May June 2014
Where Christian faith gets down to business
Ali’s Place
From prison torture to entrepreneurship What MEDA learned and tried to teach By the numbers: ode to accountants Deep convictions led to Tall Grass 1
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Roadside stand
Maximum wage? There are different ways to look at the minimum wage debate. One I hadn’t heard before comes from Joel Belz, operator of a conservative Christian publishing enterprise. A long time ago someone touring his company’s warehouse asked, “How much do you pay these folks?” Answering that question became “a defining moment in my management career,” he writes. As it turned out, the warehouse staff were getting minimum wage. Upon reflection, Belz concluded, “it never struck me before that very minute what that level of pay communicated to the wage earner.” He suddenly realized that what was really being said was, “If we could legally pay you less than we are, we would.” This did not fit his conception of the Golden Rule. “That’s when the wacky idea hit me,” he writes in World magazine. “What I should really be saying to folks on my staff was exactly what I would want to hear from my own boss: ‘my goal is to pay you just as much as I possibly can — while balancing our budget, giving our investors a good return on their investment, and making sure we’ve got reserves for future operations. I value you, and I don’t want you to leave us to go somewhere else’.” From then on, Belz says, “our goal would be maximum compensation, not minimum wage — always consistent, to be sure, with our real-life abilities.”
Rich bus. The world’s 85 richest people have as much wealth as the entire bottom half of the world’s population (3.5 billion people), according to Oxfam. The organization’s director says “this tiny elite ... could all fit comfortably on a double-decker bus.”
abounds in the workplace. One study says eight of 10 workers feel stressed on the job. Now, researchers say we shouldn’t get stressed out about it because we need some stress to motivate us. “If you want to produce top results, you need an optimal level of anxiety,” writes work columnist Leah Eichler in the Globe and Mail. “Too much or too little produce weaker results.” She quotes Richard Davis, an industrial psychologist, as claiming too little stress isn’t good for careers because it can degenerate into relaxation, boredom and stagnation. “Under these circumstances, we simply don’t do our best work,” he says. “Each of us has our own optimal level of stress, and we need to take care not to overdo it, but also not to ‘underdo’ it.” Sounds a bit like string theory, that is, guitar string theory: the strings need to be wound tight to play
How’s this for a way to run a crisp meeting. At the start of her first meeting the chair handed a slip of paper to each person and asked everyone to jot down what they thought their time was worth. She collected the slips, added the figures and came up with a combined total of $5,000. Then she said, “We think we are worth $5,000 an hour. So we need to do $10,000 worth of work in the next two hours. Let’s get to it.” String theory. You’ve read it here and elsewhere — stress
good music, but not so tight that they snap. Great porn? MEDA’s webmaster reports that some people searching for “great porn” on the internet have inadvertently landed on — are you ready for this? — one of MEDA’s web pages. How on earth could that happen? Well, a feature available on the website is a collection of ethical case studies including one titled “The Great Porn Debate.” The article relates the true story of a professing Christian owner of a magazine distribution company whose titles include racy magazines along with mostly wholesome fare. It proceeds to debate the pros and cons of being involved in businesses whose products are offensive to some. Because of the way internet search engines work, people looking for “great porn” have been referred to our site. Go figure. — WK
Cover photo of immigrant entrepreneur Ali Saeed by Wally Kroeker
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In this issue
Photo by Steve Sugrim
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Unsung accountants: When numbers delight. Page 15
10
Lessons at 60
14
Vintage memories
15
Counting on numbers
18
Deep convictions led to Tall Grass
Departments 2 4 20 21 22
Roadside stand Soul enterprise Soundbites Reviews News
Volume 44, Issue 3 May June 2014 The Marketplace (ISSN 0199-7130) is published bi-monthly by Mennonite Economic Development Associates at 532 North Oliver Road, Newton, KS 67114. Periodicals postage paid at Newton, KS 67114. Lithographed in U.S.A. Copyright 2014 by MEDA. Editor: Wally Kroeker Design: Ray Dirks
Ali’s Place
Back in his African homeland he ran afoul of a brutal junta and was jailed and tortured. Now, as an entrepreneur and human rights activist in Canada, Ali Saeed helps reduce suffering for others.
A sobering milestone can be a time to review what an upstart organization may have taught the larger Mennonite communion. How is the church, or the world, better off because of MEDA?
Sam Wendland spent a lifetime running companies that served Saskatchewan’s ag sector. Along the way he collected mementos — like a trove of antique cars, tractors and business memorabilia.
Accountants don’t always get enough respect. Herewith a bit of an ode to unsung beancounters who bring coherence to the realm of numbers and give us all a grammar of accountability.
It started when their church decided to study food issues. A modest bread co-op emerged and the next thing they knew 200 people were lined up on opening day. By Evelyn Rempel Petkau
Change of address should be sent to Mennonite Economic Development Associates, 1891 Santa Barbara Dr., Ste. 201, Lancaster, PA 17601-4106. To e-mail an address change, subscription request or anything else relating to delivery of the magazine, please contact subscription@meda.org For editorial matters contact the editor at wkroeker@meda.org or call (204) 956-6436 Subscriptions: $25/year; $45/two years.
Postmaster: Send address changes to The Marketplace 1891 Santa Barbara Dr., Ste. 201 Lancaster, PA 17601-4106
Published by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), whose dual thrust is to encourage a Christian witness in business and to operate business-oriented programs of assistance to the poor. For more information about MEDA call 1-800-665-7026. Web site www.meda.org
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Witness while you work? The workplace can play a big role in spreading the gospel. It’s a great place to bear witness to faith in Christ, since that’s where many people spend the bulk of their waking hours. Notice the term “bear witness.” Some would use the word “evangelism,” but that can be confusing. Some people see evangelism as verbal proclamation of the gospel — preaching with words — in an effort to “win converts.” Others see it more broadly as a whole-life demonstration of the love of God. Some church growth leaders describe evangelism as “whatever you do that makes Christ a meaningful option in people’s lives.” In that case, a lot of what you do is a demonstration of the power of God within you. That makes all Christians evangelists. Even at work. Even if they don’t have a Bible in their toolkit or on their office desk. Personal demonstration, like doing a great job, ranks as the best form of workplace witness. People aren’t attracted to Christ by incompetent co-workers or inept supervisors. Ethics preach loud sermons. People are turned off by shoddy ethics or mistreatment of co-workers. Someone has likened workplace witness to selling real estate. Not all have a gift to “close the sale,” but all Christians can “show the property.” That’s what we do all day long, know it or not. In today’s pluralistic society, there are limits to acceptable religious behavior in the workplace, especially if you’re a manager or employer. But that doesn’t mean you have to take a vow of silence. “From a biblical perspective, work is meant to be about more than earning a living,” write Christopher Crane and Mike Hamel in Executive Influence: Impacting Your Workplace for Christ. “It’s an expression of who we are and what we value. It’s more than a job; it’s how we reflect the image of a creative Creator. For some, their work is to provide meaningful employment for others. Such entrepreneurs become owners and their companies become places where people can find and fulfill their vocations. “Now, if a company is an expression of an entrepreneur’s faith in God, why shouldn’t that faith be visible? And if Christian business owners care deeply about their people, how can those owners not share the love of God with them?” Crane and Hamel point out that business leadership is a form of power, and power must be wielded gently. A verbal witness by an owner or manager can become coercion. An in-your-face testimony can be seen as an abuse of power. William Diehl, a leader in the Ministry of Daily Life movement, offers these comments: • Yes, you can keep a copy of the Scriptures on your desk. • It’s okay to ask a co-worker about their faith, but don’t flood them with religious literature. • Employees can hold lunchtime prayer sessions, but the boss can’t call an important meeting that happens to be preceded by a Christian prayer session. • It’s okay to chat about faith at coffee break, but it’s not okay to schedule a company religious retreat with compulsory attendance.
