The devastation of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 12, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (and the 49 magnitude 4.5 or greater aftershocks) is heart-wrenching. The pictures of the damage… of the hurt and suffering experienced by the people there… of the chaos of a massive world effort to provide the basics: emergency care and medicine, food, shelter, security… are haunting. (Click the following links to see pictures from January 13th , January 18th, January 22nd, and February 1st. WARNING: the images are graphic.)

According to a Jan 19, 2010 USAID Fact Sheet, at least 65,000 people are estimated to have died. Another 200,000 people have been displaced and the total population who has been significantly affected is approximately 3 million people. The global response to this crisis has been amazing. As of February 3, 2010, $644 million has been contributed to private non-profit organizations from US citizens (source: Washington Post). This is only part of the total world effort. Organizations like the American Red Cross, World Vision, and Compassion International have mobilized their base and are just some of the organizations contributing to the on-the-ground efforts.

Despite the tremendous magnitude of these first-response efforts, the road to recovery is going to be long and difficult. The challenges facing the country prior to the earthquake were great. The country is the only country in the Western Hemisphere (North America, South, Central, and Latin Americas and the Caribbean) on the U.N.’s list of the World’s 50 least developed countries¹ (source: UN-OHRLLS). According the the CIA World Fact Sheet, 80% of the population of Haiti live below the poverty line. Additionally the country is plagued by drug trafficking and human (both forced labor and sex) trafficking.

The need in Haiti is great.

The lives of the men, women and children there were hard before January 12th. They’re even harder now. They face threats and hardships every day that we are isolated from. Things you and I can not even imagine. Hope for progress has suffered a major set back. Before people were struggling to make the most of their existence given how little they had to rely on and work with. Now what little they had has been destroyed.

As I sit and write this I don’t have to think about where my next meal is going to come from or where I’m going to sleep tonight. I do worry about the safety of my family but the threats I imagine are exactly that: imagined. Although it’s tenuous these days, I still am fairly sure the bills will get paid. I’m confident that there is work to be had.

Not only that but I live in a world where the things I need and want, the conveniences of life, are available. To get to work this morning I had a car to drive, roads to drive on, and gas to power the car. My computer is plugged into the wall, I don’t think twice about whether the lights will turn on when I flip the switch. Not only is there going to be plenty of food at the grocery store but there is a store to go to! There is food on the shelves because there is this amazing infrastructure that connects the farms from around the world to processing and packaging facilities to distribution centers to stores. And I don’t see any of it, I just trust that food will be there.

The message of the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37 ESV) is that we are to love our neighbor. Our neighbor is identified any person we meet on our path who is in need. We are to show mercy to those in need.

But what is interesting is that the Samaritan shows mercy in two phases. First he bandages his wound and brings him to shelter — he tends to his most immediate needs with compassion. But what he does next is even more amazing (the importance of this is often lost): he invests in continued care and rehabilitation.

³³But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’

See, he doesn’t bring him to the inn and drop him at the door. No, it explicitly states that the Samaritan “took care of him” at the inn. It is after this intense investment of caring for the man himself that the Samaritan make additional provision for continued care, making a down payment with the innkeeper and promising to return and pay for whatever the man needs.

How are we planning to invest in continued care for Haiti?

There are a number of ways to do this, but I want to highlight two in particular that must be a priority.

First, it is important that we build up the Church in Haiti.

Whatever your views on the spiritual history of Haiti, the people of that country are utterly and completely in need of Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord just as you and I are. And it is local churches — proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom of God, caring for the physical and spiritual needs of the people, and coordinating and leading people to live their lives as children of God — that the love and redemption of Christ will flow through.

I want to draw your attention to Churches Helping Churches, an organization founded by James MacDonald and Mark Driscoll to “address the immediate and long-term needs of churches when disaster befalls a country, region, city, or people in the spirit of Galatians 6:10—“…let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” If you are interested in how you or our church can support local churches in Haiti, I highly recommend you check out Churches Helping Churches.

Second, it is important that we build up infrastructure in Haiti.

