By Tony Martin
Associate Editor
The State Literacy Missions and Christian Women’s/Men’s Job Corps (CW/MJC) Conference, held July 27-29 at Garaywa Camp and Conference Center in Clinton, drew more than 60 participants.
“Each summer, the Literacy Missions Task Force and the Christian Women’s/Men’s Job Corps Leadership Team host a conference for new and experienced volunteers,” said Maria Teel, state literacy missions contact and executive assistant to the executive director-treasurer at the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board (MBCB).
“The conference serves as a time of training as well as a time of encouragement and revival,” she said. “A highlight of the conference is hearing from students whose lives have been impacted through these ministries.
“We are reminded that the Lord is constantly moving in the lives of students and volunteers, and that He’s calling out others to join the work.”
Paula Smith, MBCB director of multicultural ministries, asked Cindy Heimbach, a member of Emmanuel Church, Grenada, to be a trainer in English as a Second Language (ESL). Before long she was training other churches and was part of the initial task force that was searching for a state coordinator.
“We needed to pray for a state literacy missions coordinator,” Heimbach said. “We prayed for a year and I told Paula, ‘I think I’m praying for myself.”
The annual event equips and trains leaders in several areas. The sessions included:
— Calling Out the Called.
— Transforming Compassion Ministry.
— Review of Important Basic ESL Components and Resources.
— Sounds of English or Ear Awakening.
— Effective Strategies for Working with Low-level Adult Learners.
— Bible Storytelling Workshop: Imitate Jesus By Telling Stories to Put People on the Road to Truth.
— Sign Language Workshop.
— Effective Leadership.
The conference also featured worship sessions, fellowship opportunities, and other workshops. Participants were able choose areas of particular interest as well as being involved in plenary sessions.
Of particular note were the testimonies of some of the graduates of the CW/MJC ministry. One woman who spoke at the conference, age 29 and a graduate of the Christian Women’s Job Corps, was typical.
“I grew up in an abusive home,” she said. “My mother was into witchcraft. It was a horrible experience. I was raped in high school and got pregnant from it. I wanted to be brave. I wanted to be that super woman because I didn’t want people to see me cry, but God really redeemed my story.
“People would ask what my drug of choice was and I’d say, ‘everything.’ I was using needles [to inject] meth and heroin. Even though I was using needles, I’d pray, ‘God, please make a way.’
“I’ve been three and a half years sober today. When I say God took it away, He did. I’d been in rehab, in jail, I’ve had my children taken away, and I’ve been in a psych ward. Nothing ever helped me until I picked up a Bible one day. Jesus started breaking that stuff off my heart. I don’t even remember withdrawing from the drugs. God delivered me.
“I have two children that I don’t have custody of, but by the grace of God I get to see them now,” she said. “I started going to parenting classes because I needed to be able to walk through life as an adult the way other people do. I’d flunked out of college because of drugs.
“Then I was able to be a part of a Christian Women’s Job Corps class, and I was the only person in it. I would come in sometimes in tears, because of the remembrance of the pain I’d been through. I continued through the class, and I graduated.
“The most important takeaway for me was that God had put this stepping stone in my life, because now I’m going into my third semester of college this August. I have all A’s in my classes, and that’s how God used the Christian Women’s Job Corps,” she said.
“God will use the smallest thing to get you where you need to be,” the woman stressed.
Addressing the teachers and sponsors who were present, she said, “Some of you lead in your classes and say, ‘These people aren’t taking this seriously. They’re not getting it. They aren’t hearing what God has to say,’ but there’s always that one person that God’s calling out of the darkness.”
Smith said, “Jesus Himself was calling more people to work in this ministry when He told us to pray for more laborers.”
For more information on state literacy missions, click here. For more information on CW/MJC, click here. Smith may be contacted at psmith@mbcb.org. Telephone: (601) 292-3287.
State literacy missions and CW/MJC are funded by gifts to the Mississippi Cooperative Program and Margaret Lackey State Missions Offering.