An elevated life What’s an elevator — a box of limbo to be endured on the way somewhere? For Bruce Renfroe, an eight-by-eight cubicle was where he spent his days as an elevator operator in a New York City office tower. Every day he encountered the same people — and the same blank stares. Somber passengers rarely spoke or even acknowledged each other. Renfroe decided to spice things up. He hung pictures in his elevator. He played jazz. He even kept his Bible there. In an eight-by-eight space, he tried to build community. “It worked,” says Howard Butt Jr. of Laity Lodge. “Riding up in the mornings and back down after five, people began to talk to each other and to share parts of their lives with their small elevator family.” In a few short minutes each day, this elevator operator made a difference in people’s lives. “What about you?” asks Butt. “Where can you make a difference in the lives you touch?” — The High Calling: Everyday Conversations about Work, Life and God
Excerpted from You’re Hired! Looking for work in all the right places, a career guide from MEDA. Available for free download at www.meda.org
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How I got my snack
Soft answer from above What would you do if your boss wanted you to cheat? Ed Silvoso relates an incident from his early business career in Argentina. He worked for a large international hotel that routinely inflated ”[C]onsider all of the effort that goes into a long-distance charges when American guests made calls to the humble peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich. It’s United States. “This was before computerized phones and billrelatively easy for me — I simply go to the cuping systems became available, so the opportunity for overchargboard, open a couple jars, and slap two slices ing was there,” writes Silvoso. of bread together. But it’s so convenient only “I found myself caught between this rule and my Christian because hundreds, perhaps thousands, of others principles, so I avoided taking any phone-call requests. But one have faithfully fulfilled their personal vocations on day I could not evade taking one. All of a sudden my colleagues’ my behalf. eyes were riveted on me, wondering what I was going to do. “I can’t possibly list them all, but there are When I told them that I would charge the exact amount, a the growers of the peanuts, strawberries, wheat, female employee, who was also the boss’s mistress, warned me and whatever other ingredients go into making that she would turn me in. Nonetheless, I did the right thing.” peanut butter, jelly, and bread. Then there are Two hours later the boss stormed in, furious. He called Silthe factories and mills that process the ingrevoso every bad name in the book. dients, the truckers who haul the loaves and While trying to cope with the cannonade of abuse, Silvoso jars to town, and a store full of stockers and prayed for help. cashiers who sell them to me. I might add those “Why did you disobey my order?” the boss fumed. organizations that mined and smelted the stainSilvoso answered calmly: “Sir, if I am willing to risk my posiless steel for my knife and processed the paper tion by refusing to steal from an American who will never know for my plate, together with their transportation what I did for him, can you imagine how much more certain you systems. Each of these groups represents can be that I will never steal from businesses with administrators, secretaries, you?” financial officers, purchasing and marketing The irate boss stomped out. But agents, and human resource personnel. If I three hours later he invited Silvoso to could somehow add it all up, I’d probably be dinner. Not long after he invited Sildumbfounded by the number of hands that voso to join the management team. either directly or indirectly contributed to my As for his quick answer, Silvoso midmorning snack.” — Michael E. Wittmer says, “Only the Holy Spirit could in Heaven Is a Place on Earth have come up with something like that under the circumstances.” — Quoted from Anointed for Business: “You cannot connect the dots of How Christians Can Use Their Influyour life going forward; you can only ence in the Marketplace to Change the World Overheard: connect them backwards.” — The
late Steve Jobs, speaking to Stanford University graduates in 2005
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Ali’s Place After years of prison and torture, Ali Saeed moved forward as an entrepreneur and human rights activist.
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any people go into a convenience store for a carton of milk or a bag of chips. At this corner store, however, they may be after more urgent provisions — like refugee advice or settlement assistance. Ali Saeed is ready for both kinds of customers. His Quick Convenience Store in Winnipeg is like a community center for new immigrants. Many call it “Ali’s Place.” He sells the usual convenience store fare, with a few immigrant tweaks like worldwide money transfers and ethnic foods. The store had belonged to a large chain, but was abandoned because the inner city was seen as too poor and too dangerous. To Ali, however, the location spelled opportunity. “It’s a core area for immigrants, many from Africa,” he says. “Most newcomers eventually get to hear about this place.” He gets two or three people a day coming in for some kind of help or counselling. And then there are kids. “There are a lot of single parents in the area, and a lot of needy kids,” says Ali. “If they have problems, if their apartment is empty when they come home from school and they don’t feel safe, or if they are cold, this is where they can come.” One regular customer says Ali is a father figure to her child who comes in Saturdays to sweep the floor. Ali gives the kid a few bucks, which he is saving for school. “I don’t want to see anyone suffer,” says Ali. He’s seen enough of that himself.
homeland after long-time emperor Haile Selassie was deposed in the mid-1970s and replaced by a Marxist military junta called the Derg. In a purge that became known as the Red Terror, the Derg abolished parliament, suspended civil liberties and terrorized suspected opponents. Arbitrary arrests, torture and human rights atrocities became the order of the day. Estimates of the number of people killed run as high as 500,000. Suspected of being part of a resistance organization, Ali was snatched from his life as a textile designer and
Thousands of people were exterminated in the Red Terror. Ali Saeed came close to being one of them.
