Ken Crowell, Business as Mission Pioneer and Founder of Galtronics in Israel Leaves a Legacy
I wish I could build a "Cooperstown" for Work as Worship Heroes.
Instead of collecting old baseball gloves and jerseys marking hall of fame careers I'd fill it with authentic stories. The kind that are filled with adventure but are soaked in humility and obedience. They would highlight men and women who moved the mission forward, mostly when nobody was looking. But despite the cloak of humility their light was so bright that people at home and abroad couldn't help but see that there was something different about the way they worked and lived. They didn't see a divide between Sunday and Monday. Instead they embraced work as one of our greatest opportunities to worship.
Ken and Margie Crowell would be one of the first stories I'd feature in that Hall of Fame.
Some of you heard that last week Ken passed away on January 25th after a long battle with Myelofibrosis.
Its sad to see any life come to an end but today Ken's story continues on as a couple hundred Arabs, Jews and Christians will show up to work at Galtronics, the company that he and Margie started in the early 70's in Israel.
Thousands of lives have been impacted. And thousands more will be inspired by their story. Ten years ago at business student at Baylor, Ken's story helped me discover meaning in my work. Today his legacy leaves this thirty one year old challenged to take the baton from the previous generation and run the race with everything I've got.
Before Ken's death the couple shared their story with CBN news. I'd also suggest reading the cover story from Christianity Today nearly 5 years ago.
Labels: Galtronics, Ken Crowell
Continue reading 'Ken Crowell, Business as Mission Pioneer and Founder of Galtronics in Israel Leaves a Legacy'
3 Call2business opportunities for 2012
From our friends at Call2all, they'd like to let everyone know they have 3 events planned for 2012.
1. Amsterdam 2012 April 16-19 Mon-Thurs Call2all Western Europe Congress April 16-19, 2012
You are warmly invited to the Call2all Western Europe Congress – April 16-19, 2012 being held in De Betteld, a beautiful Dutch Christian Conference Centre (www.debetteld.nl).
Located close to the German border, accessible from Dusseldorf and Amsterdam airports, the call2all congress in Western Europe will be an opportunity for Christian leaders from across Western Europe and globally to strategically engage in areas of European society and global mission. In this relaxed Dutch setting, leaders will share around table discussions, workshops and times of prayer best practices and ways to deepen involvement in the the Great Commission!
For more information how to register email: Europe@call2all.org.
2. Cebu City Philippines 2012 March 13-16
3. Jakarta Indonesia 2012 August 1-4
Labels: Call2All, Events and Conferences
Continue reading '3 Call2business opportunities for 2012'
Social-profit enterprises: Stop Debating and get them going
In the same vein as Echoing Green and the Unreasonable Institute, Praxis launched its first year-long accelerator programme in 2011 to mentor young social entrepreneurs and accelerate their success. The 2011-2012 class of Praxis Fellows includes 12 innovative organizations. Through a sequence of three events and 25+ mentors, Praxis aims to scale up and improve initiatives with a current budget under $1 million. Praxis believes the right network and knowledge can accelerate each organization’s mission to advance the common good.Read the rest of the article.
Labels: Praxis
Continue reading 'Social-profit enterprises: Stop Debating and get them going'
Wall Street Journal asks if a Philanthropy should act like a Business?
That's one way to look at it, anyway.
Others argue that things work differently in the world of nonprofits and social change. Tackling some of society's biggest problems is unlikely to produce anything like the steady, chartable path of progress that investors require. And that's simply something donors have to live with if they want to help those most in need.
Read the Wall Street Journal Article
Labels: Wall Street Journal
Continue reading 'Wall Street Journal asks if a Philanthropy should act like a Business?'
Global CEO Event Coming to Chicago April 11-13
The focus is on “commercial” business as mission, a segment of the movement that is supported by their operational cash flows. While individuals or small groups of investors own most of such companies, they may be owned or operated by mission organization or initially capitalized through donor funds. The operational distinction of depending on your business cash flow to survive and grow creates a commonality of issues. Combining business challenges with Kingdom intent adds to the complexity, as does the orientation toward international operations.
Who can attend? The meetings are held by invitation so that participants can gather with like-minded people who facing similar challenges.
The meeting participants should (1) have a vision and desire to use business for advancing God’s Kingdom, and (2) are directly involved in a “commercial” business as a owner, executive or manager.
A limited number of reservations are reserved for those who support the business as mission movement and are contributing strategically to the movement.
