Maybe there are cries of desperation, internal and inaudible. Maybe there is shame over actions, inactions or wrong decisions far too painful to discuss.
Whatever the reasons, there are those who feel forgotten, unloved and unfit for God’s use. These are the people Marlaina Sheppard wants to reach, particularly through the Christian Women’s Job Corps (CWJC) ministry at the Shepherd’s Door center in Spartanburg, S.C.
When Sheppard petitioned God for direction on how to help children in need, she said God kept telling her to help their mothers. So when they opened Shepherd’s Door in 2004, Marlaina also began a CWJC ministry.
“They needed to understand that no matter your background, God can still use you,” Sheppard said.
Like other CWJC programs, participants can receive training in budgeting, resumé writing, marriage, parenting, interview skills, Bible study, etiquette, proper dress, health and a host of other areas. Men can receive such training as well through the center’s Christian Men’s Job Corps (CMJC) program.
CWJC was launched in 1997, shortly followed by CMJC in 2004, to share God’s compassion with those who are hurting — people like Debra Bush.
Bush was coming out of drug and alcohol addiction when she met Sheppard at an outpatient clinic and immediately signed up for CWJC.
“[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.
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, at which the Sheppards take an intentional approach to children’s missions.
Initially, the Sheppards — former Girls in Action (GA) and Royal Ambassadors teachers — had approximately 65 children engaged in age-level missions education. In nine months, that number grew to 95 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.
Children like Bush’s son Timothy Miller, who came to know Christ through the program three years ago and now shares his relationship with Christ with other youth.
Miller said the missions ministry helps keep him focused on Christ and makes him want to go to church even more. He also was able to find a summer job through working with the children’s missions programs that the Sheppards offer.
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.
And while some of the children have little or no experience in church, missions or religion of any sort, there are other children, such as some from the Laotian community, who come from Buddhist homes.
“[The parents] see the love we have for the kids and that outweighs any hesitation they have about Christianity,” Sheppard said.
And that love for the kids and for teaching them about Christ is something the Sheppards want to teach their four children.
In fact, 9-year-old Kayla Sheppard helped lead another 9-year-old girl to Christ.
As the little Laotian girl from a Buddhist background struggled between God’s call to Christianity and fear that her father would be angry with her, it was Kayla who helped her pray to receive Christ. “I felt bad for her because she was afraid to tell her dad,” Kayla said. Despite apprehensions, the young Buddhist girl decided to follow Jesus.
For Kayla, helping another person become a Christian is just a regular part of being a believer.
“I love God, and I want to serve Him as well as I can,” Kayla said. “I think that if He went through that much suffering, I should do something to help Him.” (BP)
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