*Charlie and *Sarah participated in a retreat with local church planting teams focused on reaching unreached people groups, in their province in Southeast Asia. They were honored to support young leaders by helping them develop and refine business platforms to enhance the effectiveness of their ministry.
These business platforms have the potential not only to generate income, to sustain their lives and ministry (much like Paul’s tent-making) but also to open doors for accessing new, unreached areas. Some platforms even allow ministry to happen within the business itself. Often, these platforms can achieve a combination of these goals.
Over the past 20 years, Charlie and Sarah have started and managed several businesses in Asia and the U.S., with the majority of their financial support still coming from one of these ventures. However, since arriving on their island in Southeast Asia, they hadn’t felt led to pursue this area—until now.
The meetings they attended sparked several ideas, one of which is gaining traction and shows potential for replication with other church planters.
One example is *Netra, a Muslim-background believer struggling to provide for her family. Her husband, handicapped by a stroke, is limited in his ability to help. Netra was making homemade snacks, selling them for 20 cents each, and earning no more than $6 a week. Despite being trained in Disciple Making Movement (DMM) principles, she was overwhelmed by the struggle to make ends meet and had little capacity left for ministry.
In response, Charlie and Sarah helped her start a used clothing business.
Now, each day, Netra travels from village to village, selling used clothes. As villagers browse through the clothing, she engages them in conversation, subtly weaving spiritual topics into the discussion, hoping to find “people of peace.” This new venture has increased her income to $10 or more per day. With her work taking only a few hours, she now has more time to follow up with those who show interest in the Good News, with the goal of starting groups of Jesus Followers.
Pray that Netra remains faithful in using her time for Kingdom work and that the Holy Spirit stirs the hearts of those she shares with.
Next month, Charlie and Sarah will travel to another city in their province to help another team establish another business platform, which has the potential to open doors into nearby villages.
This weekend retreat had rekindled a passion in Charlie and Sarah for using business to advance the Kingdom of God. Please pray for more ideas that will help Kingdom workers generate income and gain access to the unreached communities they serve.
*pseudonyms
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