​What are you dreaming about these days?  Does it seem like an impossible task?  Is it a big dream that you could give your life to?  Then maybe that dream is from God!  Two years ago, Navigator Ralph Gatti began to dream about having a L´Abri type of center in Central Europe that could be a think-tank for the Global Enterprise Network (GEN), the Navigators expression of business as mission, where interested entrepreneurs from around the world could come and dream about how to carry out the great commission in the marketplace where they live.  It seemed an impossible dream.  It would require all the Navigators in a city coming together to support such a center, hosting visitors from around the world. It would mean putting together a robust curriculum of the current thought in the business as mission movement while still holding true to the Navigators vision, mission and core.  And of course, it would take financial support to get the center up and running. Could such a dream become a reality?
 
Thankfully, God is into the impossible. The Agathe Center for Entrepreneurship, just an idea in the hearts of our Navigator family in Central and Eastern Europe over the last eighteen months, is now “open for business” in Bratislava, Slovakia.  The Agathe Center is a ministry of the Navigators dedicated to serving committed laborers from around the world who want to advance the kingdom of God through missional enterprise.  The founders of the Agathe Center believe that businesses should not only make a profit, but also change society for good. That is why it is called the Agathe Center for Entrepreneurship - in Greek, "Agathe" means "Good".   The mission is to provide holistic support to existing and aspiring entrepreneurs as they know Christ and make Him known.

​Bratislava, Slovakia was chosen as it has been a focal point for missional enterprise over the past twenty-five years.  There are experienced practitioners to draw upon, as well as good business examples in the city to study in order to understand what a missional enterprise should look like.  God, in His goodness, has also brought together a great international team and provided a space well-equipped to meet the needs of the center.  Those who serve at the Agathe Center are convinced that an enterprise should hold in creative tension the priorities of a triple bottom line: financial sustainability, social impact, and spiritual transformation.  The center services include mentoring and coaching, trainings and seminars, as well as intensive immersion experiences that involve spending extended time with the Agathe team.  You can read more about each of these services at the Agathe Center website.  The goal is to make personalized, individualized training and consulting available at no charge to entrepreneurs intent on advancing the Kingdom of God through business and social enterprise platforms. 
 
If you or someone you know would like to know more about utilizing the Agathe Center’s services, you can engage with Agathe through the website to start the process. The Agathe Center is now ready to receive “clients” and begin the in-depth work of helping young and aspiring missional entrepreneurs build businesses that advance the Kingdom.  Whether the enterprise has already been launched, or is still just a dream, the Agathe Center can help move it forward to the next level.  “Come and See” what God has done and how He will use the Agathe Center to advance His Kingdom around the world.  God has accomplished what Ralph dared to ask or even dream of, and He has done the work infinitely far beyond Ralph´s highest prayers, desires, thoughts or hopes.

What dream is God laying on your heart today?

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? 

Can sweet, organic honey impact the world for Christ and advance our calling into the nations through spiritual generations of laborers living and discipling among the lost?  Is that even possible?  Just have a quick conversation with smiling Paul from West Africa, and you will say a resounding “yes!”  Paul and his wife, Mary, have an exciting ministry with the farmers of their country.  Paul was burdened for the rural poor who had little means of income, including a way to pay for their children´s schooling.  In central West Africa, where there are consistent attacks by cattle herdsmen (the remaining active arm of a militant group) on the poor villagers, the possibilities are scarce. As Paul thought and prayed about how to reach these people for Christ and disciple them, he was guided by the philosophy: “Don´t give them fish.  Don´t only teach them how to fish.  Go fishing with them.”  That makes sense to us as Navigators as we walk with people through life, but how could he do this in rural Africa? 

One day, after a visit to a beekeeper in Zambia, God gave Paul an idea about beehives.  If he could provide beehives to people in the rural villages and let the bees make honey, he could then buy the honey from the people and sell it for a profit.  This would create a business that was financially sustainable that could also fund the ministry in the future.  If he could organize the villagers into beehive groups, where they could watch over their beehives and be accountable to each other, and if these beehive groups could also double as savings groups that provide a forum for them to save their money, loan it among themselves to start or grow enterprises, and pay their children’s school fees, this would create a business that was having a great social impact.  And if he could share stories of Christ in their regular beehive groups, trusting in the Holy Spirit´s work in each heart to bring the person to faith in Him, this business would have a transformational spiritual impact.  Thus, the Honey Value Chain Experience was born with grants to Paul from two Navigator sources:  the British Navs for the honey processor, and NavPartners Children Mission for the beehives.  He began his business under the care of the Africa Navigator Global Enterprise Network (GEN).
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Paul and Mary serve together in this endeavor as they wrestle through ways to protect the beehives from theft (deciding to give the people the beehives for free), to wrestling through ways to ensure that there is a spiritual generational impact.  They carefully watch and pray that the Gospel is shared in a natural way as discipleship is taking place. They have mobilized 233 villagers and are working with them in two groups. Forty-five of these people have either started or are growing their enterprises in West Africa. Five young people are also being discipled and have been trained as apicultural technicians. They have also now trained the six group leaders with Insider skills to be leaders in this transformational ministry. Paul says that the Gospel is shared more frequently now and better understood by the rural people. He and Mary are excited about how God is using sweet, organic honey and His powerful Word to transform lives and advance the Gospel of Jesus and His Kingdom into the Nations.  His Word is going forth, and it is good!

Does capitalism promote greed?  Are capitalism and altruism incompatible?
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These are questions Dr. Peter Heslam, Director of Transforming Business at the University of Cambridge, discusses in his article, “Capitalism – is greed its creed?” Heslam concludes that greed is a heart problem, not a problem with capitalism.  Capitalism, it seems, is an opportunity to express greed.  Although his short article does not answer if capitalism is based on greed, Heslam provides some historical and Biblical perspectives on greed and the need for trust and serving others for markets to work.

Read the full article at the Transforming Business website.