Labels: Books and Articles, Neal Johnson

Continue reading 'Business As Mission: A Comprehensive Guide to Theory and Practice by Neal Johnson'

Neil Johnson recently stopped by and paid a visit to the team at YWAM. He was intervied for their online video sessions to talk about Business as Mission. There are several other interviews with other business leaders like Al Caperna, David Stone and others in the previous posts on this video blog. Click here or use this address http://livethestory-ywamsf.blogspot.com/



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Labels: Al Caperna, Call2All, Neal Johnson, Video and Media, YWAM

Continue reading 'Business as Mission Videos with Neil Johnson and Al Caperna'

The guys over at Regent University noticed a great article in the Wall Street Journal about the founder of Whole Foods. I found it fascinating to see how he recognizes that business has a higher purpose. Here's the quote that stands out.

Labels: Quotable, Whole Foods

Continue reading 'Whole Foods CEO in Wall Street Journal - Business has a Noble Purpose'

The Call2All movement has grown over the last 2 years to include thousands of different ministries and organizations around the world. Top Christian leaders have met on all continents strategizing together to complete the Great Commission. Now they're making a movement to engage the next generation. Now they are conference in New Zealand in January.

Labels: Call2All, Events and Conferences

Continue reading 'Call2All Business as Mission Event in New Zealand'

By Buck Jacobs- This is a word to Christian leaders, particularly for leaders of leaders. These are tumultuous times. Things are being shaken that have never been shaken and there is a spirit of fatigue and even fear loose in our land and in the Church. There is no longer any security in things that had been thought to be secure and as I travel and speak to believers across the country I hear a cry for relief and a return for “the way things were.” My brothers and sisters we are in danger of missing the point. These circumstances are no surprise to God and He’s not going to give us a quick-fix return to prosperity and an ever-upward always improving life. In fact we grieve Him when we fail to realize that we have in fact been born for” just such a time as this.” God planned for you and I to be His ambassadors in just these days before He made the earth. Rather than whining and crying for “the good old days we need to be rejoicing in the privilege of His call to these days and looking to Him for all we need to do all He wants, We are to be light in the darkness, and if we aren’t , who will be? Should we be looking at the world for courage and confidence in the face of uncertainty? Nonsense! We are the containers of the only true “Hope of the world.”

And what kind of leaders should we be and do those looking to us deserve? Should we be trembling and quaking with the world, fearful that our 401Ks will shrink further or that we may lack all we really need to care for our families, begging God for relief? No indeed, we have been called by the Almighty and Sovereign God of the Universe to represent Him here and now. We are called to be leaders that instill hope and confidence and even joy in the midst of turmoil. We need to be filled with faith like that of Daniel when he faced the lion’s den and like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they faced the fire. God ordained and called them to the tests they faced and He has called and ordained us to ours. God is not surprised by the economic shaking we see, He knew it was coming and He knows what comes next, and He has called us to lead leaders In these times not out of them! Its gut check time leaders, time for us to show the world what we really believe. The circumstances of life don’t make us what we are, they reveal what we are! Stand up! “Be strong and courageous….” Double down on your quiet time, focus on building intimacy with God, repent of the troubling sin, get help if you need it, but press on and press in! There will never be a better time for us to lead or a more critical need for us to be the leaders that God has called us to be.

There was a fourth man walking with the three in the fire. He was “like unto the Son of Man.” He was there for them, He is here for us, but He won’t be found by the fearful or those hoping for a compromised comfort of a return to Egypt. He walks with the faithful and the fearless. May it one day be said of us that we were among those who did not love their lives unto death. Lead leaders, lead! Lead!

Labels: Buck Jacobs, C12 Group

Continue reading 'A Message to Christian Leaders – Stand Up'

Business as Mission companies never arrive. The purpose of Kingdom Business is not fulfilled once a company reaches a sales quota, maximizes shareholder wealth or even accomplishes a specific ministry—it’s a never-ending process. According to Joseph Vijayam, CEO of Olive Technology, it’s about setting a benchmark and consistently raising it.

