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On the road again…

Nov 27th, 2011 by

Last blog entry was about my visit to Rwanda. I have had many encouraging and interesting responses from all over the world, and God has used it in wonderful ways. Earlier this week I came back from almost three weeks in the USA, and I leave again for the USA tomorrow morning.

One of the highlights of the US trip was the five days my wife and I spent in Hollywood, Florida; yes, there is a Hollywood in Florida – in between Miami and Fort Lauderdale. I was walking down memory lane. 30 years earlier I studied theology in Hollywood. The College was in a building which was originally a hotel, built in 1926. (Al Capone was a guest.)  In the 60’s it became a College and now it is a hotel again –a beach property, where we booked a room. We had the same view over Atlantic Ocean that I had as a poor student 1981. It was a time of reminiscing, and also realizing yet again that God is good and faithful.

Those were the days, memorizing at least 5 – 10 Bible verses every week – from King James version. And we had a test later in the term when we had to know them all. I had very little money and I tried to manage on a dollar a day. I got two perfect jobs at the school: in the kitchen – free lunch, and in the library – could do homework and write papers and receive a small salary at the same time.

A friend and I drove around the US during the summer. It was an old car, with no air condition. We often drove through the nights to save time and money on lodging.

The College had a very conservative theology, to say the least. But I balanced that by studying liberal theology at university in Sweden later. So I landed in some kind of middle of the road. But I have also learnt through the years of international travel that the church is much bigger than we often think.

A few other highlights from the earlier US trip:

I spoke at a Korean American Business as Mission Consultation in New York. The first part gathered church leaders, including all the senior pastors of Korean American churches in New York and New Jersey, even from the mega churches. The 2nd part of the Consultation was focused on young urban professionals. And I also managed to watch the New York Marathon. Personally, I run away from exercise. 🙂

My wife was doing some work in D.C. at the same time but we met up in Birmingham, Alabama where we had several very constructive meetings with business leaders. Then we drove to Atlanta for a meeting with a large Christian foundation, which has given way 3 billion dollars to charitable causes. We had a great conversation on Business as Mission and the world.

Anyway, tomorrow – the Lord willing – I will fly Stockholm – Chicago – Los Angeles. I will speak at a business congress, and also meet some friends and colleagues and work on issues and initiatives with regards to the global Business as Mission movement.

There will be a few more international trips before Christmas. And also a few more blog entries.

 

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Rwanda: The Death and Resurrection of a Nation

Nov 1st, 2011 by

Unfortunately Africa is often associated with words with negative connotations: corruption, aids, donor fatigue, genocide, bad governance, colonialism, malaria, slavery, famine, poverty, civil wars, blood diamonds, et cetera.

A trillion dollar of aid has not raised the continent out of poverty. A corrupt leader like Mugabe has changed a country from a breadbasket of a region to a basket case. Rwanda experienced a horrific genocide in 1994 where up to one million people were killed in about 100 days. The negative examples above do not fully or fairly reflect Africa as a whole. Many African countries are now experiencing economic growth, peace and reconciliation, and there are increasing foreign investments, and so forth.

But sub-Saharan Africa is still lagging behind in many ways, especially when one compares with Asian countries. Singapore was transformed from a poor swampland to one of the most prosperous countries in the world in about 50 years. Can such a thing happen in Africa?

I visited Rwanda last week and I venture to say that Rwanda is growing to become a beacon of hope for Africa and the world. Today Rwanda is one of the safest, least corrupt and most progressive nations in Africa. Only 17 years ago the country was devastated through the genocide.**

Let me share a few brief observations on what I believe are some essential contributing factors to the transformation of Rwanda. For the Western mindset let me give you a few bullet points first and then a few glimpses to illustrate those:

  1. God is at work
  2. Visionary leadership serving with integrity and professionalism
  3. Unity and reconciliation process rebuilding the social fabric
  4. The development of a 21st century infrastructure
  5. The creation of an environment conducive for business development in a globalised world

The genocide was evil beyond human comprehension. One cannot even try to explain it without recognizing the evil forces which are beyond our secular horizons. Likewise we cannot fully appreciate the transformation of the nation, the unity and reconciliation processes, unless we acknowledge God at work.

But we also need to recognize the importance of good leadership; people with vision, integrity and professionalism. No one is perfect but President Kagame has served the nation well.

