Nine students filtered out of a Joel 2 Restoration Ministry classroom with excitement! These Pennsylvanians had all graduated from a one-week WINGS Life Skills training course and were ready to take the next step toward success -- finding a job.

Annie was one of those graduates. Before coming to WINGS, this middle-aged woman was living in a transitional shelter, unemployed, and had few workable skills. Wanting to establish herself and be a good example to her grown daughter, Annie heard about the class on television and signed up. "She was eager to learn," said WINGS trainer Floyd Lewis. Over a year has passed since Annie graduated and has successfully been employed at the local Erie City Mission as a secretary.

Along with the Outreach Foundation, Operation Blessing assists in training and placing WINGS centers across the country. After finding out WINGS was taught from a Christian perspective, Joel 2's Floyd and Jillane Lewis came to Virginia Beach for training in June of 1999. Just five months later, they held their first WINGS class and have had over three classes since. The couple deals mainly with 17-49 year-olds who are transitioning from welfare to work. "WINGS is a tremendous program that gives good direction and motivates those in need," comments Floyd, a 25-year veteran in the employment and training field.

As the humanitarian arm for Erie's Grace Fellowship International Church, Joel 2 and it's fourteen volunteer staff also distribute food and provide counseling services to those meeting federal guidelines for assistance. Over 16,000 people received food last year!

Floyd looks into the future and hopes to offer WINGS classes more often as well as beginning to implement it into an after-school program for high school juniors and seniors. "People don't need handouts to get ahead, but a hand up," shares this dedicated man.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

This microenterprise venture is one of many Operation Blessing projects touching lives around the world. You can be a part of improving the quality of life for impoverished communities by supporting these and other life-changing programs.

 

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