Back in Ethiopia many years ago Ali Saeed was caught up in the swirl of violence that blighted his
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Ali Saeed with his wife Ayni, who has become Winnipeg’s major supplier of injera, the fabled Ethiopian flatbread.
thrown in jail without benefit of lawyer or court appearance. Ali insists he was innocent of any offense but that didn’t matter during the days of the Red Terror. He was politically outspoken; he marched; he protested the abuse of women by the ruling regime. Every neighborhood had its snitch and all it took to get on the Derg’s black list was to be photographed or seen at the wrong meeting. The net of suspicion was cast broadly and Ali was caught up in it.
fused. “They wanted me to sign a confession, and said that if I did I would be released immediately,” he says. “I said no. I knew from previous experience that if I signed, I would be killed.” Ali spent more than five years in Ethiopian prisons. When he got out, everything had changed and he could not return to his previous work. He decided to leave for neighboring Somalia, hoping life would be better. So he started walking — 400 kilometers in nine days. But he had guessed wrong. Unrest between Ethiopia and Somalia was running high. Skittish Somali authorities,
In jail Ali was tortured severely (think electrodes) to make him admit to various offenses. He re-
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thinking Ali was there to spy, arrested him again and sent him to the country’s worst prison. “I went from the frying pan into the fire,” he says. Ali was tortured some more and sentenced to death. He and his fellow death row inmates received a daily allotment of 120 grams of rice, a mere handful. “If they were feeling very kind maybe I would get some tea twice a “We need to week.” He remembers bedesperate for any kind start a business. ing of relief. A smoker in those days, he traded his trousers That’s the only for four cigarettes.
way to make
ing that there were people in prison who did not belong there. That note ended up with an official in DeFehr’s office. One day there was a knock at the cell door. “I was told to go with this guy,” Ali says. “I thought they were going to kill me.” To his enormous relief, he was given a letter which turned out to be a document of freedom. “It said I was to go to the airport. They were going to send me to what I was told was a ‘pagan country’ — Canada.” And off he went, with no shoes or trousers, to the airport. There he was connected with his wife, Ayni Ahemed, whom he had met in a Somali refugee camp, and they were flown to Rome. “We got there with no documents, with no one waiting for us,” Ali recalls. “At first, immigration authorities wanted to send me back. But after an hour and a half a Canadian official showed up with a residence permit. He told us, ‘You are safe now’.” Ali and Ayni flew to Toronto, then on to Winnipeg where word had gotten out that “the barefoot man is coming.” “I became a free person,” says Ali. When he touched down, a pair of shoes and trousers were waiting.
By a coincidence that
would later seem amazing, even providential, two Mennonites in the region hailed from the same congregato get going.” tion in Winnipeg. One was Arthur DeFehr, a longtime MEDA supporter who had taken a break from his family’s furniture business in Winnipeg to pursue diplomatic interests and was serving as the United Nations high commissioner for refugees in Somalia (198283). The other was Henry J. Rempel, a young volunteer with Mennonite Central Committee who had been seconded to the UNHCR. Back home, both men were members of River East Mennonite Brethren Church, which sponsored refugees. Though he did not then know Ali Saeed personally, DeFehr had been using his position to agitate on behalf of people who had been imprisoned unjustly, and had gotten thousands freed. Ali and his fellow prisoners knew about, and were on the radar of, both the UNHCR and Amnesty International. But how could they make contact from behind prison walls? Word slipped out that a guard could be bribed to take a letter to the UNHCR office. One prisoner gave up his wristwatch and soon a note was on its way report-
enough money
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Ali and Ayni arrived in Winnipeg on July
26, 1984. Ali had spent a total of seven years and four months in prison. They had the good fortune to come in contact with DeFehr and Rempel’s congregation. To this day Ali is effusively grateful for the refugee sponsorship efforts of the church and Mennonite Central Committee. “Those people gave me hope,” he says. They also gave him a platform to speak publicly and share his story with others. The resulting network of connections enabled him to bring over 17 other people who had had similar experiences. Ali had little experience to equip him for his new life. Besides his work as a textile designer, his abiding passions had been human rights and writing poetry. Some who helped Ali when he arrived in Winnipeg did not think his prospects were strong. “No one thought he would make it,” says one. “He had been tortured so badly he was a psychological wreck. We thought he was destined for a life on public welfare.” 8
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Ali would prove them wrong. Once he got settled he studied at a local college and got a job with a social service agency. But it was not enough to feed his family and get a foothold. Ayni told him, “We need to start a business. That’s the only way to make enough money to get going.” So she started making injera, the spongy sourdough flatbread that is part of every Ethiopian’s DNA. It became a thriving business, and today Ayni is the major injera supplier to Winnipeg markets and eateries. She and Ali then opened an Ethiopian restaurant. They carefully leveraged their earnings for other investments, like apartments and a commercial building. They bought an abandoned convenience store in the inner city. As a storekeeper, Ali reached out to needy folk, tailoring products and services to their specific needs, and becoming known as something of a community bishop. He enjoys being able to help others. “When I go home at night I feel free and happy,” he says. “I sleep nicely.” Today Ali and Ayni are models of immigrant entrepreneurship, but Ali gives all the credit to his wife. “We’re in business because of Ayni,” he says. “Her
This does not make him popular among everyone in the Ethiopian community. As recently as this January he received a death threat if he didn’t cease his human rights activity. In 2009 he was the subject of an award-winning film documentary by filmmaker Aaron Floresco. Titled Memories of a Generation: The Story of Ali Saeed and Other Ethiopian Political Victims, it won the Audience Choice Prize at the Films for Peace Festival in Italy, sponsored by UNESCO. Shortly thereafter Ali was awarded the 2009 Human Rights Commitment Award of Manitoba by the Manitoba Human Rights Commission for his ongoing efforts to free political prisoners in Ethiopia and aid refugees in Canada. In commenting to the local media, Arthur DeFehr said, “I think he’s a terrific example of a successful refugee. Also, one who doesn’t forget his past — he takes other people with him.” Ali’s daughter, Misalee, credits her father’s example for her own commitment to human rights. In 2009 father and daughter jointly presented a petition to Canada’s Parliament in an attempt to raise awareness about abuse of women in Ethiopian refugee camps. Whenever he gets a chance, Ali sponsors others — 104 at last count — who have been suffering in prisons. When they get to Winnipeg he helps them find jobs and schooling. All this activity keeps him unwelcome in Ethiopia, even though the regime has changed. When his mother died there in late 2013 at the age of 101, Ali could not attend her funeral. Now a Canadian citizen, Ali says he would love to visit his homeland if they had a free and democratic government. By a quirk of fate, one of Ali’s tormentors from back home — one of the same people who tortured him in prison — also ended up in Winnipeg, and Ali sees him around town. But Ali is not interested in revenge, at least not what he calls the Red Revenge of blood for blood, an eye for an eye. “My revenge is Green Revenge,” he says. “My revenge is to teach the younger generation that they don’t need to kill each other, that instead they should work for the best, to change what happened.” As with any enduring conflict, he says, finally somebody has to say no. “Somebody has to say, let’s move forward.” ◆
In a perverse twist, one of his old torturers wound up in the same city. But Ali is not interested in revenge. brain is very sharp, especially when it comes to business. She is the pillar of our family. She is the backbone of our struggle. Without her, I would not be here.”