I met with so many unusually gifted leaders – African and others – who are serving the people of Rwanda. Bishop John Rucyahana was one of them. One may liken him to Desmund Tutu of South Africa. A must read is the book “The Bishop of Rwanda”. I also met his successor Bishop Mbanda who also is a “larger-than-life-kind-of-person”.

Bishop John, some American friends and I talked about how to rebuild the social fabric in a society so devastated by mass killings. Bishop John has led the work of unity and reconciliation, which is a key to the resurrection of the nation. We need to be mindful of the lack of such processes between peoples in other countries and regions, like in the Balkans, where hatred has been passed on from generation to generation for over 600 years.

The leadership of Rwanda is also aware of that you can only build a nation for the future if you set the parameters for a functional market place and link it to today’s global world. I had mobile phone coverage all over the country. Wireless internet is widely available. The government is working on broadband infrastructure to all corners of the nation. Mobile phones help rich and poor alike to improve their lives and further economic activities.

Rwanda is also proactively working on property rights which are essential for business development. One can register a business online one the same day. Business development is more encouraged than aid and NGOs. We also visited a growing bank based on Christian values. Please click here to learn more about our visit, the bank and some other entrepreneurial people involved for Rwanda.

Our hosts in Rwanda were Dale Dawson and Tom Allen of Bridge2Rwanda. Please check their website Bridge2Rwanda. I warmly recommend this very informative and challenging video clip, about 9 minutes long.

** I wrote about the genocide and the complicity of the church in a previous blog: From church planting success to genocide

 

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What is ‘real’ business and can a business be self-sustainable?

Oct 19th, 2011 by

“East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet”, wrote Rudyard Kipling in the poem “The Ballad of East and West”.

Non-profit is non-profit, and for profit is for profit, and never the twain shall meet – or should they? Maybe they already do!

There is an on-going discussion in the Business as Mission movement about “real business”, “fake business”, “propped up business”, “sustainable business”. This conversation is important. But sometimes it becomes heavy with ideological purists who see no connection between non-profit and for profit. Mission is mission and business is business. Some even state that there mustn’t be any connection: “Business is business and businesses carry their own costs”. But do they? Is that really what the business world in general looks like?

Let’s first acknowledge that there are differences between NGOs, mission organizations, churches and other non-profits on the one hand, and businesses on the other.

They operate with different paradigms, they are different legal entities, they have different modus operandi, and they demand some different skill-sets.

But from a Biblical perspective church and business are also very close. The purpose of the church is to glorify God, serve people, and meet various needs. The church is a non-profit entity. Business from a Biblical perspective should also glorify God, serve people, and meet various needs. But businesses exist to make a profit – but not exclusively.

Are they mutually exclusive? Should a real business never receive free money, free advice, or pro-bono workers? This begs the question as to what “real” business is. The assumption that real businesses are self-sustaining does not give a full picture of the eco-system in which businesses operate. The Economist, which also uses the term eco-system, has a very enlightening article dealing with this in the Oct 8 issue: “A helping hand for start-ups”.

They write about one major initiative – originating from the corporate world – which gives FREE support services to business people, worth USD 730 million. Is that wrong? Is that skewing businesses? No, these kinds of pro-bono work and subsidies happen all the time in “real” businesses, in the market place.

Why should we in the BAM world be afraid of setting up systems of people volunteering their time which can help BAM companies to start and grow?

We have, in the Western world, “real businesses” which receive tax breaks, bail-outs, investment incentives, SME economy building subsidies, etc… How many family businesses, in both the rich and the poor world, do not have family members pitching in for free?

Is it wrong to help BAM businesses for free – to a certain degree – in various ways in the Arab world and Asia?

No business is self-sustaining. Nothing is – not even the church. The only self sustaining entity is God. The creation and every human being derives from God, is created by him. What we have and what we are comes as a gift – it is free.

People in business use free gifts – donations – to start and grow businesses. Gifts like an entrepreneurial eye and a business acumen. Businesses use other gifts from God like iron ore and water. All God-given subsidies as it were.

This does not mean that we should confuse non-profit and for profit, or that we should be sloppy business people hoping for bail-outs. No, the business of business is business, and that includes making a profit, and having a good social, environmental and spiritual impact.

But we shouldn’t be judgmental if somebody mentors a company for free. Why should we criticize a business owner who doesn’t draw a full salary from the company because he or she has other income streams?