“It’s like being a Christian,” Vijayam said. “Let’s keep deepening that calling and keep challenging ourselves in what we can do. If we don’t keep doing that, eventually BAM companies will be no different from others.”

Vijayam’s company, Olive Technology, is missional to its core. The benchmark Vijayam has set -- to be 100% business and 100% ministry is seemingly impossible, yet 80 employees in 3 nations daily live out that challenge.

Olive is an IT outsourcing company with offices in India, USA and Indonesia, providing software development, web design, iPhone app development, eBook conversion, and managed services to some of the world’s leading companies and non-profits. Olive has also served ministries such as Saddleback Church, Campus Crusade for Christ, International Bible Society and Trans World Radio.

“We have an understanding of the ministry domain,” Vijayam said. “Ministries have a very specific business process which the average company won’t understand. We are a trusted partner, and people feel secure working with us.”

Olive has reduced cost for ministries as well. Because of their access to diverse talent pools in the three geographical regions in which they have offices, the company can offer world class solutions at a lower price. Often times, Olive has even reused some of their code libraries to further reduce costs for ministries. They have also connected ministries to one another.
“We work with so many ministries, we know who’s doing what with technology,” Vijayam said.

For example, Olive built an online mapping system for Campus Crusade for Christ that tracks where churches have been planted and where the church needs to focus. Then, they introduced many other ministries to Campus Crusade’s mapping resource. They even integrated some of the mapping plugins to allow other ministries to interact with the website.

Olive’s mission expands beyond the scope of working with ministry clients. Olive’s purpose is “to provide human, technological, and financial resources for growing God’s kingdom in India and worldwide over multiple generations.”

Equipping the Kingdom with Human Resources

Human resources are provided by the flexibility Olive provides to its employees to engage in ministry work. One Olivian advises Wycliffe India, another is an elder in his church, and Vijayam himself sits on a number of ministry boards and serves as the Chairman of the Technology Working Group for The Lausanne Movement. Ministry takes place within Olive as well, both to the company’s Christian and Hindu employees. Optional devotions take place every morning in the company’s conference room, with Bible reading, exposition and prayer.

“Prayer is probably the most culturally relevant ministry that happens at our offices because everyone yearns to be prayed for,” Vijayam said. “To non-Christians, the concept of a personal God is just unfathomable, but they love it.”

Serving God through Technology

Olive provides technological resources for God’s Kingdom not only through the work they do for ministries, but through several technology initiatives directly undertaken by the company itself. They provide free web hosting for more than 60 ministries in India through indiagateway.net.

They also have two online ministries, mahalife.com and mahajesus.com. “Maha” is a Hindi word, meaning “great.” Mahalife.com is a seeker-sensitive outreach site for Indian youth. Topics include relationships, career, health, sex, and other issues relevant to youth. Through the site, teens and young adults can connect with counselors via chat or email. Counseling is not a common practice in India, which happens to be one of the closet suicide capitals of the world.

Over 100,000 people each year take their own lives in India. Through mahalife.com, Indian youth can receive counseling without facing the stigma of going to a counselor. Mahalife.com counselors are Christians, equipped to point counselees to life and hope in Jesus Christ.

Mahajesus.com, another Olive eMinistry, is an online introductory course to who Jesus is. Each student who takes the course online is paired with an e-coach who walks the student through it and answers any questions he or she may have.

Providing Finances for God’s Work

Vijayam is a staunch supporter of the third tenet of Olive’s mission, which is providing financial resources for the growth of God’s kingdom. This is part of how he believes BAM companies should be proactively involved in missions and ministries. “We should have specific and consistent giving, both financially and in taking on projects that don’t result in a financial return,” Vijayam said, “You must give financially and not wait for the ship to come in or for that big profit. Take initiative.”

While Olive has pursued its mission for the past 13 years and is recognized as a pioneering BAM company, Vijayam sees many more miles to go.

“I really mean it when I say there is so much for Olive to learn in this whole arena of BAM,” he said. “It is like passing a camel through a needle’s eye. Trying to be a witness in the marketplace is just as difficult. We look back, just like people, and say there is so much of improvement that is needed. There are so many missed opportunities.”