Ali Saeed continues his human rights
work alongside his work as a poet and entrepreneur. His business card describes him as “Human rights activist & refugee advocate.” 9
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Lessons at 60
MEDA
The creation of MEDA gave the Mennonite business community a way to flex its muscles, globally and theologically.
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ast December marked the 60th birthday of MenThe founders had no assurance their investment nonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). would ever be repaid, and most Mennonites back home Such a sobering milestone is a time to review doubted it would be. “The money they advanced was lessons learned and tease out areas where this venture capital which they had to be prepared to lose, upstart organization may have taught a few things to the and frequently did,” wrote J. Winfield Fretz in his history larger Mennonite communion. How is the church, or the of MEDA’s first 25 years. world, better off because of MEDA? While MEDA emerged in direct response to a parThe early MEDA photo archives show white-faced ticular need, it also scratched another itch. The people (maybe sunburned) Mennonite men riding on pickups, who were attracted to the new organization were already trudging through jungles and sitting under trees eating contributing to other agencies, but mainly with cash. Here watermelon with indigenous Paraguayans. Back home in was a new avenue for deeper involvement, a way to conCalifornia, Ohio and Manitoba these men were seldom tribute from the depths of their being. Here was a way to seen in public without a suit and tie. They employed share the skills they used Monday to Friday — managerial hundreds, maybe thousands, of people and did business talent, entrepreneurship and investment savvy. worth millions of dollars. The new organization got off to a fortuitous start. It was the early 1950s. Mennonite refugees from Call it beginner’s luck, or shrewd planning, but the first Russia and Germany had been dislocated following the MEDA project turned out to be a huge success with lastSecond World War, and several thousand had ended up ing impact. in Paraguay. Other church organizations had provided It didn’t take long for the northern visitors to find them with food and clothing, but they needed more than this project. It stared them in the face as they saw natemporary housekeeping. Those who had tive Paraguayan cows gazing at them left trades behind needed working capital from local pastures. These bush cattle Sometimes MEDA to set up businesses to serve the Menproduced only a quart of milk a day. nonite colonies. South American banks Surely they could do better. practiced tough weren’t much help, offering short-term Good quality stock was imported loans at excessively high interest of 15 to for some serious cross-breeding. A love — “If you don’t few birth cycles later, the cows were 25 percent. North American Mennonites wanted producing four or five gallons a day. repay, we can’t lend to help, but there was no structured way The initial partnership with the to do so. Paraguayan farmers was called the SaMennonite Central Committee did not to your neighbors.” rona Dairy. The name, rife with hope, feel equipped to meet capital needs, but came from the biblical term Sharon, a its executive secretary, Orie Miller, himself a businessman, bountiful pasture celebrated in 1 Chronicles and Isaiah. came up with an idea. He invited a number of well-heeled From the start, MEDA’s intention was for partnerships Mennonite businessfolk to visit Paraguay at their own to be temporary. As soon as an enterprise was on its feet, expense to take a look. They quickly caught his vision, and the investors were eager to move on. on Dec. 10, 1953, a group of them gathered in Chicago This first project helped transform the local economy. to start MEDA. Family farms were strengthened; jobs created; livelihoods Membership did not come cheap. The founders enhanced. Today, the Mennonite colonies dominate Parapledged $5,000 each; regular members could join for guay’s dairy industry, furnishing two-thirds of the country’s $1,050. Personal involvement was important. Board mementire supply of milk products. bers were assigned to sponsor certain projects and visit The next MEDA enterprise was a tannery to process periodically. leather, followed by a shoe factory that made work shoes
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Affordable credit grew into a brand niche; MEDA became a world leader in
redressing of economic injustice seen as a natural extension of biblical identity. In 2013 MEDA worked with 223 partners in 49 countries, had an annual budget of $41 million and employed 318 staff worldwide. Its total client reach, including people served by microfinance institutions in which it is involved, extended to 42 million families. What MEDA lessons have stood out over the years? Insiders may not all agree on what those might be, but here is one stab at it.
financial services. and cowboy chaps. The need for this type of assistance was immense, and invitations came from all over. MEDA was soon working in Africa and elsewhere. By the end of its first quarter century MEDA had undertaken 422 projects globally, of which 87 percent were considered successful.
1. The rigor of business has something to offer Despite criticism from some quarters, MEDA unapologetically used business principles as central to its global mission. Tanzania, for example, was not exactly ripe for a business-oriented model when MEDA went there in 1965. For one thing, the country’s economy was rooted in Ujamaa, a traditional form of agricultural socialism. Moreover, Tanzanian Christians were suspicious of the business model, thinking it inevitably led to worldliness. (This view was fortified when one successful MEDA project partner used his increased earnings to acquire an additional wife instead of supporting the church more generously.) MEDA persisted, but learned some painful lessons as it sought to create business solutions to poverty. It wasn’t always easy to insist that loans be based on sound principles rather than family connections. MEDA endured criticism as it urged clients to keep careful records of expenses and income, to separate operating and capital costs, and to meet regular repayment dates. Too often, borrowers thought North American money did not have
Amid the turbulent 1960s, meanwhile, Men-
nonite businessfolk back home were becoming sensitized to a conflictual gap between business and the church. In 1969 a group of 90 Mennonite businesspeople and educators formed the Church, Industry and Business Association (CIBA), later renamed Mennonite Industry and Business Associates (MIBA). Its purpose was to encourage Christian ethics and stimulate a consistent witness in business. Both MIBA and MEDA held regular meetings and ended up attracting the same people. In fact, nearly all the members of MEDA were also members of MIBA. In 1981 the organizations merged, keeping the MEDA name because of its tax-exempt history in Canada and the United States. The new hybrid organization aimed: (1) to help businesspeople see their work as a form of ministry, and thereby integrate their faith with their business; and (2) to use the skills and resources of businesspeople to provide business solutions to poverty. Over the years the “seamless garment” of faith has been central to MEDA, with the 11
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to be repaid. MEDA had to practice some tough love — “If you don’t repay, we can’t lend to your neighbors.” Nowadays such principles of accountability are well accepted by development practitioners.