In the business eco-system there are subsidies, tax-breaks and pro-bono work. These incentives from government, from the corporate world and from NGOs, can help build healthy growing business. It would be wrong to discard a business – including BAM businesses – just because it draws on free advice or uses tax breaks.

Non-profit is non-profit, and for profit is for profit, and never the twain shall meet? Wrong, they do meet and these meetings can be profitable – in the wider sense – for people, businesses, communities and nations.

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The European Anti-Trafficking Day: New Website & Prayer Guide

Oct 18th, 2011 by

Tuesday October 18 is the European day highlighting the issue of human trafficking – modern day slavery. It is a global tragedy and it affects millions of people.

A few facts:

  • An estimated 120,000 women and children are trafficked into Western Europe each year; 90% of victims trafficked into European Union member states end up in the sex industry.
  • Eastern Europe has been called a ‘frontier of failure in the battle against human trafficking’.
  • It is not migrant labor or exploited labor in general. It is people who are abused and who are not free to leave.

In a previous blog entry I wrote about this big and organized crime – How to tackle organized crime. We need to create critical mass of people and organizations to fight this evil and to help the victims. The European Freedom Network (EFN) is such a response.

EFN just launched its website: European Freedom Network

They have a prayer guide which I encourage you to read, use and share.

Why should we support and join EFN? Strategic alliances and networks are important for many reasons. Let me give you some food for thought, some teasers:

  • An African proverb says: if you want to walk fast – walk alone. If you want to walk far – walk together.
  • Do we want to be a sparkler or a light house? One is short lived; one is there for the long haul. One is easy to start; the other one takes more joint efforts and organization. One is sparkling fun for a brief moment; one is a guiding light, saving many year after year.
  • Why are airlines creating strategic alliances? They can serve more people, give better services, and fly more people to more destinations.
  • What are we as Christians to do with Christ’s prayer about visible and practical unity?

***************************************************************************

PS: My wife Jennifer is a part of the leadership of EFN. Click here for her blog. If you want to receive her newsletter, please send her an email: jenroemhildt@gmail.com

Jennifer’s latest newsletter is presenting unique opportunities for people to support strategic anti-trafficking initiatives.

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Business as Mission from Asian, African, and Latin American perspectives

Oct 14th, 2011 by

There are an increasing number of publications (books, articles, papers) on Business as Mission, BAM. Many are authored by Westerners from a Western perspective and these contributions are good and helpful. But it is not a fair reflection of the global BAM movement, since probably most practitioners and many thought leaders are non-Westerners or run BAM businesses in the Arab world and Asia.

Thus it was a joy to be a special editor for the BAM issue of the Connections Journal two years ago and invite friends and colleagues from all over the world to contribute. The journal contains articles on Business as Mission from thought leaders and practitioners from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and North America.

You can find the link to these articles under “LINKS”; scroll down and look right: WEA-MC Journal Connections, BAM issue, fall 2009

The articles include:

  • Case Study on BAM SME from Korea to Other Parts of Asia. Joseph Lee
  • Restoring People, Changing Businesses, Transforming Societies – A Case Study from Indonesia. Julian Foe
  • The Challenges and Opportunities For Business As Mission: A Perspective From Africa. Dennis Tongoi
  • Bossa Nova, the “Beautiful Game” and Business as Mission (A Brazilian Perspective). João Mordomo
  • Larger-Sized Business as Mission (BAM) Companies. (Chinese Perspectives) Dwight Nordstrom & Vince Liang
  • Why Is Bangladesh Poor and Taiwan Rich? Mats Tunehag & Peter Shaukat
  • Business as Mission: Towards a Biblical and Practical Theology of Work and Business. Bridget Adams
  • Church, Missions and Business: Roles, Responsibilities, Tension and Synergies. Peter Shaukat
  • Human Trafficking: Business as Prevention and Restoration. Jennifer Roemhildt Tunehag
  • Ten Principles: BAM in areas of Prostitution and Trafficking. Annie Dieselberg
  • The Experiment in Integrated Mission – Business, Mission, and Social Transformation. Trev Gregory
  • The Mission of Business: CSR+. Mats Tunehag
  • Chickens, computers, and steel parts – Why business-based ministry is so effective. Matt in Asia
  • The Business as Mission Manifesto

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