Action Precedes the Miracle

It's time to write about what I'll be doing for 3 months in Ecuador. So, to begin with, here's a quote by President Hinckley that has been used more than a few times in training: "A man out of work is of special moment to the Church because, deprived of his inheritance, he is on trial as Job was on trial-for his integrity. As days lengthen into weeks and months and even years of adversity, the hurt grows deeper, and he is sorely tempted to 'curse God and die.' Continued economic dependence breaks him; it humiliates him if he is strong, spoils him if he is weak... He soon becomes the seedbed of discontent, wrong thinking, alien beliefs. The Church cannot home to save a man on Sunday if during the week it is a complacent witness to the crucifixion of his soul..."
So, to counteract this crucifixion of men's souls, the Church has developed an LDS Employment Services program. It began in 1999 and works hand in hand with the Perpetual Education Fund (PEF). As BYU students we will strengthen employment center efforts by training teachers to teach the Career Workshops (WS) so that the work continues even after the interns leave, teach the WS's, help with Resource Development as needed (which means finding/investigating needs and filling them, for example, if a school needs students and one of our participants needs education and skill training we bring the two together, so we will be working a lot to find potential employers in various localities where we give the WS's), and we'll also be supporting the PEF objectives while learning about the principles of welfare and how to serve and lead.
Intern sites are selected according to local need and are approved by the Director for Temporal Affaris, before departure interns complete a week of intensive training in SLC to prepare us for teaching. As a student I will be completing 9 or 12 credit hours of coursework independently, working about 20 hours a week teaching the 12 hour WS (although I have a feeling it's going to be more). Thankfully half of my classes are cultural research classes that will not only allow but in fact force me, to get out of my comfort zone, talk to people, interview them, attend weddings and feasts, find new and interesting cultural differences, and then write about them.
So, here are some statistics that we are up against:

Members
Unemployed: 8%
Under-Employed:19 %
# of Member placements: 65%
Member-Reach: 10.8 %

However, when you take out the U.S and Canada these numbers double. So, 65% of our participants are members and even though we are about to have 312 centers in 48 countries, we only reach 10.8%. 89.2 % of the members of the Church are not taking advantage of the church's resources, for whatever reason. (We were told a story by Gustavo, our trainer, who was in Venezuela 6 weeks ago. He was a Bishop's storehouse and asked how many members are using the storehouse, the answer was about 90. Gustavo was surprised because Venezuela's economy is shot right now and asked why more people didn't come. The response was, "they can't afford the bus fare to get here" What a humbling story).
So, the workshops are a tool individuals can use to break the cycle of self-defeat that typically accompanies unemployment. The model is based on the following points:

1. Preferred positions are rarely advertised
2. The best results don't just happen
3. The methods most people use for job finding are inefficient and slow to yield results
   

I want to talk about the 3rd point for a moment. So, most people go to the classifieds, websites, and the "now hiring" signs. Here are some more statistics:

Source ........Where People Look ......Where Jobs are Found

Want Ads................65% ................................ 5-15%

Agencies .............. .27%..................................10-20%

Networking .............5% .................................60-80%

Approach companies ...3% ...........................5-15%


So naturally the WS focuses a whole lot on networking. The WS primarily teaches people how to network and contact potential employers. The majority of people with employment needs haven't developed effective job search skills and strategies so the WS helps people identify their resources and interact with those resources effectively. At times we will also find it our opportunity to help people regain their self-worth and self-respect. To help them find value in their various skills and talents and how to market those skills to the professional world. It will be a safe place for participants to come together, set goals, create and follow through with a plan of action, and celebrate each other's successes.
As you can tell I have become converted to this program. I know that it was developed by the Lord's hand. Our trainer, Gustavo, is actually the one who wrote the career workshop, he is the author of the workbooks and teacher's manuals we will be using. He is really good at what he does, he has a way of bringing business and the Lord's work together in a user friendly way. I am terrified of trying to teach these people in Spanish and help them help themselves. I'm also very excited. I know there will be countless miracles and I'm excited to begin this internship in a little over a month. It's going to be the hardest few months of my life but I know it's where I'm supposed to be, I know without a doubt this is what I'm supposed to be doing Fall Semester. The Lord will provide for His people if they but have faith and act on his word, but acting is the keyword.