Hands & Feet through Business
Social entrepreneurship - sometimes referred to as “business as missions” - invests in creative ideas and empowers Christian business people to be the hands and feet of Jesus through business. We believe that the role of business in ministry is to successfully balance profitability with investment in the spiritual health of the community. Traditionally, international missions has been organized through a church. But social entrepreneurship seeks to impact people through small businesses. The gospel is displayed to customers, employees, and others through the goods and services small business people provide, the relationships they build, and the causes they take on.
The most successful businesses are run by people who are passionate about their work and committed to providing the best product for their customers. Colossians 3:23 says “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” When business people live their faith, it permeates everything that they do, including things outside of traditional ministry and the church.
In Europe, our social entrepreneurship team is working hard to find opportunities to impact the community through business. Our two current projects are a Christian English language preschool and the management of Peña de Horeb camp in Spain. Both of these projects influence their communities in different ways.
We started the process of creating an international Christian preschool in Budapest by developing a solid business plan. With that business plan, OMS was able to raise over $1 million dollars to fund the project. In the last year, we have developed partnerships and worked with the local church to acquire a suitable property for our school, and things seem to be coming together. Lord willing, we will be able to begin the renovation of a newly acquired property within the year. Our business goals are to establish a state-of-the-art school that will provide high-quality Christian education in English. Our ministry goals are to establish a new community where we teach children and families about Jesus. Lastly, the money we make will be reinvested in English camp ministries for children all over Hungary. If you are interested in contributing to that, you can go here.
Our team is also working on managing the renovation and reorganization of the Peña de Horeb camp near Madrid Spain. It is our goal to create a sustainable business model at the camp so that we can expand our ministry and grow our presence in the surrounding communities. Sustainability will be achieved in two ways. First, by making sure we are managing the camp finances well, cutting costs, and achieving maximum occupancy in the summer months. Second, it is important to develop programs such as retreats and conferences throughout the off-season. Transitioning the camp from a summer camp to a year-round ministry center is essential for the financial stability of the camp. This fall we will begin renovations on the exterior of our largest bunkhouse. If you want to be part of the many teams that will be helping with this project, we will be recruiting teams through MFM, or you can contact our region here.
God has assembled a great team of missionaries in Europe who love business. We understand that without a good business plan, it is difficult to create sustainability in a project. Without proper planning and good management, a business as mission project can quickly become a drain on the organization and people involved. We have faith that with God’s guidance and our experience, we can create sustainable businesses with the ability to make significant investments in our community. Our passion for business and our yearning to share our faith is the engine of social entrepreneurship, and the income from our business will be the fuel that drives ministry in the community.
So please pray for us as we seek and develop opportunities to impact people in our region of Europe and the Middle East.
