As the kingdom business movement ramps up, RCE is right in the middle of the action on several continents. The Center we launched in Ukraine celebrated its first year of operation with a business plan competition (see article). The nation of Burundi has offered part of a college campus for the Business Development Center we will open there in 2009 as part of the Africa Project. We are also working with several partners to help them expand their impact as they teach kingdom business around the world.

As we gain experience with BAM and Kingdom Business, churches, denominations, and academic audiences are asking for our thoughts and advice. We are speaking at conferences and organizing conferences and symposia.

These are challenging days, but we trust in the One who is "the stability, the sure foundation for our times" (Is. 33.6). May you have a blessed holiday and a wonderful new year.

Merry Christmas from all of us here
at the Center!

Guatemala: Conference on Kingdom Business and the Church

RCE is organizing a conference designed to mobilize the business leaders within established churches to impact the marketplace with the whole gospel as part of the Luis Palau Festival Week in Guatemala City in March 2009.

The goals of this pastors-business leaders conference are two-fold:
- To inform the mindset of pastors and the businesses leaders so they work cooperatively to impact their communities and the whole nation through business activities in the marketplace.
- Equip business leaders with the tools to act on their changed mindset by providing in-depth explanations and demonstrations of training, coaching, and mentoring materials and programs and signing them up to use the programs that fit their needs.

Through its relationships with leaders in the field, RCE has recruited the founders of Nehemiah Project International Ministries, C12, Highmark Inc., and La Red to introduce their programs and offer to implement them in Guatemala.

<<top of page>>

Business Plan Competition Energizes Entrepreneurs

RCE's vision to see Kingdom Business transforming lives and nations is bearing fruit, and RCE held its first Business Plan Competition in Ternopil, Ukraine on December 11th and 12th. Earlier, Jason Benedict and Tom Stansbury taught the Biblical Entrepreneurship program, and this month went back as judges for the competition.

"The people we've trained are already training others," said Jason. There are 14 people from the Ternopil Center who  have been certified to train others in Biblical Entrepreneurship. All 3 phases of BE have now been taught in Moldova, including Dmitriy and Yulia Atamanyuk, the winners of this competition.

Read more from Ivan Papish, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship Success, Ternopil, Ukraine, and from Tom Stansbury, RCE Entrepreneur-in-Residence

<<top of page>>

Business as Mission Symposium

RCE will convene a symposium of strategic leaders from mission and development organizations interested in business as mission, to work through major issues and develop best practices for sending BAM personnel. The work product of this symposium will then be prepared for presentation in a BAM track in a larger missions gathering. We will discuss establishing BAM as a key strategic thrust for mission sending organizations.

Attendance is by invitation only, focusing on senior leaders and BAM experts from organizations at the cutting edge of this movement. We intend to keep the group small to provide ample time for in-depth discussions.

A tentative date has been set for June 15-16. For more information, please contact RCE.

<<top of page>>

John Mulford presented a paper entitled “Comprehensive Business Development Centers: A Solution to Poverty in Developing Countries” at the Bottom-up Approaches to Global Poverty conference at Baylor University, Oct 23-25, 2008.

John Mulford and Tom Stansbury presented the Africa Project at the ICCC-USA conference in Potomac Maryland, Dec. 5-7, 2008.

John Mulford has been invited to speak to Alliance Business International, organized by the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination, about Business as Mission in Minneapolis this February 2009.

<<top of page>>

Looking for one last Christmas gift?

You can give a gift that will help establish a "micro" business for a very poor family, empowering them to earn an income and support themselves. The capital provided will be repaid and loaned to another needy entrepreneur, helping family after family, year after year.

Visit the Enterprise Development International web store

<<top of page>>

The Center Has Moved!

The Regent Center for Entrepreneurship, as a part of Regent University's School of Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship, has moved to a new building. Our new address is 1333 Regent University Drive, Suite 102, Virginia Beach VA 23464. Our current phone number is 757.352.4502.

<<top of page>>

Warmest wishes for a
Merry Christmas
and a
radiant New Year
filled with God's blessings!

-John, Jason, Tom, Johncy,
Skye, and Jeremiah (in Kenya)