In contrast to this Christians followed the model of the carpenter from Nazareth, and the teaching of Paul who wrote, “The one who is unwilling to work, shall not eat.” (2 Thess 3:10 NIV).  Kenneth Scott Latourette, says of the early church, “Christianity undercut slavery by giving dignity to work.”  Their willingness do even menial work upset the status quo. He credits the Christian work ethic with the decline of slavery in the Roman Empire in the 5^th century[i].  As we move forward through history we have several shining examples of God’s people advancing the kingdom through enterprise. 

Celtic monastic communities in the tradition of St. Patrick ministered to the whole man. They founded their monasteries near centers of population and were very intentional about developing hostels, schools, model farms, and workshops.  These monasteries became centers of best practice and innovation[ii].  This distinctive of Celtic Christianity continued up through the early Middle Ages.

To learn more about the Kingdom Business Movement throughout history, click here.

In particular, it was Martin Luther’s rediscovery of the meaning of the word “calling” (Latin: vocare from which we get vocation) that created some of the greatest changes.  He came to believe that calling was not merely for monks and priest, but for every believer[ii].   This developed into the idea that, “all the vocations of life have dignity.  The vocation of the honest merchant or housewife had as much dignity as king.[iii]”

Other reformers, beginning with John Calvin, extended the concept of vocational calling.  In his seminal work on the subject[iv], Max Weber[v] identifies the protestant ethic (their theology of life and enterprise) as the animating force behind modern capitalism[vi].  He sees the Reformation giving birth to the Spirit of Capitalism:  The Puritan ideals of faithfulness to a vocational calling, a rational organization of life, and this-worldly (vs. other worldly) asceticism are the seedbed for the most robust economic system the world has ever seen[vii].

The Puritans and other movements emerging from the same reformation root (Pietists, Moravians, Quakers, Methodists[viii], etc.) created highly developed theologies of work, but they didn’t stop there.  They also had highly developed practice (praxis): innovation, experimentation, etc.  An examination of what they did reveals a theology of vocation, enterprise, and transformation that was much more developed and ambitious than that of the modern workplace movement.  It was more developed in the sense that it was codified and pervasive in the Christian movements of the time. These were principles resounding from every pulpit, taught in every catechism and discussed around family tables.  It was more ambitious in the sense that they set out not only to reform but to build entirely new societal systems: religious, artistic, economic, governmental, etc.[ix].

To read about specific examples of Kingdom Business thought and action during the reformation and beyond, read the full article here.

Ahisma, winner of the Cohort 2 business plan contest is starting a chicken farm in a village outside of the city. She is low caste and so is her husband.  Never have any low caste people in this village had a business and have always been oppressed or served the high caste folks.  The first success for Ahisma was the purchase of land from the high caste land owners.  No low caste folks had ever done that, either.  Then she started building her chicken farm.  The town started talking and she and her husband have been able to share about their faith and how they hope that this farm will impact the village significantly.  We are in talks with one of our partner denominations to try and get a church plant work in the area to come along side the business and minister to the many people in this village.

Dakshina, winner of the first cohort is successfully implementing her business in another village north of the city.  Though she hasn’t sold any goats yet, she is building an incredible infrastructure.  The village has also been so shocked that she has done everything (from permits to registration to labor) without the typical way of paying bribes.  This is a great testimony.

Pavit, cohort 2, has launched his coconut oil company.  They manufacture and bottle coconut oil in a factory in another city, and he is selling throughout south Asia. A month or two ago he got his first major order from a distributor of about $15,000.  Since then he has made a lot more deals.  He hired a fellow BDC graduate to work for him (she wasn’t ready to start her business yet).

Viveka, cohort 2, also launched her school this year with 30 students.  She is getting ready to add 11 more.  He school is targeting the poor and so she relies on donations to and small fees to keep running.  She has a wonderful vision and she is trying to use this to impact the poor communities of the city for Christ.

Sahir, cohort 1, continues to grow his window washing business.  He cleans the windows of 5 star hotels around the city.  He is now at around 12 employees and is slowly adding more.  Most of his employees are evangelists in villages.  The job lets them support their families and do ministry in villages.  He is able to support his family and his ministry as well.

Vasu,  cohort 3, is from another part of the country and is incredibly gifted in leather making.  He is starting a business that will employ underprivileged women, train them to create leather goods, and sell to Western audience.  His business is in the pipeline but we can expect big things.

Quakers were engaged in a broad range of business activities, and many of the companies we recognize today had Quaker origins: Metal Production (Bethlehem Steel), Confectionary (Cadbury Chocolate), Banking (Barclays, Lloyds, Western Union), Retail (Macy’s), Accounting (Price Waterhouse).[iv]  Although never a very large part of the population on either side of the Atlantic they achieved a superlative status in enterprise.  The belief that all of life, business included, was sacramental and their exceptional integrity caused them to thrive in business.

To learn more about the Kingdom Business Movement throughout history, click here.

Moses already has plans to bid on training and consulting business, utilizing the expertise and contacts of the facilitators that were trained this week. They like the idea of partnering with BDC Uganda, Regent University, and the visiting e xecutives. It looks like Moses might be able to get some revenue flowing soon!

Moses also has another idea for revenue generation for the BDC. He plans to rent out the classroom space during the day. We couldn’t have asked for a better spot. It’s centrally located, has secure and free parking in a big lot right next to the building, and is nearby good restaurants. There’s even a Wal-Mart owned store in the mall. It’s a high quality location and facility, even though the mall’s owner seems to have hit a wall on build out. Many spaces remain empty and unfinished. It may be difficult to find a renter for the BDC space, but Moses is resourceful!

