Document text
A strong faith in job training Mail Tribune / Andrew Kemp Gordon Davis, 22, of Grants Pass, cuts cedar siding for a home Exodus Training Ministry is building on Watergap Road in Williams. Exodus Ministry builds skills in Williams-area home project By Melissa Martin WILLIAMS � At dawn, general contractor Peter Miljkovic gathers his crew around a small fire. Wearing heavy tool belts and sturdy boots, the young builders pray together and listen to their boss read Scripture before they turn their attention to the three-bedroom home they are constructing. "This is the most important tool on the job site, the Bible," Miljkovic said. "Hammer and nails come second." Ministry seeks a home for trainees Learning a trade may not be enough to steer young men away from trouble. They also need a safe and healthy place to live, said Peter Miljkovic, founder of Exodus Training Ministry. He hopes to purchase a vacant church building on Cloverlawn Drive in Grants Pass and remodel it into a home for six to eight young builders. It would be staffed by house parents. "The boys would be able to work during the day and have a place to go home at night that�s safe," Miljkovic said. He�s looking for individuals, businesses or churches interested in donating a month�s mortgage, between $700 and $1,000, to help the project get started. For information, call 541-846-6934 or write Exodus Training Ministry, P.O. Box 492, Williams, OR, 97544. Miljkovic is founder of Williams-based Exodus Training Ministry, a 3-year-old nonprofit group that teaches carpentry skills to young men with troubled pasts. Their current project is building a 1,500-square-foot home on five acres on Watergap Road. They hope to sell it for $159,900 as a fund-raiser for the ministry. Trained in engineering at Hertfordshire University in England, Miljkovic once owned a construction company that employed 200 people. He built stables for the queen of England, workshop modules for the Royal Navy and theaters and hospital wards across the United Kingdom. But eight years ago, he moved his family to Williams, where he become a general contractor. "I felt called by the Holy Spirit," he said. He started Exodus because of his desire to teach down-and-out young men a trade that would help them make a living. He hopes the group will become one of the first to qualify for federal funds under President George W. Bush�s plan to enable faith-based organizations to meet social needs. Twenty-two-year-old Gordon Davis of Grants Pass has worked for Exodus for nine months. Davis, who is paying off his debts and recovering from an alcohol problem, dreams of studying biology or animal behavior in college. "If you are in trouble and you need help, this is a good place to come to get your life back on track," Davis said. Miljkovic named his group after the Exodus of the Jewish nation out of slavery in Egypt around 1446 B.C. The young builders can experience a similar journey, he said. "God took the (Israelites) into the desert for 40 years," said Miljkovic, who attends Applegate Christian Fellowship in Ruch. "He took them out of the world and kind of rested them up, trained them, taught them about himself and prepared them for the promised land." Two others help Miljkovic teach the young men to build. They are Bryan Moritz, a builder who left a post as youth pastor in Junction City, and Dave Pugh, a who quit his Medford furniture-making business.The three currently are working with three trainees, who also are paid. Miljkovic said the group is supported by churches and private donors, but it also is seeking more building projects as a way to raise money."My wife and I couldn�t have children," Pugh said. "The Lord showed us that these could be our kids and fill the void in our lives." Moritz said his reward is watching the young builders develop new attitudes as they learn to respond to circumstances in healthy ways. "I see a lot of potential in them as leaders," he said. That�s the goal of 19-year-old Brandon Braseth, whose struggles have included kicking a methamphetamine addiction. "My life has been straightened out and I have a relationship with the Lord," he said. The real estate agent who is selling the house that Exodus crews are building in Williams called the program a "smart and structured" way to change lives. "The way I see it, these guys could end up in prison, dead or they could turn their lives around," said Kendon Leet, of Century 21 J.C. Jones Realty. "It�s their choice to be (at Exodus). They see a positive change in their lives and they learn respect for people. And when they see this home go up � the fruition of their labor � that builds confidence." Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.