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TEAM TALK
Have you ever been unemployed?
By Graham Ries
Have you ever been unemployed for any length of time? I’m sure at some point in your life this has happened to you. Or
perhaps you are one of the lucky ones that this has never happened to but in my opinion it probably happened to most
of us at one time or another.
There is a desperation that comes with being unemployed, especially as bills become due and offers for interviews
decline. I know – it has happened to me many times, for various reasons.
When one looks at the world stage and the situation the world is in now, with each one of us being a player, (memories
here of Shakespeare and/or Elvis…?) one’s heart will surely begin to fail (Go to this YouTube video clip https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8WXlmZUh9U for a good hard wake-up call) as we slowly realise that the level of unem-
ployed persons is on the rise everywhere. Already in South Africa there are more unemployed persons than there are
employed persons, and as we all know, a hungry man is a dangerous man. So what is the solution?
The ONLY solution lies in Jesus Christ – we know that. But until He comes to rescue us from the mess we’ve made of
everything, what do we do whilst we are waiting? You can walk around being holy and anointed if you like, but as for
me and my house, we’re gonna get out there and DO something, in His Name! LOL!!!
Self-employment is a temporary answer. I say temporary because even working for yourself will, in a few years, pose
problems of its own. For example, if we are moving towards a cashless society, are we as individuals going to be geared
up to process transactions? But I’m getting a head of myself by quite a few years here. Right now, at THIS time, at THIS
stage and at THIS level, there is an offer on the table to help people who are unemployed earn themselves a living, or
perhaps even just someone who would like a second income, or school kids who would like to earn a few extra rands
towards their college or university educations…
Being a fan of Facebook and other social media would help a great deal here. Having hundreds of (real) friends or ex-
tended family would also be a help.
Sally (my ex-wife) and I are marketing a business starter kit which came about totally by accident. Or did it I often won-
der, because I don’t really see the Lord having many accidents… Sally had been with Cadbury for about 18 years, when
she left to start her own training business. A few years later she developed a desire to make her own scents and per-
fumed products. So, armed with a whole bunch of ideas and dreams, she embarked on a journey of research and devel-
opment that lasted about a year. At the end of this we had a range of bottled products that people really enjoyed and
kept asking for more of. I was to be her marketing and ‘whatever else’ person – designing the labels and doing the
websites and so on.
One day we were sitting having lunch and I felt the Lord drop into my heart the thought that this could be structured in
such a way so as to help other people help themselves. We could do it in such a way that someone who