This means investing in the physical structures, services, and facilities necessary for the Haitian economy to develop. Recent studies have argued that foreign aid doesn’t work. At the same time, a lot of attention has been given to the role business plays in developing economies. In recent years, Christian business men and women have been leveraging the power of business in order to spread the Gospel in countries whose governments are hostile toward Christian missionaries. The global Business as Mission movement has developed as more and more people are awakening to how God can use their business talents as part of his redemptive plan.

Haiti needs Business as Mission companies now more than ever.

The need and opportunity to develop creative business solutions to many of the problems facing the people of Haiti is great. If you believe that this is a way that you can get involved I want to encourage you to do something. I wish I could point you to specific ways that you could help but I don’t know of any right now. Many organizations are rightfully focused on meeting the immediate needs in Haiti. But as the dust settles our efforts must not lose momentum.

To help spark ideas about potential business opportunities I’ve include some facts about Haiti below. These factors will help identify what opportunities for business exist  in Haiti. Obvious needs are infrastructure and construction. Additionally, the Haitian people will need resources to get back on their feet, so opportunities for micro-finance might exist. I’ve also included quality of life statistics in the hopes it might spark some ideas about opportunities to address some of the less critical issues facing the people there.

If you or your organization are serious about engaging in Business as Mission, I offer a number of services that will help you develop an appropriate Business as Mission strategy and maximize the impact of your efforts. You can contact me through my company website: http://www.unconventionalmethod.com/contact/.

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Facts about Haiti

source: originally published at The Resurgence; Data from the CIA’s World Fact Book

Location and Size

Caribbean, western one-third of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of the Dominican Republic (which is two-thirds of the eastern side of Hispaniola). The terrain is mostly rough and mountainous.

17,243 sq miles (slightly smaller than Maryland).

Natural resources

bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble, hydropower

Agriculture products

coffee, mangoes, sugarcane, rice, corn, sorghum; wood

Industries

sugar refining, flour milling, textiles, cement, light assembly based on imported parts

Labor force

agriculture: 66%
industry: 9%
services: 25% (1995)

shortage of skilled laborers, abundance of unskilled laborers
widespread unemployment and underemployment; more than two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs
80% of the population is below the poverty line

Population

9,035,536

Age structure

0-14 years: 38.1% (male 1,735,917/female 1,704,383)
15-64 years: 58.5% (male 2,621,059/female 2,665,447)
65 years and over: 3.4% (male 120,040/female 188,690) (2009 est.)

Ethnic group

95% black, 5% mulatto and white

Urbanization

urban population: 47% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 4.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 52.9%
male: 54.8%
female: 51.2% (2003 est.)

Government

Type: Republic
Port-au-Prince (capitol)
Independence from French in Jan 1, 1804
Their constitution was approved March 1987

Note: Suspended June 1988 with most articles reinstated March 1989; constitutional government ousted in a military coup in September 1991, although in October 1991 military government claimed to be observing the constitution; returned to constitutional rule in October 1994; constitution, while technically in force between 2004-2006, was not enforced; returned to constitutional rule in May 2006

Infant Mortality

total: 59.69 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 37
male: 66.18 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 53.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life Expectancy

total population: 60.78 years
country comparison to the world: 181
male: 59.13 years
female: 62.48 years (2009 est.)

Total Fertility

3.81 children born/woman (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS-adult prevalence rate

2.2% (country comparison to the world: 28)

Living with AIDS

120,000 (2007 estimates)

HIV/AIDS deaths/year

7,200

Major Infectious Diseases

degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria water contact disease: leptospirosis (2009)

Natural hazards

lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding and earthquakes; periodic droughts

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1. The UN classifies countries as “least developed” based on three criteria: (1) annual gross domestic product (GDP) below $900 per capita; (2) quality of life, based on life expectancy at birth, per capita calorie intake, primary and secondary school enrollment rates, and adult literacy; and (3) economic vulnerability, based on instability of agricultural productions and exports, inadequate diversification, and economic smallness. Half or more of the population in the 50 least developed countries listed above are estimated to live at or below the absolute poverty line of U.S. $1 per day.

