Albania, Land of the Eagles, Ancient Shqipëria: Lets do business

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By: Nora Hughes

The first time I flew into Albania, the German engineer sitting next to me said, “the plane will circle a couple of times because the runway isn’t really a runway it’s a collection of paving tiles so the pilot has to find the best way to land.” Sure enough, that is what happened. I found myself in the poorest country I had ever seen. Everything was broken, factories were destroyed, nothing could be purchased, not even a jar of jam. The year was 1993 and Albania had just overthrown its oppressive communist government and hoped to have a democracy. Albania was the North Korea of Europe – a Xenophobic dictator, totally closed to the outside world.

Trade: The Conduit of Ideas

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By Rob McArthur

Trade is not only the language of love but the conduit of ideas. In our case the knowledge of God.

Last week I was traveling. Unusually I picked up the in-flight magazine and read the catch line: ‘Good things happen when entrepreneurs are inspired by their travels’. The article went on to tell of an Australian coffee business set up to give a fair price to some East Timorese coffee growers who were being exploited. (wildtimorcoffee.com, p 50-51, Jetstar magazine February 2017).

Though not unique in our world, it made me think of the Moravians in Northern Labrador two centuries ago who set up businesses not only as powerful visual aids for their message but to challenge those who were exploiting the local population. (Danker p 75).

Let’s bring the Christian entrepreneur in from the cold and treat him or her with more respect than the size of their credit card. It’s time we learned from those who have trod this path before us that economic activities are of equal validity as educational or medical expressions in mission ( Danker 139).

Finishing Well

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How do Christian leaders encourage and lead their Christian staff when they are in a secular environment? We were sent this letter and have published it to share with you one woman’s solution – an end of the year letter.

A Letter from a Supervisor to her Christian Staff

Therefore, my beloved ‘sisters’, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain (1Cor 15:58 ESV)

As we come to the close of 2016, I am compelled to encourage each of you to not only close this year well, personally and professionally; but to look to the coming year with hope-filled anticipation of how the Lord will both use you, and especially grow you forward in faith and character as you execute your duties as mothers, daughters, sisters, friends… and employees.

THE BUSINESS IS THE MISSION?

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THE BUSINESS IS THE MISSION?

By Robert McArthur

The Year: 1758

The Month: April

The Situation: Sending thirty cash strapped Moravian Missionaries to Suriname

Additional Requirements: a shipment of stripped linen; and one Moravian, Jonas Paul Weiss, to do some hard thinking on economic activities in missions, articulate and pioneer this way of doing missions.

Long Term Results: Over two centuries of successful missionary commerce.

The Story: For the experienced businessman, Weiss, business offered as many opportunities for Christian witness as for profit.[1] His business brain and passionate missionary heart thus laid the foundation for what is now two centuries of missionary commerce.

Babylon vs. the Lamb

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We believe in capitalism: the economic system based on private ownership of the means of production. The owner of the capital who puts it to work can make a profit. Along with profit is the concept of private property, a voluntary exchange of labor and goods and competitive markets. When we look at the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 we can see that this is a system consistent with biblical principles.

However, when we talk about the Babylon model of business, which is widely practiced today, we are talking about something different. While this model is evident in the Bible, it is not a business model consistent with the character of God.

In the picture above, the Dutch renaissance artist, van Heemskerck pictured Babylon in a way that allows us to see how it relates to the normal life of today’s business: