The Navigator’s calling is simple yet very profound,​

​The last part has an interesting word: “living”. To some this would mean “where you live”, yet I believe it has bigger implications. I believe this word means “your entire life” or “as you live”. If this is the case then we are to be making disciples where we live, where we play, and even where we work. Every part of life.
 
I began my journey of discovering God in the workplace as I was graduating college. Perfect timing. The commands were quite clear in the Bible: to work heartily as unto the Lord and to do everything for the glory of God  (Ephesians 6:5-8 and Colossians 3:22-24). The lost were all around me, so I had no problem believing Jesus when he said the harvest was plentiful. The longer I work (which I’ll admit has not been very long) the more God teaches me about following him in every aspect of my life, even work.

​When I went to the Entrepreneurial Readiness Workshop (ERW) I didn’t really know what to expect. I didn’t have a business idea ready or even have one brewing. Not a feasible one, anyway. Yet I know now that God used that workshop to teach me more about himself. And I don’t have to start a Missional Enterprise to put what I learned into practice!

The triple bottom line is foundational to running a successful Missional Enterprise. Yet this same triple bottom line has the ability to inform everyone’s work from a corporate job to an entrepreneurship. 

While I don’t know where God is leading me in regards to starting a Missional Enterprise or joining an existing one yet, I am already able to apply lessons from the ERW to my current workplace. How will you bring glory to God in every aspect of your life? 

On the first weekend of October, 22 aspiring missional entrepreneurs descended on the Springs for an intense weekend. Each Entrepreneurial Readiness Workshop (ERW) is designed to teach and equip participants on impacting the nations through business and other missional enterprises.
 
The ERW moves at the speed of a startup. On Saturday alone many participants invested full 14-hour days learning and preparing for their team’s Sunday missional enterprise proposal. On Sunday an experienced panel reviewed all the teams’ proposals and announced a winner. In the meantime attendees learned, laughed and discovered more deeply how God may be asking them to reach the nations in a sometimes chaotic entrepreneurial context (click on video here).
 
ERW organizer, Jennifer of the gendesk.org, says that a Nav alumna who attended the previous ERW was so excited about the event that she brought several friends along to the October ERW.  “It was the best Nav event I’ve ever attended,” she said the EDGEr.
 
Let us know if you or someone you know would like to find out more about the ERW and missional enterprise as a pathway to the nations. We are tentatively planning future ERWs for New York City, Minneapolis and College Station.

-- NavMissions Communications Director

Our goal is to propel entrepreneurial teams as integrated and holistic lifelong laborers in business start-ups around the world.  The Entrepreneur Readiness Workshop (ERW) is the first step to prepare for ministry as a Navigator missional entrepreneur.  Missional enterprise is the Navigator’s Business as Mission (BAM) context to living out our calling.     
 
ERW Details:
September 30 – October 2, 2016
Navigator HQ in Colorado Springs, CO
More info and Registration at www.gendesk.org/erw
 
This workshop is for you if any of these apply to you...

• Seriously thinking about opening your own business either internationally or in a US cross-cultural context…  
• Desire to make holistic Kingdom and social impact where God is calling you...
• Passionate for the nations and realize that non-traditional missions is necessary for the future of global missions… 
• A college senior or 20s with an eye toward exploring missional enterprise in the next 5 or 10 years…

 
FAQ:

• Should I come if I don’t know how to start a business or have business experience?  Yes, this workshop is geared to helping both those with some business salve and others with little experience.  You will be teamed together to uniquely utilize your strengths just like on an entrepreneurial team.  Actually, some of the best entrepreneurs are those who currently don’t know anything about business.
• After the workshop, what’s next?  The ERW should give you a good sense of “missional enterprise is great, but I could never imagine myself doing this…” or “I could see myself as part of a team.”  In either case, you’ll have an opportunity to reflect on whether or not missional enterprise is for you.  If so, we have a team who can walk with you through next steps here in the US or somewhere internationally.      
• How certain do I need to be about serving internationally?  The ERW is meant to be a starting point.  You may still be 5-10 years out from moving around the world, possibly.  There is no need to commit to a timeline or location just yet.  Although we discuss international contexts, missional enterprises can even be started in the US.  The Navigator’s I-58, Nations Within and NavMissions already have missional enterprises.

 
Where are they now?
ERW Alumni are currently starting new ventures around the world in places like Latin America, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, and the US.   

NavMissions designed the ERW around the integrated life—where God’s design and calling for each of us meets.  We believe there needs to be a destruction of the sacred-secular divide and fresh building of the integrated laborer, especially in the unreached "9-5 Window" (the workplace).

​The ERW promotes a vision for new mission frontiers for those who don't feel led into a pure gift-income role.  One goal of the ERW is to see if anyone fits the mold of an international cross-cultural laborer.  But the vision is much broader than international service and we hope to see many people starting or influencing businesses here in our NavCities with a focus beyond a financial bottom line.  Kingdom values expressed through the triple bottom line will create a missional enterprise context for our calling in the U.S. and around the world. 

