Evantrepreneur?
e-van-tre-pre-neur [ih-van-truh-pruh-nur] n.
a person who uses business or other venture to share their faith in the marketplace
I was about twenty thousand feet in the air on my way to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. My brother and I were on our way to meet his father-in-law who was building an orphanage in a small town outside La Esperanza. As I sat there on the plane it was time to pull out the book I was reading and get some good reading time in! You know those moments were you do not want to be bothered, yet the title of my book caught the attention of my
neighbor, “Anointed for Business” by Ed Silvoso. “Is that a good book?”, he asked. That one question once again proved how God sets up divine appointments. You know those appointments that come out of the blue and you walk away saying “Wow! Wow! Let me throw in another…WOW!”. Come to find out through our conversation, this gentleman was a missionary! Yet he was not your inside the box missionary who went into the country with the title “missionary”, he did things a little different. So for the next forty-five minutes he shared with me this unique ministry. He goes into a country and works with the government to create business, and lays down the ground work for Christian business owners to invest in the country. At the same time he mentors Christian workers to be sent oversees as missionary/employess to work at these companies. Since many countries are beginning to close the doors to missionaries, they were using business as the means to transform people’s lives! The workers would come in and help build the company, while at the same time sharing their faith with the people they came in contact with!
Back in 2008 my school sent me to do a week’s training at Summit Ministries Apologetics Conference. It was in preparation for a class I was going to be teaching our seniors called, Understanding the Times, by Dr. David Nobel. It was an awesome week! If you ever have the chance of attending one of these week long sessions, it’s a must (click the link “Summit” for more info!). In talking with one of my classmates over dinner, the conversation of careers came up. He began to share with my table, what I believe is the next movement of God in the workplace. The gentleman (who I want to say was from Ohio) shared with us how he started a deli/soda shop in his town. His purpose was twofold. One to provide some income for his family, but the main reason was to create a place for young people to hang out. Get this…in the midst of building relationships with his customers, doors of opportunity opened up to share his faith. He prayed with his customers. He led people to Christ. It was a place where young people could hang out and give this gentleman and his wife an opportunity to share the hope of Christ with his community! It’s been a while since that conversation, I have lost contact with the gentleman, and I hope and pray that his business/ministry is thriving!
Evantrepreneurs in the Bible
Abraham: Businessman - Promised by God to be the father of many nations
Joseph: gov. official - saved Egypt from famine in Egypt
Daniel: gov. official - who oversaw other leaders of the land
Job: man of wealth
Nehemiah: cupbear - rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days!
Esther: queen - saved her people from dectruction
Paul: tent maker/philosopher -set up shop wherever he went at the
marketplace
Peter: fisherman - author and leader of the early church
John: fisherman - author and leader of the early church
James: fisherman - leader of the early church
Matthew: man of wealth - leader of the early church
Simon: political activist - leader of the early church
Luke: doctor - author and historian
Mark: man of wealth author
Lydia: wholesaler of fabrics - may have helped finance the early church
Dorcas: manufacture of garments - may have helped finance the early church
Aquila and Priscilla: tentmakers - may have helped finance the early church
Erastus: a city treasure
Ethiopian eunuch: treasure of the queen - believed to have been vital to taking Christianity to Ethiopia
It is kind of interesting that God would use a bunch of people, who were not your typical theologians to show His greatness and the Gospel of Christ to a generation. They were people with various gifts and I believe with a different “drive” to who they were. They were people who knew how to make things move! They were influential and had opportunities in the marketplace to share this new found hope through Christ! They were people who thought outside the box! They were entrepreneurs who knew how to make change! It was not easy for them. They knew the consequences of this new found faith (another lesson), yet they moved forward to make a living and be a blessing to others! My challenge to this next generation is to see outside the box of ordinary ministry and create opportunities that take the church out to the community! Business owners and the like who see themselves as evantrepreneurs to their generation!
Be blessed by a friend of mine as she sings a song which I believe is the prayer of every evantrepreneur out there!
I too am being challenged to be come an evantrepneur outside of my teacing position. In the last few weeks God has begun to open the door of opportunity in the business of weddings as former students are asking me to wed them. This new venture of officiating weddings is placing me in a marketplace where I can influence others to value marriage. Ideas are storming my mind and the possibilities of being a blessing to my family and others makes it even more exciting! If anyone needs an officiator let me know!!! (LOL) So allow me to repeat one last quote from Ed Silvoso and be challenged.
“Do not let your occupation block your destiny; instead, allow your destiny to shape your business by turning it into your ministry.”
