If you are out of work, laid off, or even looking for a different job, you might wonder what goes on at a Career Support Ministry meeting on Monday mornings from 8:30 to 9:30 am, and if you would benefit from coming. Well, it certainly might help you, but you might also help others.

            Finding a job in this economic time is not easy.Even when you discover a job opening, and even if you are the most qualified person applying, you may not even get an interview.  So the first step is to examine your resumé (I even had to learn how to create the letter "é").  Maybe you have examined your resumé numerous times, but some fresh eyes looking it over might help if they have a suggestion to change some things in it that will help sell you to a prospective employer. Frankly, selling yourself on paper is not an easy thing to do. You really need to brag about your skills and qualifications. You need to tell the person why they should interview you and what they will benefit from when they hire you. {As an aside here, an employment agency refused to list an ad for a company because their ad discriminated against some of the unemployed.  The company was asking for "reliable and hard working" people to apply. The ad agency said the ad was discriminatory against people who are unreliable.  So goes our world today~sigh!}

            Finding a job is not impossible.  Getting an interview is not impossible. Nothing is impossible with God. CSM often reminds its members about WHO is in charge of EVERYTHING. Our devotions and prayer time serves as a reminder that God is on our side, and sees that future job already. 

We have discovered since we started CSM that it is incredibly easy to get discouraged and depressed in this job search process.Sad to say, some people with jobs, and who have not had to look for a new job lately, appear to be "looking down their noses" at the unemployed, as if saying, "You could be working if you really wanted a job."  It's too bad that Christians don't want to tell other Christians what is happening in their job search because of this kind of reaction.You might say, "I'll pray for you." Thanks, they need that.But when you ask "How is it going?", you might be surprised to find out that they are tired of having to tell people that there has been nothing new lately.But they really do need and covet your prayers.  Members of CSM find a safe haven on Monday mornings meeting with people who fully understand the struggles they are all going through.

Networking works! It is fun to see someone telling another member of CSM about a job opening they saw on the internet that might be what they are looking for. On the other hand, it is hilarious to hear Paul Fuller tell you that he filled out a skills assessment on the internet and it told him that he should apply for an OB/GYN position and later on it was a position in the Emergency Room.  Paul's a nice guy, but those are not jobs he should be performing. If you are employed, and a co-worker tells you they are retiring in a month, you should find out if the company is looking to hire, because many want those leaving to train their replacement  Help us out.  Be eyes and ears for the CSM people  If you find out that a position is available, send it to me and I will forward it to all the members. My email is simply pastorken@hefc.net.

Rejoice with those who are rejoicing. There is joy at CSM when someone is no longer available to attend on Monday mornings because they are at work! 

Weep with those who weep. Being unemployed for weeks and months and even up to a year or more is not unusual.It is hard to keep putting out multiple resumés every week and wonder when is something good going to happen to me.

Are you out of work?Do you want some encouragement and help?Then I will see you on Monday in Fireside Room at 8:30 A.M.

Read below about two families supported by Hope who will be sharing with ABFs at the end of June.  We hope that you can get acquainted with some background knowledge of these families in order ask some engaging questions while they are with us. 

          The Missions Team is pleased to announce that we will be visited by our missionary to Costa Rica, Ted Kautzmann, on Sunday, June 27th. Hope has been a supporting church for Ted and Juli since 1988 when they first began their missionary career. They have 2 sons, Sam and James, and 2 daughters, Sarah and Joanna. Sarah was married last December while Joanna is finishing her junior year of high school. The boys both work but are in the process of searching for steadier jobs. The family unfortunately won't be with Ted when he visits Hope of June 27th.

          Ted will be able to share with us the work he's involved in with ProMETA. It's a ministry pioneering new and creative ways to train and equip church leaders throughout the Spanish-speaking world. It leverages technology to create virtual learning communities all around the Spanish-speaking world. ProMETA has successfully trained experienced and seasoned leaders in 24 countries with minimal overhead and very impressive results. We will learn more about this exciting ministry from Ted on June 27th. 

          Jeff left a career at IBM 17 years ago when he and Robin felt God calling them to serve Him overseas.  Jeff and Robin were involved in training national believers in several countries of the former Soviet Union and now live in Central Asia, where Jeff is an Area Director for their organization.  They are seeing God work in exciting, new ways through "kingdom" business initiatives.  They are developing new approaches to church planting which use business models as the vehicle through which the Gospel is spread.  They will tell us more about it when they visit on June 27.         

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