Twenty below is not the kind of weather you want to be exposed to for very long while visiting Fargo, ND.  Twenty Below Coffee is the type of coffee you want to keep putting into your cup when you are there.

Ty and Elisha, ERW alumni, are pursuing a start-up in Fargo, ND.  They participated in the Spring 2014 Entrepreneurial Readiness Workshop.  The business is Twenty Below Coffee and they are planning to open their doors on April 11, 2015.  Their business is planted in the heart of the city and built on the ideas of – Community, Coffee, and Customers.

The business is composed of several different components, all of which include excellently roasted speciality coffee!  Locally, they are roasting, delivering and shipping beans before the store opens.  They are also being tagged as the go-to coffee provider in several gatherings around town.

We received a sample pack of different blends from the "pre-production roast" in the office and we're pleasantly surprised at the smooth quality of the coffee.  How could we go back to Starbucks now...  We now know they have upped their game since then and look forward to tasting some of the fresh blends soon.
  
As they close their founding members drive this week, it will be exciting to see how they live out their passion for the welfare of the city.  Check out their heart for coffee and Fargo:    

By the way, we are drinking the Ethiopian blend right now.  Enjoy! 

Coaching can move good leaders to great leaders. Coaches facilitate, challenge, endorse, and empower others to do their best and accomplish their goals. Coaching is powerful because the process provides structure, feedback, and accountability. 

A good coach is able to facilitate a shift in a leader’s knowledge and behavior. How? - by specifically tailoring the coaching around a person’s work experiences, current challenges, while always keeping a focus on the leader’s future desired outcome. 

Introduction to Coaching Course – The Global Enterprise Network is offering a short course in Business Coaching at the ERW on October 10-12. This is an amazing opportunity to learn the basics of coaching from a couple experienced professional executive coaches.  

Learn what coaching is and is not. Learn the basics of coaching and practice with your peers. Learn when coaching is the best method to use.

What will I get? – Knowledge, practice, increased skill, and confidence!

The “Introduction to Coaching” course will cover 5 foundational aspects of coaching:

• Biblical Foundations for Coaching 
  
• Paradigm Shifts necessary for coaching
  
• Spectrum of Competencies and when to use them
  
• Learn a Coaching Model that works
  
• Practice with your peers
  

We are excited that many people have been asking about future ERWs.  The next Entrepreneurial Readiness Workshop (ERW) is October 10-12, 2014 in Colorado Springs, CO.  We will introduce newly refined content and a coaching track this October.  For more information, visit the ERW page for details, testimonials, and video.  

Registration begins August 1, 2014.  

If you would like to be added to the ERW invite list, please contact us or send an email to [email protected].     

Thirty aspiring entrepreneurs recently participated in the Global Enterprise Network’s (GEN) Entrepreneur Readiness Workshop at the end of February 2014.  Participants consisted of college juniors and seniors, recent graduates, 20-30s, and several experienced practitioners who came from many different disciplines including nursing, engineering, art, history, and business backgrounds.  The intense weekend consisted of Biblical foundations, case studies, team building activities, personal coaching sessions, and a cross-cultural business simulation.  

Participants jumped in Friday evening with sessions that would help them become a better team member by learning about themselves and others.  Bill, a recent college graduate, said, “The way I process and function is different from others, but not bad.  In fact, I can add something to the business planning and team.”

Throughout Saturday, participants weighed in on missional enterprise best practices, reviewed current cross-cultural businesses and the Triple Bottom Line (economic profitability, social impact, and spiritual transformation) before getting their hands dirty with the team simulation.  “The workshop gave me a clear vision for being a blessing to the nations through a business… focusing on how to use my life as a living example of the Gospel.”   

As the weekend wrapped up on Sunday, Bill had a sense that “I could actually see this happen.”  It is clear that missional enterprise is not for everyone.  But missional enterprise is for those who would like to use their passions and gifting to bring the gospel to the lost and hurting of the world in a holistic way. 

The GEN movement has Christ as the center and the core values of excellence, continual learning, and intentional team collaboration to meet field needs.

“There are other people with a heart for this out there that God is blessing with success.  I am not alone in this [calling]!”  

The Global Enterprise Network (GEN) exists to unleash the transforming power of the gospel into the nations through an ever expanding global network of Navigator missional enterprises.  The ERW is the first step in developing long-term Missional Entrepreneurs who impact the hardest places of the world for Christ through missional enterprise.

It is exciting to see the passion and enthusiasm for reaching the nations through business and help launch this next generation of Missional Entrepreneurs!  If you would like to explore if you “could actually see this happen,” join us October 10-12, 2014 in Colorado Springs for the next ERW.  We would like to come alongside as you explore the next steps in impacting the world for Christ with your work.  Contact us to join the invite list! 

~ GEN Desk