job Corps ministry at the Shepherd’s Door center in Spartanburg.
“No matter your background, God can still use you,” Sheppard said, explaining how she and her husband Leroy decided to begin the ministry center in 2004. When she petitioned God for direction on how to help children in need, she said God kept telling her to help their mothers.
Like other CWJC programs around the country, participants can receive training in budgeting, resum? writing, marriage, parenting, interview skills, Bible study, etiquette, proper dress, health, and a host of other areas.
Debra Bush was coming out of drug and alcohol addiction when she met Sheppard at an outpatient clinic and immediately signed up for CWJC. Bush said she was looking for accountability.
“I was looking for something to fill my time – Christian and positive people to be in my life,” Bush said.
Now she is a 2007 graduate of CWJC, is employed and is an active volunteer at Shepherd’s Door. A woman who declared that she “was never really missions minded” is now “doing things for the Lord,” whether through song or teaching women’s Bible study.
Bush said she drew strength from the Christian women she met through CWJC.
“When I talked with them about my concerns, I knew they would pray about those concerns,” she said.
Sheppard works with about 20 women who are enrolled in CWJC. Each participant is paired with a mentor and participates in Bible study and other learning opportunities.
Because many CWJC participants, like Bush, are mothers, children of participants often go with them to the training site. While CWJC is a holistic ministry that addresses the spiritual needs of the mothers and their children, few are as intentional in their approach to children’s missions with CWJC children as the Sheppards.
Marlaina, a former Girls in Action teacher, and Leroy, a former Royal Ambassadors teacher, soon had approximately 65 children of CWJC participants engaged in age-level missions education. In nine months, that number grew to an average of 95 participants as the Sheppards decided to include children from communities in the Spartanburg area in the programs, too. Now, months later, the group consists of 150 children.
The center has four GA and Children in Action groups; two Acteens, Youth on Mission and Mission Friends groups; and one Women on Mission group. They also moved to a new location, Mount Sinai Baptist Church in Spartanburg. The center now has access to a sanctuary, gym and other amenities not available in their previous location.
“It’s been great,” Marlaina said. “Before, we had to feed people a group at a time. Now everyone can have dinner together.” Shepherd’s Door feeds CWJC participants and their children at the center each week. – WMU