Bethlehem DOM’s wife combats county’s job losses

Monroe County lost more than 2,000 jobs last year.

That’s when the Lord laid a burden on Maarah Marks’ heart.

So she set out to teach people to read in a county where 40 percent of the population is illiterate.

“The burden for this ministry came out of a loss of jobs and the need for training people so that we can have a better skill base and bring some economic growth back to this area,” said Marks, director of Literacy Missions for Bethlehem Baptist Association and wife of Director of Missions John Marks.

Last August, she was trained in the North American Mission Board’s (NAMB) Adult Reading and Writing program. The faith-based program is designed for seventh-graders through adults and uses NAMB Bible study material and the Bible as its texts.

In January, Marks completed the training of nine volunteers.

Thus far, four students have enrolled in the program. And Marks, a retired software trainer, hopes to attract more students with a promise to train those who complete a year in the program on Microsoft software so that they will have the necessary computer skills to find a job.

“We pray and study the Bible with them,” she said of the volunteers. “We’re just trying to let God open the doors to get into people’s hearts and minds that ‘I can do this.’”