Partners Worldwide Conference

Grand Rapids, Michigan

October 2-4, 2008

The goal of Christian literacy of the word should be to equip everyday disciples to overcome their sense of disempowerment and denial in order to engage in the work of mercy and service, advocacy, community-building and social reconstruction.”

Ched Meyer, The Clergy Journal

Who Is PWW: The mission of PWW is about Christian business people transforming lives and reducing poverty around the world, through job creation and mentoring.

Conference Attendees: 350 people, including international partner associates from 22 countries, and business men and women, as well as church and community representatives from 18 states in the U.S.

The Center For Sharing sent a delegation of 4, including: Glenn Cross, Jack Moffett, Roberto Matus from Sunnyside, and Cheryl Broetje. Roberto and Cheryl presented a talk during one of the 5 general sessions, and Roberto gave a power-point breakout session on cross-cultural servant leadership.

“Over the past century the center of gravity in the Christian world has shifted southward, to Africa, Asia and Latin America…if we want to visualize a typical contemporary Christ, we should think of a woman living in a village in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favela…” Philip Jenkins.

And, even in this worst financial melt-down in the last generation, U.S business people are still in command of nearly 40% of the world’s financial resources as well as vast storehouses of knowledge, experience and wisdom that entrepaneurial hopefuls around the world desperately need if they are to achieve success.

PWW believes that God is working most powerfully today, through the marketplace rather than the institutional Church. For example, business engages people for 40 hours per week, while the average pastor engages them for 2 hours! Furthermore, business people do not and cannot lose contact with non-Christians in the marketplace! For many church-based leaders, over time, they lose most non-Christian contacts.

Therefore, the call is for Christian business men and women to see their work as God’s specific calling on their lives for kingdom building! NGO’s are simply not enough to lift countries out of poverty. Christian business can as they put faith into action:

FAITH:            Firmly rooted in God

                         Active, discipled life

                         Involved in the business of the Kingdom

                         Transformed into Christ-likeness

                         Heart for the world

But…how do we become the most effective partners when dealing with culture, values and business practices? We begin with friendship! We “stay for tea”! While we in the West have learned how to work with financial capital, we need to learn from our international friends about the value of relational capital.

One of the most hopeful presentations we heard was presented by Jason Fairmont, who spoke on: Creating Business Strategies to address Poverty. His life was changed through being able to save a baby who was near death due to Malaria, by paying 10 cents for the medication. His passion centers around micro-franchising. Fairmont, an author, activist, international speaker and professor at BYU says that while 8 of 10 businesses fail in their first year in the U.S, 8 of 10 franchises succeed in developing countries. (72% of Africans work in the informal sector.)

Here’s how it works: they identify an entrepaneur to develop the first business, such as selling eyeglasses, milk, honey, rabbits, etc….and when that business is going well, they help identify people who are good at managing resources, to receive a franchise from the first business. They must put 10% of sales into savings. The businesses are turn-key. For example, milk can be delivered on the back of a bicycle. Milk is purchased in the morning, funds received purchase new milk purchased as needed. It is possible to pay off the bicycle in one week!

He wrote a book entitled: Where There Are No Jobs. We intend to purchase some copies of that book, and send them to our associates through the servant leadership networks that are being developed in Mexico, Kenya and Philippines.

While in Grand Rapids, we were invited to visit a for-profit company associated with PWW, Innotec, which is owned by a Christian family. The business they started 14 years ago has now become 16 companies, owned by people they gave an opportunity to grow, doing things they felt they could not do well at the time, such as trucking, for example. And, they agreed to the practice of shared values through their businesses. When those 60 trucks pick up or deliver goods, for example, the driver must do two nice things for someone while there, such as picking up garbage, or complimenting someone for the service they are providing. It’s such a simple thing, but the ripple effects on society are huge!

Verna Dozier, who wrote a book we use in our courses, The Dream of God, says this:

Ministry is being about God’s business. Ministry is participating in God’s dream of a good creation, and Jesus is the model. Do you want to follow Jesus? Or are you content just to worship him, and postpone for just a little longer, the fulfillment of the dream of God?