by Os Hillman
Making a Difference in Thailand
Ross Bridgman, an Australian, was attending a business seminar in Thailand when he decided to take a break and walk around the streets. As he walked, he noticed a young boy begging for food and was struck by the fact that he was allowed to be alone on the streets. The little boy took him to his mother, who proudly announced, “My son gets a meal every two days.” Later, another woman approached him and offered to sell her two children for the equivalent of 25 dollars. Ross was deeply moved after seeing such desperate poverty. This, combined with a crisis that took place while he was in Thailand in which Ross almost lost his young daughter to an illness, made him rethink his priorities.
On his way back home to Australia, Ross was sitting in the airport when a man came over to introduce himself. Ross shared a little about the plight of the children in Thailand, and the man made a statement that he has never forgotten. “If you have a focus for people less fortunate than yourself, you will never go without a dollar.” What made the statement even more profound was because of who it came from—Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft.
When Ross returned home, he could not get the image of the children in Thailand out of his mind. He began to think about ways he could help them. At a seminar, he shared the dilemma of the Thai children with other business leaders and challenged them to consider the purpose for their lives. The attendees gave him $80,000 so he could return to Thailand and begin to change the conditions for these children.
During his return visit, Ross came up with a great idea to fund ongoing aid for orphans and to help people increase their business. Each day he left his hotel, he was approached by one or more tuk-tuk drivers (tuk-tuks are three-wheeled motorcycle taxis). There are about 1,000 tuk-tuks in Chiang Mai, a relatively small city, so competition was fierce. After a few days, he befriended one of the drivers who spoke some English and he learned about his business. Ross asked him if he would like to learn how to increase his revenue by incorporating some simple marketing strategies. The man said yes, so Ross explained that he would help this man at no charge if he would be willing to give 10 percent of the increase of his business to help fund the work with the orphans. The man readily agreed. Within a few weeks, his business increased fivefold, and he began contributing to the orphans. Today, that same model has been used to fund the care for over five hundred orphans in Thailand, India and China.
Hope for the City
Dennis and Megan Doyle are committed believers who own one of the largest commercial real estate companies in Minnesota. After noticing that many corporations had overstocks and overruns of merchandise and food that could be used to help the poor, they began to collaborate with corporations to get the excess goods for distribution through various ministries in the Minneapolis area, the nation and the world. The ministry, called Hope for the City, became so successful that in 2003 they gave away more than $100 million worth of goods. The ministry has given more than $300 million in the past three years.
Hope for the City partnered with four other Christian organizations to coordinate a large shipment of medical supplies to a communist country. They all met with the ambassador to the United Nations from the country, and after the meeting went to dinner and enjoyed each other’s fellowship. It was obvious that the ambassador was touched by the sense of unity he felt among the Christian groups that were trying to help his country. Brenda Kilber of Hope for the City finishes the story:
Less than a week later, upon returning home, we received word that the ambassador had written our partner on the east coast and expressed to him that he had not seen before the kind of cooperation and friendship between organizations like he saw while he was with us. Having witnessed that kind of love and sharing, he was convinced that our faith in Jesus Christ was real and subsequently decided to put his trust in Jesus Christ as his personal Savior as well. He also said that he was going to make a strong recommendation to the leader of his country that they should allow Christians from America to come and help their people.
His cousin just happens to be the president of his country. This testimony is a powerful reminder to us. As we go about our daily work, we need to remember that the world is watching. More than what we say, the world is noticing what we do—in relationships with others, in partnerships in our everyday work life. When they see us interacting with each other, may they notice a love and a unity that can only come from Christ.
German Automaker in Ukraine
As a student in 1971, Berthold Becker was converted from being a socialist activist to a disciple of the Lord Jesus. Shortly after completing his university education, Berthold decided he wanted to understand what it meant to experience God in his professional career. So, until 1986, he learned to walk with God at work in the automotive industry. Berthold testifies how God gave him many designs for cars that became their bestsellers. He was often referred to as the “prophet” among his non-Christian auto executives.
With his wife, Barbara, as his personal intercessor, Berthold left his career in the auto industry to begin many entrepreneurial Kingdom initiatives. One was launched in the Ukraine through an initiative called GfS (Gesellschaft für Strukturentwicklung). Berthold became active in many training, consulting and joint venture situations, helping Ukrainian business start-ups. During his travels there, he noticed the lack of good bread, and he decided to do something about it. He started small businesses using mobile bakeries that he bought from the Swiss Army. The German and Ukranian governments soon recognized that Berthold had been serving the nation through his business expertise and came alongside him to say, “You are doing it better than we can.” They started funding his enterprises, while his group remained in control of them.
Today, these enterprises (which include technology transfer and training centers for bread, meat and dairy products) have become a joint venture with a Ukrainian business group, operating successfully in the food industry.