The BDC Uganda team is already talking about running more than one class at a time. The launch week was full of excitement and success. Many blessings to BDC Uganda as they grow and expand!

We had 11 in facilitator training. Two were from other nations. Benson, the Member of Parliament who was our keynote speaker for the launch, came to learn more but probably won’t be a facilitator. Of the remaining eight, we had six very strong candidates.

• Fred (pictured right) – A leader in ICCC and key account manager for Coca-Cola, Fred is very good in front of the class and is a dynamic leader. He was president of a business club at Uganda’s most prestigious university even though he was a forestry student. His commitment and drive were evident this week. He took two weeks leave from Coca-Cola so he could do the first two weeks of the program without interruption, but his wife had a surgery which was postponed from a few weeks ago to this week, so Fred shuttled from facilitator training to the hospital to class to the hospital. Even with these commitments, Fred found time to record 115 Entrepreneur Eyes entries (observing local businesses) to win the prize for the class.
• Three young guys from Smart Consulting were dynamite. They were very smooth trainers, with great insight, high energy, and strong Christian faiths.
• Dennis is quite experienced and runs an SME consulting and training firm.

• George is the most cerebral – extremely smart and insightful. He had an amazing testimony about a chef in his restaurant that became ill with HIV/AIDS and couldn’t work. George took him into his home and nursed him back to health. In the process, he had to stand up to his landlord who didn’t want the stigma of AIDS in his apartments.

Overall, facilitator training was successful and we look forward to seeing these facilitators develop and support BDC Uganda for some time to come.

Benson Obua-Ogwal (left), a Member of Parliament I met with over the weekend, gave the keynote address, which sounded more like an infomercial for the BDC. He praised the program, saying it was exactly what Uganda needs to be successful. He put his own skin in the game, as he is financially sponsoring his sister to take the program.

Anguyo Dralega (pictured right with Moses), the president of the Uganda chapter of the International Christian Chamber of Commerce (ICCC), gave an equally laudatory speech. He is actually enrolled in the program himse lf.

The first cohort is small, but powerful. Most already own their own businesses, some quite substantial. Four of the leading members if ICCC are enrolled in the course:

• Dralega – He owns an optometry shop in the same mall where the classroom is and will soon open an eye clinic with an ophthalmologist, so they can do surgery.
• Fred – He manages key accounts for Coca-Cola bottling in Uganda. He’s also training to be a facilitator. He has a big vision for transforming his village through a farming co-op, followed by education, health, and government initiatives.
• Jolly – She owns two coffee shops and a hotel in a national park.
• “Clever” Collins – He just started a construction company. He shared a wonderful testimony about how his honesty with a client brought him lots of new business.

I’m encouraged because several other ICCC members say they will enroll in Cohort 2. Holding back a little fire power will ensure that Cohort 2 has some strong, established business people in it as well. These two in particular, will be the start of an excellent core. Robert owns several companies. Freda , Associate Director at Ernst & Young, sponsored a young man she supervises for Cohort 1.

I look forward to seeing these entrepreneurs shaping their classmates.

]]> http://www.regententrepreneur.org/general/blast-off/feed 0 http://www.regententrepreneur.org/general/excitement-of-a-new-launch-bdc-uganda-is-open http://www.regententrepreneur.org/general/excitement-of-a-new-launch-bdc-uganda-is-open#comments Mon, 04 Feb 2013 18:10:34 +0000 admin http://www.regententrepreneur.org/?p=4641 After Moses, who is the BDC Uganda Country Director, picked me up from the airport in Uganda on Saturday, we had dinner and I settled in to the Shalom Guest House. They put me in a tiny corner room, because it was the only available room that was close enough to the server to get Internet in the room.  Although tiny and very basic, it did have a nice hot shower, which I enjoyed right away. It was quite a bustling place — full with volunteer service organization folks.

We always love to support local businesses while we’re in-country, especially ones which share our goals. The mission of Fields of Life, the organization that runs the guesthouse, aligns with the BDC’s mission – “Fields of Life is committed to changing lives and building sustainable communities in East Africa through teaching the Christian faith and through the provision of quality education, water, health promotion and income generating projects.”

Visiting international churches is always a special experience. I went to Moses’s church which meets under a canopy at a Chinese restaurant. It felt comfortable as the pastor and the songs were both Western.

After church I met up with Keith, a gentleman I’d had lunch with in Kigali, where he is doing a project for the Energy Water and Sanitation Authority. Afterwards, Moses and I unpacked and set up tables in the classroom before having dinner with a member of parliament, Benson Obua-Ogwal. Our conversation at dinner helped him get oriented to the BDC in preparation for his Keynote address at our Monday launch.

By Monday, the classroom looked wonderful and we were ready for the launch. Moses has a great taste in design. He hired a young man to do screen prints of the logo and design for the glass wall that is the fourth wall of our classroom. Looking out, it looks like tinted glass, but looking in you can see the logo, words, and pictures. He also had two sharp pull-up banners made, one of which occupies the entrance to the mall where the classroom is found, and the other on our floor.

I saw a young man looking at the banner in the mall entrance and recruited him for the program. He works in a bank on the first floor and gets out of work as class begins. He also owns two clothing shops. This was not an unusual recruiting situation. Moses had already recruited our neighbor who runs a business just around the corner preparing people to take standardized tests like the GRE, TOEFL, etc.

Moses was still busy as a bee, but I was able to take some time to work on the facilitator training plan we’d be doing later in the week and get to know two international visitors – Wanjiru, a Kenyan interested in participating in a BDC in Nairobi, and Grace Mae, who’d like to start a BDC in her home country of Zimbabwe.

After several months of preparation, the launch is almost here and I’m quite confident it’s going to be a success!