Vijayam encourages BAM companies to consistently raise the benchmark that they set. He said the bottom line comes down to always asking how can we serve the church and its mission with the resources we have, be they people, knowledge, facilities, or finances.

“The BAM movement as a whole, and Olive as a company, I think are just scratching the surface of what can and should be done to be salt and light in the marketplace,” Vijayam said. “God help us.”

Labels: Joseph Vijayam, Olive Technology, Virginia Thomas

Continue reading 'Case Study of Olive Technology: Raising the Benchmark'

By Ron DeMiglio - Whenever I write anything, I always go back and read it several times. Sometimes I am taken aback by what feels like an overly critical portrayal of a given thought or activity. It always causes me to search my heart. I don’t ever wish to berate the good intentions of others in order to make myself feel more spiritual or enlightened. In the case of this chapter I am frankly a little confused. In the one-dimensional nature of a text only medium, the thoughts seem kind of callous to me. The thing that is confusing to me though is that I can’t decide if my phrasing is too harsh or if we are so far off the beaten path with our Missions Programs that the contrast only seems mean spirited. I guess the other option is that I am a certifiable loon in which case I would be the last to know so it doesn’t much matter. Anyway, if it feels like I am disparaging to your efforts, I apologize. I don’t mean to invalidate any ones efforts or intentions. But I do mean to call into question what I feel are suspect and lazy interpretations of how we act on those intentions. Please overlook my lack of diplomacy.

Can we agree that if it’s God’s money, the church has a responsibility to use it wisely? To spend money and use resources in the most responsible and spiritually impacting manner should be the goal of every church. Unfortunately the Missions program for many churches are little more than a spiritualized, marginalized and sanitized welfare program. I am unsure as to how the effort got so watered down and ineffective but in many instances it has. I don’t fault the effort as much as I do the unintentional self-serving nature of it. I want to be straightforward not only because I think I should but because I believe we are all capable of so much more. I also want to issue a disclaimer here. This less than eloquent rant does not and should not apply to the work churches do and the provisions given to sustain “widows” and “orphans”. Those two categories fall into the realm of a specific biblical mandate. I want to whine a little about churches that “perpetuate” that which they are attempting to “eliminate”. OK, I’ll stop the rhyming thing.

We were created to work. The disobedience in the Garden of Eden resulted in the curse and made it more difficult to work but we were always intended to work. Eve was always meant to bear children but after the fall it would be accompanied by horrific and unbearable pain. I have to take my wife’s word on that one but being there for the birth of both our kids, I have no doubt she is not exaggerating. If we were created to work that must mean that working is good and working is Godly. Clearly I’m a quick study. God speaks of teaching people to fish instead of giving them a fish. The biblical principle of gleaning also speaks to the spiritual link between effort, provision and purpose. Yet, we seem bent on the easiest and least impacting activities and we call it mission’s work.

Many churches round up a dozen or so well intentioned souls from the congregation. They gather clothes, functional items, building materials, tools and bibles, book a flight and saunter into Mexico, Central or South America to do the Lords work. In many cases, even though the motivation is commendable, I am not so sure it really is the Lords work. We build new community centers, new church buildings, new schoolhouses or medical facilities. Why? Do we do this so that the indigenous people of the region have a pretty new place to be systemically poor in? They have no future and as such little or no community. The church buildings enhance faith but are void of long-term hope. They are too poor to educate the children and instead put then to work in the fields in order to survive. They have no money and the clinics more often than not fall into disrepair and abandonment unless perpetually funded. What are we really doing? I contend that we are taking the easy way out and salving our consciences over doing what is right. I feel like these actions may be life altering and significant to those doing it, but it is dehumanizing and spiritually degrading to those we seek to minister to and help. Did you know that there are hundreds of remote villages in these countries that just sit around waiting for the next group of Christians to come down and hand them something. In the worse cases this is not a Missions Program, it is merely a second Benevolence Fund. Like a perpetual welfare recipient, these villages have adopted the idea that they are incapable and we have reinforced that idea with our actions.