Through stories like these, you can begin to see the new breed of Christian workplace leaders God is raising up today. Because we are all called to disciple the nations, God can use anyone to impact a nation. How might God want to use you in the days ahead? Are you willing to say yes to Him?
How About You?
1. In this chapter you learned that God is using workplace leaders to reach nations. Why do you think these people are able to be used by God in this way?
2. Name some ways your work might be used to make a difference in a nation.
CONCLUSION
THE POWER OF THE STAFF
It’s 6:30 A.M., and CEO Jonathan Cooper is driving to work to meet with a management group in his technology company in San Marco, California. His six-year-old business is a leader in technology, with several award-winning products to its credit. It is known industrywide for its quality products and superior customer service to its clients.
Jonathan is humming to himself as he drives. Although in many ways he looks like the other early-morning commuters rushing along the highway beside him, Jonathan is different. For one thing, on top of his briefcase on the seat next to him, improbably, there is a shepherd’s staff….
Yes, this staff is invisible to the casual observer, but Jonathan himself is aware of it as he drives to his office. Do you remember in chapter 1 how I described the significance of your staff? It is your God-empowered vocation, through which you can expect to influence your daily life in the working world. You don’t have to be a CEO to make a difference with your staff. Every working person has one, including students, stay-at-home moms and those enlisted in the military. Are you an administrative assistant, a retail clerk or a government worker? Are you reading this book on your lunch break from your janitorial duties? Are you a corporate executive, a small business owner, an anesthesiologist or a dairy farmer? You get the idea. Let’s return to Jonathan to see some “staffs at work”—not only his but also those of his employees.
Jonathan has already spent an hour and a half in prayer and Bible study in his home office
. Arriving at the office after a 40-minute drive, he goes immediately to a room that has been designated as the worship and war room. Furnished with several comfortable chairs and couches as well as a conference table, the room is more like a living room than a boardroom. Here, every morning, employees gather for worship and prayer. Prayer topics range from personal concerns to new ideas that will help the business to requests for wisdom in operating the business from a godly perspective. The employees pray for customers and suppliers— and even for their competitors.
Jonathan calls his business a Kingdom business, and the 15 to 25 people who gather with him this morning agree. As he enters the room, music from the high-tech sound system greets him. Several others have already arrived and are on their knees in prayer or singing and worshiping God.
“Brothers and sisters,” Jonathan begins, “please be in prayer for our new product development team who is seeking the Lord’s direction for our new PocketPhone, a new half-dollar-size technology device that is designed to make people more mobile, allowing them to communicate hands-free. It clips onto your clothing and has a wireless microphone. If successful, it will replace the cell phone. The project manager got the idea for this project two months ago during our 6:30 A.M. prayer gathering. Some intercessors told us that they felt God was going to give the company a new innovative product that will transform the cellular phone industry.”
It’s now 8:00 A.M., and the company staff meeting is about to begin. Jonathan sits at the conference room table with the other members of his team. To his left is Jenny, a former IT director who now spends more time praying for the company than doing IT work. Jonathan recognized her gifting and insight during a time of difficult transition for the company. Often, she would come to him with thoughts she gained while interceding for the company. She had an extraordinary ability to confirm the decisions he was making, as it related to a particularly volatile time in the company.
Recognizing Jenny’s value to the company, Jonathan created a new position for her: corporate intercessory director. Now, as the leader of a team of company intercessors, much of her time is spent praying for God’s agenda for the company, for employees and clients, for other businesses in the city and for their city at large.
When asked about the unorthodox idea of having someone on staff who is paid to pray, Jonathan responded, “Funding the office of corporate intercessory director is the best investment I have ever made. The Lord has used Jenny to warn us of relationships that could have seriously derailed what we are doing. One time, we were involved in negotiations with a potential technology partner. Even though Jenny knew nothing about the negotiations, she was able to warn us that the company was not all that they portrayed themselves to be. We were able to close down negotiations and save time and money. I figure Jenny has saved our company hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last two years.
“Let me make this very clear: we do not use our intercessory team as seers. They are not crystal-ball gazers, but people who have a strong calling to prayer and a deep intimacy with the Lord that enables them to hear His voice clearly. However, it’s not enough to have only them praying. I myself have a personal responsibility to intercede and seek God’s direction on a daily—if not hourly—basis. Things work best when I’m faithful in that regard. I use the intercessor’s reports to confirm the direction in which I’ve already sensed the Lord leading.”
Now let’s meet the rest of the management team. In addition to Jenny, there are seven people gathered around the table this morning; they are commonly known as the 411 Committee. Several years ago Jonathan’s pastor taught on the five-fold ministry gifts found in Ephesians 4:11 and suggested that these gifts were applicable in the workplace as well as inside the local church. He encouraged Jonathan to put a leadership team in place that represented these five giftings. So, Jonathan began to identify those in his company who represented the office of apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher and evangelist.