Over the years MEDA sought to teach North Americans that good intentions alone weren’t enough to make a dent in poverty. 3. The poor are bankable MEDA’s founders grasped a fundamental insight into human poverty — that simple financial services can hold the key to unleashing entrepreneurship and productivity. In the early 1960s MEDA dabbled with small loans to help Mennonite immigrants clear bushland, build fences and start small farming enterprises. Erie Sauder, founder of the famous Sauder woodwork companies in Ohio, extended this feature to Paraguay’s indigenous people so they could establish small woodwork and repair shops. MEDA’s emerging concept of credit began to solidify in Colombia in the early 1970s under Roger Friesen. MEDA’s strategic involvement with microcredit pre-dated Nobel laureate Muhammed Yunus by a few years, but it would not be until the mid-1980s in Haiti that microcredit would gain traction in MEDA. Providing affordable credit grew into a brand niche. MEDA became a world leader in financial services, proving that the poor are bankable and can be relied on to repay loans, even if they lack conventional metrics like collateral or credit history. Today this trust has been extended to “branchless banking,” savings and microinsurance.
2. Good intentions aren’t enough MEDA learned — and then modeled — how to translate good intentions into programs that actually work. One of its own hard lessons was a thousand-acre rice plantation developed in Uruguay in the early 1960s. Some members opposed the idea, since no one in MEDA knew anything about rice farming. As it turned out, crossing the border into Uruguay did not automatically produce an increase in knowledge. MEDA plunged ahead, importing a dragline, turbine pumps and diesel engines for irrigation. The project was beset by problems, from equipment breakdowns to erratic markets. Only one good crop was harvested in 11 years. One MEDA leader commented that the rice project nearly “did us in.” MEDA learned an important missiological lesson — if you can’t do it at home, you probably People see their won’t be able to do it overseas, no matter how faith in a new good your intentions. Another good intention that easily slips the light when they rails is charity, such as sending used clothing or realize daily surplus goods to developing countries. More often work is a chance than not, these freebies undercut the local market to express the and end up doing more harm than good. MEDA character of God. learned, for example, to brace for a rash of loan delinquencies from local textile producers whenever a shipload of used clothing arrived in port. As poor Haitians grabbed up cheap T-shirts, local tailors were idle. The Marketplace May June 2014
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4. Trade trumps aid MEDA learned — and tried to teach — that if you want to help the poor you should invest in them and with them. Over the years it became a global leader in demonstrat12
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ing the power of private equity investment in emerging of business, and the vibration keeps resonating over the markets. As the early Paraguay partners repaid their generations. investment, MEDA created a pool of capital to re‑invest MEDA did so by providing resources and networking elsewhere. That pioneer act of sharing risk with the poor opportunities to help bring faith and workplace closer was decades ahead of today’s impact investment industogether (conventions, seminars, publications). Have these try. Thanks to that early vision, many more in the private resources made a difference? Anecdotally we hear about equity markets today know how the power of investors companies that have broadened their “values footprint” can be harnessed to improve the and consciously seek out the “God moments” in financial performance of companies their workplace. MEDA struck in emerging markets while delivOne assembly line worker told a MEDA staffer ering positive social and environwhat she liked about working for a company a tuning fork mental outcomes. owned by MEDA members. “No one yells at me When others could not see behere,” she said. A small thing? Not if you’re used to and pressed it yond donated aid as the way to adbeing abused. dress global poverty, MEDA showed against the soul 6. Witness includes creating economic shalom that long-term solutions demand growth in production and trade, We at MEDA like to think we have helped expand of business; the the definition of Christian witness. While we do not and that private individuals can play a vital role by investing their own proselytize, we bear witness by creating economic capital. It pushed the investment vibration keeps shalom. The possibilities for an expanded witness envelope, devising new instruments and noticeable “peace dividend” are remarkable, for investment, finding creative new resonating. given that economic inequality is at the root of so ways to harness entrepreneurial much global strife. skills and resources to help others reach their God-given We have been agents of peace by bringing financial potential. strength and hope to small operators in global hotspots The prophet wrote, “The Lord looked and was dissuch as Yemen and Libya. In Afghanistan, Egypt and pleased that there was no justice. He was appalled that Morocco we have worked with a burgeoning youth there was no one to intervene....” (Isaiah 59:15-16). population, who are restless and unemployed, by boostMEDA did intervene. By investing. ing financial literacy and job training so they will see other options than being recruited by extremist groups. 5. Business can be a calling Another area is women’s empowerment. For years Part of the genius of MEDA is to understand work and MEDA worked in Pakistan to help homebound women faith as a whole piece of cloth. We bring our humble improve their marketing of embroidered fabrics. Because gifts — our talents, our business expertise, our innovative their culture and traditions confined them to their homes, spirits — and we say, “Let’s see how this — our treasure they couldn’t go to market and see for themselves what in jars of clay — can help others in need. How can we customers want. MEDA developed creative ways to bring shine the light of our work, animated by our faith, into the market to them through intermediary sales agents the dark places?” who link them to the market so they can update their People see their faith in a new light once they realize production and get better prices. Many of these women, that daily work can be an opportunity to express the charsome in areas that still practice “honor killings,” have acter of God. After all, the first page of the Bible starts off been routinely mistreated and abused, but when they with God at work. People show up on page two, made improve their economic stake they get more respect and in the image of God to also work and be God’s junior better treatment. A little help, strategically applied, helps partners in sustaining creation. them coax out inherent skills, and ends up becoming a As MEDA matured, members sought to more detrim-tab on the rudder of change by enriching human liberately honor God in daily toil, serving as “ministers rights. of commerce” who would be active agents of Christian Our organization has turned 60, but we do discipleship. not feel long in the tooth. Actually, we feel more vibrant It can be argued that MEDA changed the understandthan ever as MEDA enters its next decade. As the psalmist ing of business (and work generally) as a legitimate venue writes of the cedars of Lebanon, “In old age they still profor Christian ministry. When it comes to spirituality in the duce fruit; they are always green and full of sap” (Psalm workplace, much of the Christian world has had a moat 92:14). ◆ around its castle. With the help of MEDA, countless Christians in business have seen that ministry is not confined to Abridged with permission from Vision: A Journal for Church and TheolSunday, but covers the whole work week. It’s as if MEDA ogy, published by Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary and Canadian struck a tuning fork and then pressed it against the soul Mennonite University. 13
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Photos by Richard Marjan, Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Vintage memories
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hen you love your work it’s natural to retain warm memories. Sam Wendland of Waldheim, Saskatchewan, has kept tangible souvenirs, too. For six decades he has fondly tended a personal museum of cars, tractors and memorabilia from his life in business. His companies included a BA gas station and a John Deere dealership he owned with his brothers. In 1955 he founded what has become Wendland Ag Services, now run by his son, David. The company began as a fuel and excavating company and later branched into fertilizer and agricultural chemicals. Today it is a full-service ag retailer with eight locations throughout central Saskatchewan. Wendland loved his work, says his wife, Martha. “He enjoyed every bit of it.” That affection extended to his collection, which comprises 40 tractors and 46 automobiles. One tractor, fully restored, is the first John Deere he drove on his father’s farm when he was 11 years old. His car fleet includes vintage models from the 1930s (like a 1932 Chevrolet Confederate) and a 1956 Meteor Rideau Sunline, one of only 400 made. The museum also contains rare hood ornaments, license plates, radiator caps, John Deere belt buckles, keychains, hundreds of toy tractors, gas station memorabilia and antique cans of peanut butter and corn syrup. Over the years Wendland’s cars and tractors regularly appeared in parades and car shows. Now he and Martha are preparing to share them more widely, as it’s time to let them go. The original tractor of Wendland’s youth will stay on the family farm, and each of the children will get to choose a car to keep. The rest, however, are likely to be sold. “When you get to your 80s, what are you going to do with them?” Martha Wendland told a reporter for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “They have to be looked after. Nobody has gone to the cemetery with a U‑Haul behind them.” Known for their generosity, the Wendlands will donate much of the proceeds to charities. ◆ The Marketplace May June 2014
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Sam Wendland and auto restorer Marty Curtis surrounded by some of the museum’s 46 cars.
