Elaine Dickson says a lot of stories have come from her years with Christian Job Corps, a ministry of Alabama Woman’s Missionary Union, but one woman’s story in particular leaps to the top.
The woman wasn’t originally from the U.S., and when Dickson met her, she had recently taken her children and fled from an abusive marriage.
“We worked alongside her and gave her the confidence she needed,” Dickson said.
Through CJC’s job and life skills training, the young mother got a college degree and started a career that could support her family. She also learned from a mentor and grew in her faith.
Dickson, who serves as Alabama CJC coordinator, said that’s what CJC is about — watching God work miracles in people’s lives.
New name, same mission
CJC — now incorporating both women’s (formerly Christian Women’s Job Corps) and men’s sites under that name — is supported by Alabama WMU and is funded in part through the Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering.
“What I have gained from serving in Christian Job Corps was the opportunity to see God’s power like I had never experienced before,” she said. “There are lots of stories.”
Dickson first got involved in 2000 as a volunteer at CWJC of Madison County — the oldest continuous CJC site in Alabama — which is hosted by her church, First Baptist Huntsville. “I started a career clothing closet for the ladies and started helping with placing them in internships,” Dickson said.
In 2003, she became site coordinator, and then in 2007, she took on the role of executive director of CWJC of Madison County, running the main site and its satellite sites. In April 2022, she became Alabama CJC coordinator.
Week of Prayer
The ministry is undergirded by prayer support provided during the Week of Prayer for State Missions, which also assists disaster relief, church planting and church revitalization and partnership missions.
This year’s Week of Prayer is Sept. 10–17, with an offering goal of $1.2 million. Dickson’s work with CJC is featured on Day 3. (See Week of Prayer preview, this page.)
Currently there are eight CJC sites around Alabama — the Madison County site, plus sites in Andalusia, Auburn, two in Birmingham, Cleveland, Guntersville and Piedmont.
“What I like about Christian Job Corps is that it’s working with men and women who are trying to make changes in their life; it’s not a Band-Aid type of ministry,” Dickson said. “We’re giving them practical things to help them be self-sufficient, and we’re introducing them to a relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Dickson said they use a strengths-based approach that helps men and women make decisions about their future with CJC staff and volunteers walking alongside them as mentors.
She remembers one woman who got involved with the wrong person, went to prison and, when she got out, was nervous about her criminal record keeping her from getting a job.
“We worked with her, and she got an internship and was able to get a job in that field,” Dickson said. “They trusted her, and because she had worked with us, she was able to rebuild her life after being in prison.”
Another woman had moved in with her daughters and didn’t have her GED, and CJC was able to help her accomplish that milestone and help her go on to get a college degree and a job.
“She said, ‘For the first time in my life, I have health insurance. I can walk into a doctor’s office, and I’m not on food stamps,’” Dickson said. “It gave her a lot of independence.”
Candace McIntosh, Alabama WMU executive director, said the work of Alabama’s eight CJC sites is practical for sure, but it’s so much more than just that.
‘Most tangible’
“Of all the ministry we do (through Alabama WMU), I think Christian Job Corps is the most tangible in that it really meets an everyday need,” she said. “But it doesn’t stop there. At CJC, someone gives them hope in the form of Jesus and helps them understand how loved they are.”
Week of Prayer for State Missions Sept. 10–17
Day 1
An unfinished mission: Week of Prayer overview
Day 2
Helping the hurting: Disaster Relief
Day 3
Job skills and eternal hope: Alabama WMU
Day 4
Seeing God move among Hispanics: Church planting
Day 5
Connecting with overseas missionaries: Partnership missions
Day 6
Joining God as He revives churches: Church revitalization
Day 7
Standing with disaster victims: Disaster Relief
Day 8
Supporting missionaries’ families: Alabama WMU
Visit Myers-Mallory.org for downloadable print and video resources.
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