Work ethics - how to help the unemployed!!

Did you know that the word WORK is mentioned 359 times in the Bible and some of the verses in Proverbs on this subject are spot on!!!
Proverbs 14:23
All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

I am thinking of maybe writing some things down in a leaflet that may lead to a seminar on motivating people into work - we hear so much at the moment about this course and that, that the Government are initiating to help people who are long term unemployed back into work - some people of course are not ready for it and some are, but are they coming at it from the right direction? and are they putting as much effort into creating new jobs!! Motivating people to think about working again that haven't work for a long time, for one reason or another, is a very difficult job. 

I think we have to look at what the Bible says about work too, as it does have a lot to say on this subject, but for now I just want to share some of my observations having work with a lot of unemployed people. The pro's and cons of working :-

The advantages to working and having a job are immense. Working gives people a purpose, something to get out of bed for. Work gives you a chance to develop and use your God given gifts and skills. It means you can earn a wage to live on. It also produces in people a sense of pride, good pride, a sense of achievement. It also means that you can give back into something that may be small but completes a bigger picture. Stacking shelves at ASDA may not be someone's live ambition or vocation in life, but without the shelves being stacked no-one would buy anything and ASDA would fall apart!! At West End Impact for example I put great value on anyone that does any cleaning because if the place was not clean and tidy it would not be the welcome place it is for the 250 that come in each week. It would therefore not attract so many visitors. We get rewarded and a good feeling when a job is well done. We try to make sure that each volunteer in very appreciated in all that they do and therefore it creates a great working atmosphere!!

The cons of not working on the other hand are immense. People lack enthusiasm for life and when they have things handed to them on a plate they get a sense that the world owes them everything. They don't know how to give out and expect a lot. They lose all sense of achievement, they start to get a low self esteem because they aren't giving anything back into society. They don't get that sense of 'Job well done!!' They don't feel that sense of reward when being paid for a job they have done to the best of their ability, and they don't develop their gifts and learn new skills. This, of course, leads to a sense of no purpose which leads to depression. They are not interacting with others in the work place so loneliness sets in. There is no sense of providing for themselves or their families. This all leads to a no hope mentality. There is no thoughts of being a small part of something bigger and their is no sense of maybe doing things better and learning new skills so that you can get a better job. It's not how we were made and therefore it leads to all sorts of problems - I am of course not suggesting that people who can't do a certain job push themselves into something unmanageable in their circumstances but what I am saying is everyone has a part to play in society. If you are mum, you are playing a massive part in society and you don't even get paid for the amazing job you do or a dad or a career!!! These are the people who deserve to be paid a £100 an hour and their work often doesn't even get recognised but instead gets taken for granted!! 

So how do we motivate people back into work, show them how important it is and show them the great advantages of working. Oh and make sure if you do work to get the work play balance right to. That's also very important but that's another subject!!!

How to survive a busy week!!

Well this week has just been crazy and its not quite finished yet!! If I would have known 10 years ago, when we started MCC and West End Impact, the diversity of what we are doing now it would have blown my mind. It probably would have been too much for me to cope with. When I look back I have learnt so much over the years and one thing I have had to learn is that 5 year business plans do not work. God's timing and our timing are two very different things - sometimes I get impatient and think why are things taking so long surely God wants things to move forward and be successful, and sometime I get scared because God seems to moving quite a few steps ahead of us. Even just this week at the beginning of the week I was frustrated as at the start of this new school year I had made a new start and was raring to go, and already things seem to have got on top of me. So many things to do the URGENT and the IMPORTANT!! So many meetings to attend and so many decisions to be made. So many people who need help and much to put in place until they do start to get the help they need!! Also this week it occurred to me that so many organisations suddenly want to work with us. I guess they have started to see the success of what is happening and have become very curious and very willing to work with us. Unfortunately this has become something that we need to be very careful about, as many organisations also see our kindness and willingness to work for nothing as something they can take advantage of. We obviously, as a church, want to be giving, but we don't want to be taken for granted and this is a very fine line. Some organisation want to work with us on a project that they are getting funding for but expect us to help them for free as we have done this many times in the past to build up our reputation and also to serve the community. I am not saying of course that we should stop serving and giving but we do have our bills to pay too!! In fact our overheads have more than double since we bought the adjacent building. So a lot to occupy my mind, but then today things all seemed to come together - decisions were made some very personal to us, and the place was buzzing with volunteers. We had an amazing team doing building work, and I was in a business meeting which lead to us getting some more funds for rent. We also were given a great coffee machine worth a few thousand and a blow up football pitch. So towards the end of the week a lot of my focus had changed and I was enthusiastic and trusting again that God does always bless us and knows everything that is going on in a crazy week and he wants to encourage. Although not everything is suddenly in place there is loads of encouragement and I know that God has sent the encouragement just so I know that in the business he is there working things out. He also wants us to be wise so next week I will try to take every opportunity to rest and re-focus and make sure I have a good day off and do some fun things!! I love what we do and the diversity of it, I get frustrated at the business sometimes and wonder where on earth the money is going to come from to live on and pay all the bills at MCC and West End Impact - but God never fails to turn up just not always in our timing!! Sometimes what seems to be too late and sometimes about 10 steps ahead of us!!! I need to learn to trust and rest more and more!!

A Wonder Team

Last night we had our first new team meeting and it was great!!! I look forward to see what God is going to do in and through this new team as we work together, and although I know it is going to be a challenge I am very excited about it!! We have come to a point at Morecambe Community Church where we needed to widen the team to stop us as a leadership from burning out. Up to now, in the last 10 years Michl and I and Emma and Neil have been the leadership team, with Val being with us for a time. Neil has not always been available due to work commitments so an awful lot has fallen on just the 3 of us!! As things are growing rapidly now something had to change, so over the Summer we have been giving this much thought and prayer. We don't believe that a leadership or any kind of team, should be elected with a democratic vote and we are always on the look out for potential leaders. We look for people who are committed to serve God, who have character, and whether there is some chemistry between us and them. These are essential elements to make a good team and I am so pleased to say that we have 11 people who fit the bill. The hope is that the load will be spread amongst this amazing talented team, and we will be able to encourage and spur each other on to our full potential, find our God given gifts. That we will envision each other and make things possible together that weren't possible with just the 3 of us taking responsibility. Of course there are others in our church who do take responsibility, many who work tirelessly in the background, but they weren't invited to the team as they were happy just staying in the background and don't see their role as moving things forward. Some people are happy in that position and that is also just fine!! It was great to do some team building exercises together last night and I am looking forward to really getting to know each other a lot better!! Very excited for this new venture although already last night it felt like we were being attacked - we will need to pray lots for each other as we serve God at Morecambe Community Church and West End Impact. Together we are an unstoppable force a WONDER TEAM!! and all things are possible through Christ who strengthens us!!