Sam Wendland at the wheel of a 1931 Ford Model A Roadster Deluxe.
The first tractor Sam Wendland drove at the age of 11 was this John Deere, now fully restored. 14
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Counting on numbers A little ode to accountants. Why not take yours out for lunch?
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burg Door, a Christian humor magazine) had an accountant whose calling went far beyond taxes and spreadsheets. “Steve is a Tamer of Numbers,” said Mike. “He doesn’t allow numbers to control and frighten all the employees. Rather than net profits and accounts payables being allowed to run wild, Steve captures them and tames them, so that the employees feel comfortable around them. Steve has managed to make the numbers of our company an adventure — a story that he tells with wonder and excitement.” Ever wonder who scratched the first clay tablet Bookkeeper Hilda Pries (who is also MEDA’s dataor penned history’s first scroll? Was it a musing scribe, base administrator) gets a buzz from numbers. “As each overtaken by a brilliant thought that just month-end draws near, I get a Steve saw numbers little giddy with excitement,” she had to be shared? It seems not, according to William J. Bernstein in his book, Masters of says. “It means that in a few days the Word: How Media Shaped History from I will be receiving numerous bank as an adventure the Alphabet to the Internet. He concludes, statements that I will have the after intensive study of archaeological and joy of reconciling. If I have done — a beast to be my job well, the bank reconciliapaleographical research, that it all started in will only take a short while, the accounting department: “the first writing captured and tamed tion and everything will balance to arose not from the desire to record history or produce literature, but rather to measure grain, count livethe penny. This is enough to put a smile on my face, and stock, and organize and control the labor of the human encourage me for the coming weeks of the daily chore of animal. Accounting, not prose, invented writing.” bookkeeping.”
umbers get a bum rap. During tax season, just passed, many of us offered prayers of thanks for our favorite bean counters. The rest of the year? Not so much. Numbers, and those who live by them, are important not only to add and subtract but also for deep reasons of culture, even faith. There’s deep biblical resonance in keeping track systematically. “God is a god of order,” says one bank executive. “Things don’t happen randomly.” And who else to maintain a running tab of that order but accountants who bring coherence to numbers and organize them in the life of a business, household or church.
Some people get turned on by numbers. The late Mike Yaconelli (best known for publishing The Witten-
People in business value numbers. At MEDA we see this vividly when we watch supporters receive the 15
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Numbers can be an early clue to how well a company annual report — our yearly instrument his beginning accounting class, “You are is grappling of public reckoning. The report typically beginning to learn an entirely new unicontains compelling photos and crisp narversal language. This will enable you to with threats like ratives depicting exciting projects around analyze any institution, be it a business the world. It can be deflating, yet instrucpopulation growth or a church ... or a family.” tive, to watch supporters open their fresh report booklet at the annual meeting. see accounting as a or climate change Some Many businesspeople in the crowd will necessary function to save the planet. thumb right past the visuals and prose Robust accounting standards for sustainand dive straight into the stark columns of numbers in the ability data help investors decide which companies are financial summary. That is what speaks to them — the adapting responsibly to challenges like population growth narrative that strikes a chord. To them, numbers are the and climate change. Investors can then reward companies syntax of accountability. that serve society’s needs. Can we save the world with accounting standards? The late Howard Raid, longtime business profesasks Jean Rogers, founder of the Sustainability Accountsor at Bluffton (Ohio) University, used to tell students in ing Standards Board (SASB). “Maybe not entirely. But SASB’s standards help get sustainability information into the hands of investors. To address our most pressing challenges, we must change business behavior and investor decisions. We’ll get there through accounting.”
