Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

It has been a long time since my last blog on this site so a little updating is in order.

In the past 7 months my interest in social justice issues has taken some increasingly wonderful turns and forks in the road. I have become very active in the Hosanna church which has been a watershed of information and opportunity. This church is so very active in its outreach to all of its congregation and the world in general. I have attended their Alpha program, Beauty from Ashes, Healthy Relationships, and Small Group Leaders training...as well as attending their Sunday services since early June. It has been a pure delight to do so.

I also have had the opportunity to work on an STS crew for a few days with some correctional facility inmates and that was and remains deeply ingrained on my mind. Their plight and prospects for a "normal" life after release are of great importance to my social justice issues. God has blessed me with the good fortune to meet several new friends who deal directly on a daily basis with recidivism reduction. On Tuesday of this week I had the opportunity to share supper at one of the halfway houses. I had the opportunity to meet face to face with some of the men in the programs and I am convinced that is where my heart lies for doing God's work. I am working on the development of an outreach program that will create relationships in the business community that will open doors for the graduates of the programs and also on a program that will train an utilize the participants in the trades industry. All of this is in the infancy stage but I am extremely hopeful and confidant that with the help of God and all the wonderful people that help with the halfway houses the efforts will be successful.

Another effort that has surfaced for me is putting together a small group for war veterans. The purpose of this group will be to be a support group for war veterans, old and new, where they have a place to go to talk, discuss, and share their thoughts with others who have similar experiences. Being a war veteran myself I know the importance of having someone there to just listen in a non-judgemental, open way. Here again I pray for the guidance to be a positive influence on this effort. At this time it appears to me that it will have much the same look and feel as an Al-Anon type group would have...anonymity, self-participation, and plenty of listening and sharing.

On the Christian-based business front, I am still researching this issue and much of it is moving along in an effort to drive out the business models that Christians can follow. As the work with the halfway houses progresses this effort will also.