Friday, January 14, 2011

From Little Mango Seeds ....


George joined me today after his trip to Rwanda. It is great to have him here and to brief him on progress to date. Tomorrow we are offering a one day seminar for BVA. Our focus will be threefold. First a review of the basics of what a business is and how to create a successful and sustainable enterprise. Second a deeper dive into marketing, from product definition, through channel strategy to communications,and finally a look at the importance of good financials and how good business decisions can only be made with a sound understanding of what's really going on in the operation. We have been busy for the last few hours putting together our presentations and we covet your prayers for the success of the day - that a good number of people would attend, and that we would be able to teach in a way that would lead to the ultimate improvement of the attendees businesses.

This morning I took a trip to meet Emmanuel. He is one of the original BVA folks and has also been a recipient of a loan from us. Emmanuel is an expert in growing mangoes. He grows seedlings, carefully grafting improved varieties of mango onto the root stock of the local mango varieties. It has long been his dream that he could build a mango juicing facility to provide the local farmers with a cash crop and to encourage mango growing in the region. However, this is a costly project, and so when I first visited Emmanuel in November of 2009, he had only been able to dig some ditches to mark the boundaries of the facility that he envisioned. My entry into his Welcome Book for that November visit reads "May God bless your vision". Today I stood among the construction of that facility! In ways that defy human logic, a Ugandan Government Agency has given Emmanuel enough money to build the production buildings,and in addition is being given a full set of equipment to begin juicing. The total value exceeds 1.1 billion Ugandan shillings ($500,000)!! God has indeed blessed his vision. The picture shows the work in progress. Emmanuel expects to be producing his first juice in May of this year. We spent the morning looking at the site and then talking through short-term implementation and start-up plans. He will need a lot of business help and we are looking forward to helping in all the ways we can. It is important for the region that this project becomes successful. This is the result of one man's dream, some encouragement through BVA and the intervention of The Holy Spirit. It gives a glimpse of what can be done here. Pray for Emmanuel.

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The Genesis of the 5810 Project

Vision

When Jesus was asked what was the most important command he answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your heart and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”

As a follower of Jesus, it is challenging to obey these commands, particularly with regard to my neighbors.
How can I love my neighbors? How can I love my neighbors in a global context? How can I love my neighbors who are struggling to thrive in developing countries?

The classic response of western Christians has been to “send”. Whether we send those that have been called to vocational ministry, or send money and resources to “give to the poor”, or occasionally send ourselves on short-term missions trips. Each of these has value, but is this enough? Is it effective? Is it all that God calls us to?

The questions become more complex when you consider that no matter how much money we have spent on the “war on poverty” over decades, the problem remains as acute as ever. We are not winning the war, even here in the US. Are there other approaches?

As I struggled with these ideas, I was led to consider Isaiah Chapter 58. Here God tells us what true fasting is – to loose the chains of injustice; to set the oppressed free; to share food with the hungry; and to provide the poor with shelter. Then verse 10 says “…if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday.”

“If you spend yourselves in behalf of others …….”

While we should send, we need to spend too.

What does it look like to spend ourselves?
For me I have been led to spend myself as follows:
• To go to a developing country, and to go repeatedly.
• To develop personal relationships with innovative leaders
• To use my own specific gifting and experience in business
• To find ways to move people out of the poverty cycle on a sustainable basis
• To invest money in parallel with my activities
• To share the love of Christ with my neighbor and to spend myself on their behalf.

5810 Project

The 5810 Project is predicated on the belief that while “teaching a man to fish” will provide him with a fish diet for a lifetime, it will not lead him out of poverty. To escape poverty people need to develop sustainable business activities. The 5810 Project’s vision is to provide an opportunity for business people from developed countries to share the love of Christ with their neighbor by “spending” themselves on behalf of others who are trying to build businesses and break the poverty cycle.

The 5810 Project is currently focused on two principal activities in Uganda.

Arua
Arua is a significant market town in the NW of Uganda, with Sudan to the north and Congo to the West. It is an agricultural market town that has grown because of government and NGO activity primarily in S. Sudan, but now increasingly in E. Congo. While the town has prospered and grown, the native Aruans have not enjoyed this economic boon.

Our efforts in Arua are centered on helping the church and Christian business people develop sustainable businesses.
We work with businesspeople to analyze the market situation in Arua, to offer training sessions, to encourage and mentor entrpreneurs and to invest in their businesses.

Kampala
Jesus Commissioned Ministries (“JCM”) is a church founded in 2000 serving three poor communities on the outskirts of Kampala. The leadership of JCM has a heart to reach the many underprivileged children in the communities it serves. Without education, there is little hope for these children to thrive. While education is available, the costs are prohibitive for most families. JCM has established Mercy Junior School (elementary) for these children. In addition to education, the children receive uniforms, food and school materials. The school currently has over 50 pupils in two Pre-K classes and Primary 1 (P1)and Primary 2 (p2) and is building classrooms for P3,4 & 5 for completion in the spring of 2011.

The 5810 Project has helped Mercy Junior School develop its rudimentary facilities and to buy a neighboring plot of land for expansion. We also advise the administrators of the school on business and education practices and have steered them through a process of becoming a fee-baseda significant drive to parent involvement and elevated educational standards and outcomes.

Opportunity
We believe that the 5810 Project offers a significant opportunity for the body of Christ:
• Grass roots opportunity to create sustainable businesses and deliver families and communities out of the oppression of poverty.
• Many business opportunities are apparent with relatively small investment levels necessary.
• Opportunities for talented business people to connect personally with emerging entrepreneurs and spend themselves on them.
• Opportunity for the body of Christ in the developed world to share the love of Christ with our neighbors in developing countries.
• Transformational impact on the “spender” and recipient alike!

If you would like to discuss this further, please contact me Andy Mills at amills@tkc.edu