Calling to account
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ccounting is a high calling, right up there with a skilled physician or a wise pastor, says Ronald Stoltzfus, head of the accounting program at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va. “To run a business, non-profit or a government agency, you must have properly trained people who know how to collect the right data and present it understandably, giving accurate answers to a host of questions,” he says. “Good CPAs [Certified Public Accountants] are problem-solvers for their clients. And auditors are like forensic investigators — they have to be very bright and very astute. Behind every major business reporting failure, there was an audit failure.” — EMU Crossroads
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Numbers can be the quiet partners of compas-
sion and providential care. Alice complained that she found the financial reports utterly boring when she sat on the board of a Mennonite seniors home. Yet when she thought carefully about it, she realized those “boring spreadsheets” were the spine of her denomination’s organized care for the elderly. It is one thing to declare that we should not be anxious about the future because God looks after the sparrow (and us) but in many cases God chooses to work through junior partners who develop meaningful structures. Those institutions, and the people who sit through boring meetings filled with numbers and spreadsheets, are the “hands” that make God’s care happen. ◆
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Dream job Former MEDA staffer now tracks numbers on the gridiron
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Winnipeg Free Press photo by Phil Hossack
Grey Cup game (Canada’s verim Bell will never forget Hursion of the Super Bowl). Patient ricane Andrew. fans live in hope that their team It was 1992, and Bell, can also win, and not just host, then a member of MEDA’s acthe Grey Cup. When Bell spoke to counting staff, was in Nicaragua to an MBA class at the University of audit a microfinance program. The Manitoba he observed that many hurricane that swept across the Gulf of the students had not yet been region added to the adventure of born the last time the Blue Bombhis first visit to a developing country. ers won the Cup (1990). Today, as a top executive with Asked if there are crossover the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the values between doing a MEDA Canadian Football League, he somefield audit and operating a sports times feels like he’s in the eye of a franchise, Bell quickly points to the hurricane. When the team recently importance of stewardship. Bemoved to the new Investors Group sides caring about fiscal nuts and Field at the University of Manitoba, bolts, both jobs entail accountabilit became his job to handle logistical ity for something larger. glitches (like parking and transporAt the Blue Bombers, that tation) that can raise the temperaJim Bell did much of the heavy lifting for the quickly morphs into a high value ture of passionate fans. team’s move from its old digs (above) to a on community. Bell enjoyed his time with new showcase stadium. When he first joined the MEDA, but the job was only four Bombers he slept with a grin on his face because he was days a week and he needed more. He moved on to fullworking with the team he had loved as a kid. “I was time work with a property management firm and then the proud to join as a numbers guy; that will always be a part Genesis division of Palliser Furniture. of me,” he says. “But now it’s about the community.” One day in 2002 a headhunter called out of the blue Many companies use community language when to invite him to consider a director of finance position for an unnamed organization. “I was happy where I was, and speaking of clientele, but for the Blue Bombers there’s told them so,” recalls Bell, who nonetheless showed up at another layer of meaning since it is, in fact, a communitythe interview. owned team like the Edmonton Eskimos, Saskatchewan When he eventually found out the position was with Roughriders and Green Bay Packers. the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the team he had loved since When he spoke to the Manitoba Chambers of Comboyhood, he changed his tune. Soon he had the job merce this spring, Bell noted that key goals for his sports and began climbing the ranks to his current position as franchise included being competitive, winning on the vice-president and chief operating officer. He oversees field, bringing home a championship and maximizing the areas of accounting and finance, sales, marketing and revenue streams. But there was also another type of goal — serving the community. “We are a community-owned stadium operations. In addition, Bell keeps an eye on the organization and with that we must be community-mindteam’s salary cap to ensure the Bombers are abiding by ed,” he said. the CFL rules. To a former accountant, numbers will always be Now in its second year, Investors Group Field is a important, but Bell’s current role brings a richer appreciastate-of-the-art showcase with 33,000 seats and abuntion for consumers in the marketplace and the value of dant amenities such as luxury suites and vast video meaningful connections with them. screens. It is a desirable concert venue for the likes of “Although the bricks and mortar are spectacular with Taylor Swift and Paul McCartney and has been booked for the new stadium and we have an obligation to meet the major sporting events like next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup and the National Hockey League’s outdoor heritage goals of our bottom line,” he says, “the thing that will classic in 2016. sustain this club long term is the relationship/love affair The stadium also has been selected to host next year’s between the team and its passionate, loyal fans.” ◆ 17
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From deep convictions to Tall Grass Bread co-op grew out of church study of food and land issues by Evelyn Rempel Petkau
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all Grass Prairie Bread Company is well‑known in and around Winnipeg for its gooey cinnamon buns and its organic local baking and preserves, suffusing the marketplace at the Forks and its Wolseley neighbourhood with the aroma of fresh baking. As Paul and Tabitha Langel sit down to enjoy some of the homemade soup from their Tall Grass Bakery at the Forks, they describe the journey they embarked on nearly three decades ago with their church community and their business partners, Lyle and Kathy Barkman. They don’t highlight the long hours, the incredibly hard work, or the surprising twists and turns, but rather the critical role of faith, prayer and the support of their faith community on this journey. Tabitha, a former social worker, and Paul, a former teacher, are long‑time members of the Grain of Wheat Church‑Community. In the late 1980s, the church was studying food and land Paul and Tabitha Langel at their bakery in the Forks, an eclectic issues. market in a historic section of downtown Winnipeg. “Back then, farmers were still getting the same price for a bushel of wheat that they got a hundred ness course between us,” says Tabitha, whose resolve for years ago,” Tabitha recalls. “A record number of small an ethical loaf of bread never wavered. farms were being sold and agri‑business was taking off.” When the bank would not give them a loan to purA small bread co‑op grew out of the church’s conchase a bakery, many in the bread co‑op lent them money cerns and its desire for a more communal life in its and they took out personal loans. neighbourhood. It used a local church’s kitchen and “We had a vision for a dreamy kind of neighbourhood baked bread every Saturday morning. The group of bakbakery,” Tabitha recalls. ers decided to invest in a mill and purchase grain directly They would all keep their part‑time jobs. from local organic farmers. ”We did this for philosophical “But nobody had prepared us for success,” says Paul. reasons, but none of us were prepared for how much bet“On opening day, there were at least 200 people and they ter the bread tasted,” says Tabitha. had baked only 30 loaves of bread, a few dozen muffins and two‑dozen cinnamon buns.” “The demand for the bread became too overwhelmAt its fifth anniversary, Tall Grass Prairie decided to ing,” she says. “We were baking up to 100 loaves on throw a party and invite all the farmers. About 400 people Saturday and on Wednesday I baked another 60.” came, and when the farmers were introduced, people People began to question whether they should try cheered. The farmers were visibly moved. to form a business and support more farmers, eventually “We never had any idea that the bakery would grow bringing the issue to the church community. into a medium‑sized business,” says Paul. “A group of five of us solidified with not a single busiThe Marketplace May June 2014
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No one prepared
Together with the Barkmans, who work at the Wolseley site, they employ nearly 60 people. From the beginning, the bakery has always been about doing what is just and what is good for the land and for the people. “Our philosophy is hugely shaped by the community and our faith,” Paul says. “It is a challenge how to be fair to everyone, to ensure that farmers and everyone get paid a fair living, and that we still make a decent living.” Tall Grass Prairie farmers get 14 cents for every loaf, and every couple of years Tall Grass staff try to visit their farm suppliers. “By far the greatest challenge as owners is to stay on the same page, stay honest and still meet for communion with each other on Sundays,” says Paul. “Any time human beings do things this intense together, there are rough stretches.” To get them through those stretches, the partners have relied on the help of mediation whenever they felt the need. They have also relied heavily on their church community. Twelve years ago, when they were invited to open at the Forks, a stipulation was that they had to be open on Sundays. Their church community encouraged and supported them in this. “It has proven to be the right decision, but it has also been a strain,” Tabitha says. “I knew a rabbi whose family
shops here and he told us, ‘Remember God made the sabbath for us and not us them for for the sabbath.’ Eleven years later, it still is a chalsuccess: 200 lenge. “The rabbi came by people lined up a while ago,” she adds, “and said, ‘I hear you miss on opening day church many Sundays. Private prayer and praying with your people are two different things, so my daughter is coming to work on Sundays so you can go to church.’ That germinated the idea that we would experiment with scheduling our Muslim, Jewish and Christian employees according to their religious days. So now we have a Jewish baker who bakes on Sundays. It has made a lot of difference.” “It is never not a struggle to live your faith in the workplace,” says Paul. “But the joy is immense,” Tabitha hastens to add. “There is respect in the workplace. You get a sense the staff enjoy coming to work. We guard the culture of the workplace very carefully.” ◆ Reprinted with permission from Canadian Mennonite.