Jonathan observed that as president, he modeled the traits of an apostle. At first that sounded weird to him. Me, an apostle? he thought. However, upon further study he learned that the word “apostle” simply means “sent one.” Apostles often equate to entrepreneurs in the marketplace who have the vision and drive to start things. They lay new foundations just as the Early Church apostles did. He realized that was how he was wired; it was his spiritual DNA.
Jonathan could see the gift of a prophet operating in the company CFO, as he often forewarned the others about issues of which they should be mindful. The CFO had never thought of himself in these terms, but when Jonathan pointed out how he was already operating in the gifting, the CFO was encouraged to learn more about the role of the prophet. He learned that there were a number of variations of this gift, that there is an “office” of prophet and a “gift” of prophecy, and that the Bible says we are all encouraged to prophesy. As the CFO developed his understanding of this gifting, Jonathan saw how wonderfully it complemented his role at the company.
It did not take Jonathan long to realize that Bill, the company’s sales director, probably had the gift of an evangelist. Bill often reported at meetings how the Lord had opened doors for him to have a conversation with someone about Christ. He had personally led more people to the Lord than anyone else in the company. It seemed to come so easy for him. In a way, it made sense: evangelist = salesman. So, whenever Jonathan does anything in the company that has an outreach focus to reach the lost, Bill is always front and center.
Janice is the company’s marketing director. As Jonathan watched her operate, he realized that she probably had the gift of teacher. She is a great presenter of information and has an ability to cut right through to the core of the matter. She knows PowerPoint like the back of her hand. She makes the company look good in presentation meetings. She is detailed and does not like things to be out of order. She is a perfectionist to the nth degree. She leads a Bible study in the office and at her church. She also trains many of their employees about their corporate culture. People appreciate her professionalism. All these attributes of a teacher added up to “Jan.” She could utilize her particular “staff” as she exercised her responsibilities for the marketing process in the company and for the corporate training.
Gerald is the human resources manager in the company. Following in the footsteps of his father, who was a successful engineer, Gerald had graduated from college with a degree in engineering. However, after a few years working as a mechanical engineer, his employer had fired him. Gerald had been like a ship without a sail when he met Jonathan at their church, and they became friends. Jonathan had listened to Gerald as he described working with many people from the church who were out of work. He seemed to have compassion for these people and was often a source of encouragement to them. Jonathan suggested that Gerald take a spiritual gifts test that was offered by his company’s human resources department. Just as he thought, Gerald’s results showed he was a pastor through and through. He began to talk with him about a career in human resources. Gerald loved people and loved helping them find their place. Now Gerald plugs people into the right place in the company and helps them become successful. He pastors the company and its employees in an ongoing way.
So, there you have it. The five-fold ministry is operating in Jonathan’s high-tech company. He believes they have a solid spiritual foundation for all they are doing and he can attest that his company runs more smoothly than most churches he knows.
Jonathan credits his pastor and a local workplace ministry for helping him to understand and make these paradigm shifts in his work life. He receives a daily e-mail devotional made available through his church that encourages him and others to take their faith to the marketplace. They even have a church website with articles and resources for those in the workplace. He considers his pastor to be very progressive. In fact, he has never heard of any other church doing what his church does. They regularly have people share testimonies on Sunday about how God worked in their lives at their jobs
that week. He has received training in his church on how to apply the Bible in specific workplace situations. He has also been asked to be on a focus group with the pastors to help the church leadership know how to break down the Word of God for application in work life situations. Often, their church has drama presentations that demonstrate ways to live out their faith at work. This church is involved in city transformation efforts and is part of a local coalition of churches.
Now back to the meeting. There are two others sitting around the table this morning. One is Jim, who works in the shipping department, but who also fulfills a much different role for the company.
Jonathan had attended a workplace conference not long ago in which a speaker urged business owners to get involved in city transformation, telling them that the pastors and churches could not achieve it alone without the broad-based involvement of the marketplace ministries. Jonathan began to pray about this and to take this exhortation to heart. Hearing that a group of pastors, marketplace ministries and intercessors were meeting on a regular basis for the purpose of transforming the city of San Marco, he decided to go and check it out.
Over time, as Jonathan sat quietly in the meetings and listened to the pastors’ passion for their city, he began to get to know them. Occasionally, a need arose that Jonathan knew how to meet. It was not usually a financial need, but rather a technology issue that he knew how to solve for them. As time went on, this happened more and more. The pastors began to see Jonathan’s contributions as more than just financial, and he became their friend and ally. Finally, the pastors embraced him because of his servant heart. For his part, Jonathan came to realize that pastors had a hard job and were often unappreciated, especially since they were expected to serve so many roles in their churches that they could not effectively lead at times.