If you would benefit from connecting with others facing the same challenges, to hear the good, the bad and the ugly about international business please request more information from sringler@ecgroup-intl.com To insure confidentially there is no website related to this conference, all information will be provided directly to those who are interested.
Please identify that you heard about The Global CEO Network from the Business as Mission Network and receive $50 off the registration price.
Labels: Events and Conferences, Global CEO Network
Continue reading 'Global CEO Event Coming to Chicago April 11-13'
12 Ways to Glorify God at Work by Desiring God Ministries
1. Believe that all legitimate work is holy or unholy before God based on our faith, not the nature of the work itself.
But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin (Romans 14:23).
2. Be just and honest in all your dealings with money.
A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is his delight (Proverbs 11:1)
Labels: Books and Articles, Desiring God
Continue reading '12 Ways to Glorify God at Work by Desiring God Ministries'
CNN Feature Story on Marketplace Chaplains
Not too long ago, CNN featured a story on Marketplace Chaplains. Again, marketplace chaplaincy continues to be a great opportunity to improve the bottom line across the board.
You can watch the YouTube Video above or click on this link to watch it on the Marketplace Chaplains Website.
Labels: Chaplaincy, CNN, Marketplace Chaplains, Video and Media
Continue reading 'CNN Feature Story on Marketplace Chaplains'
Applying Timeless Truths Drives Superior Business
From the C12 Group - America’s leading provider of Christian CEO and business owner roundtables since 1992, reports a surprising positive impact from adoption of Biblical servant leadership principles. C12 President and CEO, Don Barefoot, reports that “both public research data and C12’s own historical experience clearly demonstrate the practical performance benefits of such leadership, in addition to the eternal implications.” C12 has more than 1000 members across more than 65 metro areas in 30 states. C12 members dedicate one day each month to a peer advisory board and one-on-one counsel to learn, sharpen their skills, and receive spiritual refreshment, accountability and counsel. They focus on business excellence as well as ministering to those they touch through the normal conduct of business. C12 member companies are generally privately-held firms with annual revenues ranging from $1 million to more than $1 billion.Over the long-term, C12 has seen the proven impact of the peer sharpening and lifelong learning according to best practices consistent with Biblical principles through its members’ results. A 1995-2005 study comparing contemporaneous C12 member company performance against 350 small-to-midsized American leadership companies from research sponsored by The Business Roundtable revealed a remarkable performance advantage for the typical C12 company versus their non-C12 peers. This difference showed up impressively in a head-to-head business comparison of annual sales and profit growth rates. Even though C12 member companies certainly focus on more than just annual financial performance, they outperformed the broader economic benchmarks quite sharply with average 10-year revenue and profit growth rates which were more than triple those reported by the “leadership companies” (i.e., 15.2% vs. 4.2%, and 22.1% vs. 8.5%, respectively).
C12’s Barefoot said, “This data shows that leading businesses according to Biblical principles is quite compatible with achieving top-notch performance according to pure business metrics. But this is only a small part of the overall picture. Improved business performance also provides a growing platform from which C12 member companies can share Christ’s love with those they serve.” Barefoot continued, “These performance conclusions are consistent with findings from the substantial long-term public company research reported by Jim Collins in his best-selling book, Good to Great, which corroborates the breakthrough impact of long-term servant leader CEOs. One of the common distinguishing traits of the 11 ‘great’ companies that stood out above all others in Collins’ study of more than 1400 public companies over three decades was the presence of a humble, but firm CEO operating with a diligent and persevering focus according to unwavering core values.” “Further,” says Barefoot, “a December, 2010 Barna Group survey of 1022 American adults found that those who support or prefer to do business with apparently ‘Christian’ companies significantly outnumber those who avoid doing business with them due to their ‘faith connection,’ by 14-to-1. In the end, timeless truth will always prevail!”
The C12 Group was founded in 1992 by Buck Jacobs, a Christian CEO and author. C12 is a growing network with more than 100 groups meeting in 65 metro areas across America. Monthly peer advisory meetings and one-on-one sessions are held to discuss a wide range of highly relevant and challenging
topics that challenge members to be excellent servant leaders and stewards.
If you would like more information on The C12 Group, please go to www.C12Group.com or contact C12’s Home Office (336-841-7100 or info@C12Group.com).
Labels: Buck Jacobs, C12 Group, Don Barefoot
Continue reading 'Applying Timeless Truths Drives Superior Business'