The following is another excerpt from the BAM Survey 2007 Report. The BAM Survey 2007 Report is an in-depth assessment of the state of the Business as Mission movement based on survey responses from 497 people in 38 countries. You can purchase an electronic copy of the BAM Survey 2007 Report for $14.99 here.

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Business as Mission Companies Create Eternal Value Through Strategic Management

Whereas evangelism, profit, and (to a lesser extent) mission to the developing world were the historic points of contention for the Business as Mission movement, BAM leaders have built a foundation on these elements and are now working to clarify the principles under which Business as Mission companies operate. This focus on clarification has become necessary as Business as Mission is one of many strategies in existence that mixes general business activities with evangelism and ministry efforts aimed at unreached people groups. Though similar in nature to strategies like tent-making, micro-enterprise, micro-development, and workplace ministry, there are important distinctions between each in terms of intentions, methods, means, and outcomes. Irresponsible mixing of terms and tenets has leads to confusion and distraction and ultimately hinders the Business as Mission movement from gaining further momentum.

Currently the Business as Mission movement does not have a systematic, integrated approach for defining, organizing, and analyzing methodologies, and metrics that drive kingdom impact. Through our research, we are able to draw on the collective experience of Business as Mission leaders and lay the foundation for the development of an applicable framework for transforming strategy into action. (continue reading…)

I haven’t fully gotten into the blogging groove yet. I’ve been at it for just over a year now but I’m only recently starting to feel like I’m picking up momentum. But I enjoy blogging and I’m especially enjoying all the new people I’ve met and interacted with this year. I know that my blog doesn’t have much to do with these relationships forming but it’s part of it none the less.
Well someone forgot to send me the memo letting me know that bloggers have to do two things at the end of the year.

1. Write a really awesome retrospective post.
2. Write a post highlighting your top content from the past year.

Check and check. (continue reading…)

Yesterday, I received an email from leader in the mission field with some feedback about the value of trying to define a standard of excellence for ministries’ online activities. What he described was a reluctance among mission (and probably all non-profit) organizations to embrace standards because doing so would mean committing to doing what it takes to live up to those standards. As he put it:

We have not had much traction in finding groups looking to set more standards that they would then have to adopt/invest effort to measure up to.  It is a particularly challenging time for mission organizations trying to do as much as they can, as well as they can with shrinking resources.

(continue reading…)

Holy crap. Jon Acuff and the Stuff Christians Like blog community totally hijacked my day. Here’s the recap:

• Jon Acuff of StuffChristiansLike.net is inspired by his 6 year old daughter’s sense of injustice that there are hungry children around the world;
• Jon, still reeling from how many people have come to enjoy and support SCL gets an idea: leverage the power of the community to do something big for a charity;
• Jon reaches out to the community for inspiration as to what charity to work with;
• Jon settles on Samaritan’s Purse and works with them to coordinate the building of a kindergarten in rural Vietnam… all Jon needs is to raise $30,000.

Which brings us to today. This morning Jon shares his idea, asks the readers to support the project and raise the $30,000. Jon sets a goal of raising the funds by December 31 of this year.

Throughout the day, we watched as the donations came pouring in. No one expected to raise this much money so quickly.

This evening, sometime around 10:30 pm Eastern timezone, the total donations given in support of this project surpassed $30,000.

The Stuff Christians Like blog community raised over $30,000 for charity in 18 hours.

I’m am so excited to process this, synthesize what happened and share any insights. But for right now, I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the power of what Christ has done and how God has been and will continue to be glorified through it.

[Update:] We’re not done. The tremendous momentum built up yesterday can’t be just cut off, so Jon and Samaritan’s Purse are asking everyone to continue their support and raise another $30,000! That’s right, the goal is now to build two kindergartens for the people of Vietnam. Let’s do it!

Read the updated post here: http://stuffchristianslike.net/2009/11/lets-build-a-2nd-kindergarten/

Click here to donate: https://www.firstgiving.com/scl

And be sure to follow the #SCLVIETNAM conversations on Twitter.

