Before Demetrist Porter heard about Hope Inspired Ministries Lowndes County, she felt lost and without purpose.
“I asked God if I do have a purpose,” Porter reflected. “I couldn’t stop thinking of this lost feeling. I couldn’t eat or sleep. I even stopped being the best mom and wife.
“But I was determined to find my purpose. I asked Christ where to find it and told myself I needed to start going to church. But I was asking the wrong question.”
One day, Porter received a call from her friend Lucy Burrell. Burrell invited her to join HIM’s job training program, and that’s when everything began to change, Porter said.
“On the first day of class, “I received a book, ‘The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For’ and all I could say was. “Thank you, Lord,’” Porter exclaimed.
Helping the unemployed
HIM Lowndes County held a graduation ceremony Oct. 13 at Imago Dei Church at the 45 in Hayneville. The service featured awards and testimonies of how HIM helped graduates find hope and a new purpose.
The organization “serves the chronically unemployed by preparing and equipping them to obtain, maintain and excel at employment,” according to its website. Roughly 96% of the Lowndes students are African American, and 81% are also single.
“Our students come from all walks of life,” explained site director Jessica Fails. “We pride ourselves on meeting them where they are to make them self‐sufficient. Some of our students have [faced] addiction, deaths of family members and rough bumps in the road.”
HIM participants learn about technology basics, communications, personal growth, job preparation, workplace behaviors, wellness, financial management and problem-solving. Many say they gain much more than job skills training.
HIM operates five locations across Alabama, with sites in Montgomery, Birmingham, Hayneville, Bessemer and one that serves youth incarcerated at the Alabama Department of Youth Services Mount Meigs campus.
HIM was founded in 2012 and expanded to open the Lowndes County location in 2020 through a joint effort with the Montgomery Baptist Association. The program operates in the association’s Hayneville Mobilization Center, sharing space with the center’s food pantry.
“It had been the desire of HIM founder, Michael Coleman, to have a physical presence in the county where he was born,” recalled MBA director of missions, Neal Hughes.
The ministries joined forces under the agreement of their respective boards, Hughes said.
“The support and need were there, but finding a location was challenging. After much prayer, I felt that HIM fit the purpose of God’s gift to the MBA of the mobilization center.”
Turning bitter to sweet
Burrell also invited her friend, Brenda Lane, to join the Lowndes program. Brenda came to HIM feeling bitter and without hope after the death of her father.
“After the death of my father, I was always angry, bitter, unhappy, depressed and stressed,” Lane reflected. “But when I enrolled in Hope Inspired Ministries, [counselors] listened to my story. My life map opened my eyes to let me know that everything’s gonna be alright. My anger began to turn into happiness. My bitter is turning to sweet.”
HIM offers students an optional devotion each morning. According to the executive director, John Bowman, some students develop a relationship with Christ while in the program.
“I often tell people we meet our students exactly where they are, just like Jesus did,” Bowman said. “This means in the middle of their brokenness, addiction, criminal background, broken relationship, mental illness, etc. Meeting them where they are means loving them unconditionally and encouraging them every step of the way.”
Local businesses and churches partner with HIM to provide services — volunteering as mentors, providing daily lunches or driving students to appointments or to gain necessary credentials.
Davey Lyons, pastor at Imago Dei and also MBA Lowndes County church planting strategist, became involved with the Lowndes HIM site almost from the beginning. As a church planter serving the Whitehall/Hayneville area, Lyons sees the community’s needs firsthand and welcomed the opportunity to be part of the solution.
“I love the way HIM takes people that may have made mistakes or served time, who need help to get a job,” Lyon said. “Sometimes people won’t hire them because of their past record. They’ll put them into their program and give them the job skills they need. But mainly, they teach [students] they have a purpose, that God’s created them and He loves them. HIM gives them the hope of the gospel and shows them their purpose is found in Christ.”
Burrell, who had invited her friends to the program, said HIM taught her about the Bible and about herself.
“I learned who we are and what we are living for,” Burrell said.
An Alabama Department of Commerce’s Delta Regional Authority Grant will allow the ministry to expand services into the Calhoun School in Letohatchee and Central High School in Hayneville early in 2023. Seniors who participate can earn Alabama Certified Worker and ACT WorkKeys Certificates.
The ministry is seeking additional staff and volunteers. For more information, visit hopeinspiredministries.org.
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