His call. His gift to you. Your purpose. Irrevocable.
a person who uses business or other venture to share their faith in the marketplace
I was about twenty thousand feet in the air on my way to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. My brother and I were on our way to meet his father-in-law who was building an orphanage in a small town outside La Esperanza. As I sat there on the plane it was time to pull out the book I was reading and get some good reading time in! You know those moments were you do not want to be bothered, yet the title of my book caught the attention of my
neighbor, “Anointed for Business” by Ed Silvoso. “Is that a good book?”, he asked. That one question once again proved how God sets up divine appointments. You know those appointments that come out of the blue and you walk away saying “Wow! Wow! Let me throw in another…WOW!”. Come to find out through our conversation, this gentleman was a missionary! Yet he was not your inside the box missionary who went into the country with the title “missionary”, he did things a little different. So for the next forty-five minutes he shared with me this unique ministry. He goes into a country and works with the government to create business, and lays down the ground work for Christian business owners to invest in the country. At the same time he mentors Christian workers to be sent oversees as missionary/employess to work at these companies. Since many countries are beginning to close the doors to missionaries, they were using business as the means to transform people’s lives! The workers would come in and help build the company, while at the same time sharing their faith with the people they came in contact with!
Evantrepreneur
Back in 2008 my school sent me to do a week’s training at Summit Ministries Apologetics Conference. It was in preparation for a class I was going to be teaching our seniors called, Understanding the Times, by Dr. David Nobel. It was an awesome week! If you ever have the chance of attending one of these week long sessions, it’s a must (click the link “Summit” for more info!). In talking with one of my classmates over dinner, the conversation of careers came up. He began to share with my table, what I believe is the next movement of God in the workplace. The gentleman (who I want to say was from Ohio) shared with us how he started a deli/soda shop in his town. His purpose was twofold. One to provide some income for his family, but the main reason was to create a place for young people to hang out. Get this…in the midst of building relationships with his customers, doors of opportunity opened up to share his faith. He prayed with his customers. He led people to Christ. It was a place where young people could hang out and give this gentleman and his wife an opportunity to share the hope of Christ with his community! It’s been a while since that conversation, I have lost contact with the gentleman, and I hope and pray that his business/ministry is thriving!
Evantrepreneur
Evantrepreneurs in the Bible
Abraham: Businessman - Promised by God to be the father of many nations
Joseph: gov. official - saved Egypt from famine in Egypt
Daniel: gov. official - who oversaw other leaders of the land
Job: man of wealth
Nehemiah: cupbear - rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days!
Esther: queen - saved her people from dectruction
Paul: tent maker/philosopher -set up shop wherever he went at the
marketplace
Peter: fisherman - author and leader of the early church
John: fisherman - author and leader of the early church
James: fisherman - leader of the early church
Matthew: man of wealth - leader of the early church
Simon: political activist - leader of the early church
Luke: doctor - author and historian
Mark: man of wealth author
Lydia: wholesaler of fabrics - may have helped finance the early church
Dorcas: manufacture of garments - may have helped finance the early church
Aquila and Priscilla: tentmakers - may have helped finance the early church
Erastus: a city treasure
Ethiopian eunuch: treasure of the queen - believed to have been vital to taking Christianity to Ethiopia
It is kind of interesting that God would use a bunch of people, who were not your typical theologians to show His greatness and the Gospel of Christ to a generation. They were people with various gifts and I believe with a different “drive” to who they were. They were people who knew how to make things move! They were influential and had opportunities in the marketplace to share this new found hope through Christ! They were people who thought outside the box! They were entrepreneurs who knew how to make change! It was not easy for them. They knew the consequences of this new found faith (another lesson), yet they moved forward to make a living and be a blessing to others! My challenge to this next generation is to see outside the box of ordinary ministry and create opportunities that take the church out to the community! Business owners and the like who see themselves as evantrepreneurs to their generation!
The day you discover that you have a divine call along with the anointing and the jurisdiction to exercise it in the marketplace, God’s kingdom will begin to replace Satan’s in the heart of your city.
-Ed Silvoso
Be blessed by a friend of mine as she sings a song which I believe is the prayer of every evantrepreneur out there!
I too am being challenged to be come an evantrepneur outside of my teacing position. In the last few weeks God has begun to open the door of opportunity in the business of weddings as former students are asking me to wed them. This new venture of officiating weddings is placing me in a marketplace where I can influence others to value marriage. Ideas are storming my mind and the possibilities of being a blessing to my family and others makes it even more exciting! If anyone needs an officiator let me know!!! (LOL) So allow me to repeat one last quote from Ed Silvoso and be challenged.
“Do not let your occupation block your destiny; instead, allow your destiny to shape your business by turning it into your ministry.”
His call. His gift to you. Your purpose. Irrevocable.
Comments
Post a Comment