I met Jon Acuff at the Christian Web Conference earlier this year. I got to talk to him a bit, primarily about the tremendous responsibility that comes with being funny (I think that’s what we talked about, it’s all a blur now). I saw him again at the Cultivate conference in Chicago and got to spend a little more time with him. Jon Acuff is a good guy.

The one of the main things I like about Jon (other than his ability to pull off the “down-filled vest” look) is that he gets that the point of all of this is not just to have a blog, not just to be funny. The point is to use what God has given us to love and serve others all over the world and in doing so, proclaim Christ as King to the nations. We are to use our influence to glorify God and advance the Kingdom.

Jon gets that. (In case you’re thinking it’s not that big of a deal, go read his blog. The reasons Christians “like” all that “stuff” is because we don’t always get it.) So that’s why I like Jon. And the vest thing. And because he knows there’s more to books than just the content on the pages. But I digress.

While at Cultivate Jon mentioned that God has put something huge on his heart and that he was beginning to work on this new project and hoping to use the scale and reach of SCL to make it happen. Today Jon announced that the Stuff Christians Like blog community is building a school in Vietnam.

Cool, right?

Jon is asking his readers to join with him and Samaritan’s Purse to build a school in Vietnam. Kind of like this one:

If you want to be part of something big, bless the people of Vietnam, and have a few laughs along the way, head over to Stuff Christians Like, read about the project and add your support by either donating or sharing this with your friends. Thanks.

Link to Jon’s post on Stuff Christian’s Like: http://stuffchristianslike.net/2009/11/this-cant-be-real/

Tony Steward posted some of his thoughts on the difference between an empire (large and vertical structure) versus a Kingdom (collaborative and horizontal structure).

Now is a time in the church when we need to ask ourselves if we are willing to sacrifice our empire to help strengthen the kingdom, what we call the global church – the body of Jesus.

It’s important to note that he is not devaluing the process of empire-building. I think Mr. Steward would agree that collaborative effort toward a common vision, group goals, authority structures, rules and procedures are not bad. Instead, he is making a key distinction which is has to do with our orientation. (continue reading…)

I just received an email from David Skews of EDP in the UK describing an upcoming conference taking in the UK. The event is being coordinated by Pray4BaM both of which he described in his email -

Pray4BaM.org is part of a UK based charity that was set up to support Business as Mission in prayer, finance and marketing. We felt God calling us to organise a Prayer Conference for BaM. Rather than being a time of teaching about BaM, this is to be a Prayer Conference, supported by times of worship and testimony of what God is doing around the world through business.

Based on their description and from what I know of the group that’s involved, I am excited about what God is leading them to do. I think the conference will be a great opportunity for those who attend. As S.D. Gordon has said, “The greatest thing anyone can do for God or man is pray.”
Prayer is crucial to all endeavors whether they be overtly Christian or not. (continue reading…)

Organization consideration of Business as Mission as a strategy is typically in response to three (3) drivers:

• Response to global trends
• Challenges facing the organization
• Perceived benefits of Business as Mission

In Part 1 of this series I discussed the first driver, identifying key trends facing missions organizations. In Part 2 I discussed how organizational challenges makes BAM an attractive solution for missions organizations. Finally, in this post I will identify some of the perceived benefits of Business as Mission and discuss some misconceptions that are common among missions organizations.
(continue reading…)

In part 1 I discussed how global trends are leading missions organizations to pursue business as part of their missional strategy. In part 2 of this three post series, I talk about how Business as Mission is appealing in the face of many of the challenges facing those in the missions field today. In part 3 I’ll conclude with a discussion of the benefits of Business as Mission that missions organization look for and shine some light on to how to avoid being blinded by optimism.

2. Business as Mission as a means for addressing challenges facing the organization

According to my work at Unconventional Method developing Business as Mission programs for global missions organizations, some of the top challenges facing both field missionaries and organizational leadership can be classified into five (5) categories:

• Lack of strategic focus
• Security/stability
• Generational change
• Lack of funding for launching projects
• Shifting view of missions field

(continue reading…)