I know that at times we need to provide shelter, warm clothes, and housing or yes, even build a community center or a new church. But if these acts are the norm and not temporary stopgap measures while we help provide a way for them to rise above their destitution, then in my opinion we miss the mark. If we merely give them something, they will forever need us to give them something. If we teach them to fish, or sew or manage land or better yet, help them to buy their own farmable land, we not only change their lives but we impact those families for generations. The luckiest and most industrious of these people are sharecropping at best and receiving pennies on the dollar for their efforts. If we provided interest free loans for land we could change the poorest countries in the world. They work the land and receive the lion’s share of their efforts instead of virtually nothing. In time, they make enough money to pay off the loan for the land. Families are fed and are afforded the luxury to have their children attend school. Educated children begin a new cycle of hope and heritage. Spirits are renewed as they realize that they are not cast offs that are only capable of receiving handouts. Missions programs become sustainable as the money is being paid back so more land can be bought and sold to families. Now our efforts and missions trips can truly bear fruit for decades.

Wouldn’t it be better to bring along an agronomist and help them double or triple the yield of their crops? Form a cooperative that will make sure they combine buying power and to receive the best prices for their crops and seeds. A micro economic program of this nature requires work but impacts generations. Granted it is not as easy as just going down and slapping up a makeshift building or handing out tennis shoes and chocolate bars. But shouldn’t the goal be to help them out of their poverty permanently? Be creative, imagine what other ways we can change the station in life for people and not just give them a shiny object to remain in that station with. Sustainable missions that bring about intrinsic change and not perpetuate poverty should be the goal. If those we seek to help are involved in the process of their financial restoration, spirits are revived and God is glorified. Grab a hoe and help them make some dough. Last rhyme, I promise.

Can we admit that we have subsidized lethargy and promoted the idea that God is simply not capable of providing for or sustaining them without indefinite charity? Is that really what we want to do? I know that at times we need to provide essentials but those should be the mortar and not the bricks when it comes to reconstructing lives. Ultimately, it’s better for everyone if we help them attain the means of buying their own mortar and making their own bricks. Let the United Nations recognized and applaud the temporary solutions of redistribution of wealth and forgiveness of third world debt. We need to be about the business of helping families be sustainable and pointing the way to Godly purpose and fulfillment. If the people of these countries were financially and generationally whole, we would not need to redistribute wealth or forgive dept. I know it is not as glamorous and as personally edifying as being the amazing Americans that have come to bestow our gifts and prayers on them. But to me, sustainable missions and providing opportunity to others is compassionate, benevolent, spirit empowering and the highest use of our money, time and efforts.

Do you remember the actor named John Candy? He died quite young. I often wonder if he was stuck in a situation that inevitably would result in his premature death. He was most well known for a specific kind of role in almost every movie he was in. He was without a doubt one of the best actors ever at playing the hapless, helpless, lazy, irresponsible, gregarious and slovenly goof of a family member or friend. He had an infectious personality and was a uniquely interesting guy, to me anyway. What I know for sure is that he fell into a type cast and that was what he was physically and exclusively known for. If he lost the weight he would not be John Candy. He would not be able to play the same type of role and his acting career most likely would have quickly faded. If he stayed large he would have consistent work and acclaim but would almost assuredly die way too young.

Imagine having the choice of fame and notoriety that resulted in a premature death, or anonymity and discipline that resulted in health and longevity. What would you choose? There is not as much glamour or fame in being the people that challenge, encourage, come along side and help provide the means for others to pull themselves out of despair. Discipline and work is not a popular thing to require of others but it has the most health and longevity associated with it. Don’t allow yourself or your church to be type cast into a role that will end up with a premature death of your mission’s effort. You can be popular with everyone and just provide temporary village trinkets or you can be life changing for the proportionate few but have your efforts endure and ultimately impact thousands more. The results are slower but they last and allow God to do the miraculous in and thru someone other than you. Let’s begin to wean ourselves off of the easy displays of spiritual philanthropy and set our efforts to assisting people out of despair. Sow opportunity. Sow life. Life that sustains people, establishes families, builds community and endures for generations

Labels: Ron DeMiglio, Sacred and Secular Divide

Continue reading 'Do our Missions Programs create Sustainable ways to meet needs or Welfare Recipients?'

By Justin Forman - The men of 0ur community group just started reading through the Old Testament for our fall study. You know what struck me so profoundly when we read thorugh Genesis?

God created us to Work.

No sooner had God formed Adam (Genesis 2:6) that he "put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it". Only but a few verses later he goes on to ask man to name all the animals that roamed the earth (Genesis 2:19).

This probably comes to you as no surprise, you've heard that idea. God created us to work. Got it. But what I think we sometimes miss is the order.

So often times we believe that work was this punishment handed down by God as punishment for disobeying him (Genesis 3). That couldn't be more farther from the truth. God created us to work, then sin entered the world. We had the perfect world but then it all changed. Enter computer crashes, viruses, technical difficulties and all those other thorns that God caused to make things an even greater challenge.

Culture has been the great accelerant in this warped thinking that work is our punishment. Commericals and movies have ingrained this idea that the 5-6 days of work are just o get us to the weekend.

In our attempt to put a Christian spin on it we further miss the point. We somehow think that the workweek is our step to get to the real worship on Sunday morning.

Where did thing get so out of order? When did we believe that somehow volunteering on a Wednesday night with the youth is important enough to overlook the 40-50 hours of opporutnity in the office?

Don't get me wrong. I love getting involved in opportunities to serve in the church, but I think we could all use reminding that in the beginning God created us to work. When the world was still perfect, before sin had not entered the world, our primary act of worship was working in His garden.

Even God himself modeled that for us by spending 6 days working, and finally on the 7th day he rested.

So tomorrow, I head off to work. To care for His creation. His kingdom. Hopefully I can remind myself that how I go about it might be the greatest act of worship I do all week.

Labels: Justin Forman, Sacred and Secular Divide

Continue reading 'In the Beginning God created us to ... Work?'

Phil Smith and Peter Greer wrote a book on microfinance and employment-based solutions to poverty. The book just released on Friday and Peter is beginning a 36-city tour with HOPE to promote the book.

To see the places where Peter will be this fall, please visit http://www.thepoorwillbeglad.com.
Here's what people are saying about the book on Amazon:

"This eminently practical book shows how ordinary people can help fight poverty around the world. Focusing on proven initiatives such as microfinance and employment-based solutions, the authors outline specific steps we can take in leading the charge against spiritual and physical poverty."

“The Poor Will Be Glad is an honest, insightful and practical resource forged from the vast experience of the authors who deeply care about seeing people lifted from poverty.”CHUCK BENTLEY CEO, CROWN FINANCIAL MINISTRIES

Labels: Hope International, Peter Greer

Continue reading 'The Poor Will be Glad - Joining the Revolution to Lift the World out of Global Poverty'

"A well run school is a great opportunity for Business as Mission- for every student you affect 5 or more people, usually adults. And, people everywhere will make sacrifices for their children to get ahead. I have another friend here who has started a metal fabrication business. We are trying to run water businesses. Well drilling is wide open. Farming of all types is open...

Labels: Africa, Quotable

Continue reading 'Quotable - You don't need a lot of capital, just a good design, some capital and the spirit of being in Business as Mission'

By Chris Horst of Hope International - Lancaster, Pennsylvania is the home of Auntie Anne’s pretzels, the nation’s oldest-running farmer’s market, and HOPE International. It also has one of the largest Amish communities in the country. Recently, while in Lancaster, I visited Costco and noticed hitching posts in the parking lot where Amish customers could park their buggies.

Labels: Chris Horst, Hope International

Continue reading 'Local Connections Matter'

By Partners Worldwide - Matthew is the proud owner of the self-titled business “Matthew’s Transportation Service” where he works as a taxi driver. Last year Matthew completed a three month business training program and concurrent savings program through Liberian Entrepreneurial and Asset Development (LEAD). This qualified him for a $750 loan, which he invested into much needed repairs for his cars.

Labels: Business as Mission Impact Story, Partners Worldwide

Continue reading '"Small-Small" Things Make a Big Difference'