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Soundbites
Commerce 101 for clerics Shortly after the financial crisis of 2008 a priest told James Martin, “Capitalism is dead.” Martin, who had left a job at GE Capital to enter the Jesuits, responded by asking the priest if he could still go to the corner and buy a hotdog. “Yes,” he said. “That’s capitalism,” Martin said. “It’s not dead.” While many clerics and sisters have founded and run schools and hospitals, many more are at sea when it comes to financial practices, Martin writes in America, a Jesuit magazine (“Why the church needs business”). “The same church that has (rightly) spoken out so forcefully on the excesses and the limitations of capitalism desperately needs some capitalistic skills.” Martin offers two reasons why Catholic clergy know so little about business. First, many clerics who now run the church entered their religious orders right out of college or high school and “did not have the important experience of having to earn a paycheck, balance a checkbook, manage employees, read a balance sheet, invest in the stock market, and so on.” Second, business never became part of their education. What would Martin change about religious training? “Drop a year of philosophy and add a year of business,” he writes. “When you think of the likelihood that a Jesuit will one day be running a parish or school, Adam Smith is more important than Immanuel Kant. Pity the priest who finds himself presented with a sheaf of financial statements, without knowing what a debit or credit is. Pity the sister who finds herself running a school without ever having hired (or, more importantly, fired) a The Marketplace May June 2014
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ties, when I was watching my mom fix dinner, to a scant 27 minutes a day.... And yet at the same time we’re talking about cooking more — and watching cooking, and reading about cooking, and going to restaurants designed so that we can watch the work performed live. We live in an age when professional cooks are household names, some of them as famous as athletes or movie stars. The very same activity that many people regard as a form of drudgery has somehow been elevated to a popular spectator sport. — Michael Pollan in Cooked
single person.” Martin adds that church fraud and embezzlement occur because “pastors often rely on a longtime business manager, almost blindly, and they themselves may not have the education to know when they are being duped.... Anyone running a business who does not know what a bank rec is shouldn’t be running a business. This is not simply good management but good stewardship.”
a cluttered world. — Julie Rattey in Pocket Prayers for Young Professionals
New China People are very excited about Africa. It’s the new China. You’ve got demonstrable improvement in political and corporate governance, and you’re starting to see some fairly major growth in GDP. The possibilities there are very attractive. — Gavin Graham, co-author of Frontier Markets for Dummies, in the Globe & Mail
A natural? Saying that someone is a natural is usually meant as praise, but it is in fact disrespectful to the people who have worked to master any discipline, be it music, literature, medicine, or sports. No one can control what they are born with, but they can control how hard they work. The fact is that talent counts for almost nothing in the absence of hard work. Plenty of gifted athletes never make it. Other guys work their way to the top with very modest gifts. Whether you are talented or not, the only thing that is going to get you where you want to go is hard work. — Hockey legend Bobby Orr in Orr: My Story
Overcooked How is it that at the precise historical moment when Americans were abandoning the kitchen, handing over the preparation of most of our meals to the food industry, we began spending so much of our time thinking about food and watching other people cook it on television? The less cooking we were doing in our own lives, it seemed, the more that food and its vicarious preparation transfixed us. Our culture seems to be of at least two minds on this subject. Survey research confirms we’re cooking less and buying more prepared meals every year. The amount of time spent preparing meals in American households has fallen by half since the midsix-
Empty inbox I look at my inbox, God, and am amazed at what I see: how clean, how organized, how spare. It is a small thing, God, but it feels like a little miracle, a breath of fresh air. Thank you for this feeling of accomplishment, this relief at a fresh start. Thank you, God, for this brief moment of orderliness in
Spinoffs I discovered centrifugal force the day I drove my two-wheeler through a puddle and got a streak of muck splattered up my back. I was seven or so, and it would be years before I’d learn in physics class that what I had experienced was centrifugal force in action. Later in life I found that good deeds are like centrifugal force. They shoot out from the hub and touch everything. Do something good — in your workplace or community — and you’ll see how it cannot be contained. It will always spin out circles of more virtue. — Bartholomew Gideon
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Mission in an old Ford Henry’s Glory: A Story for Discovering Lasting Significance in Your Daily Work. By John Elton Pletcher (Resource Publications, 2013, 122 pp. $17 U.S.)
over the years that “my mission field is fixin’ Fords and hangin’ ‘round the truck stop with these truckers.” In hearing his faith journey they learn that the old codger wore his overalls into the baptismal waters to symbolize that his work was being baptized, too. The cast of characters (including some surprising historic personages) brought into their path as they preside over Grandpa’s last days serves to enlarge their understanding of creation, redemption and mission, not to mention the role of work in God’s divine economy. They discover, among other things, that it was the Greek philosopher Plato who came up with the notion of dual spheres and patriarch Augustine who imported it into the church and concretized a sacred-secular split that would plague the church for centuries. Maggie had never before seen any link between her veterinary work and the creation story, so it was new to her that her Monday-toFriday career could mean anything to God’s kingdom. An erudite hospital chaplain helps Maggie and Zach see that being made in God’s image means “we are commissioned to be co-creators and coworkers in his kingdom.” They discover a new meaning of “missional.” They find that people in every imaginable kind of work can be missional — car mechanics, doctors, plumbers, stock traders, stay-at-home moms and corporate executives. Zach gets an answer to his burning question as to whether his daily work as an architect can count for something beyond supplying money for tithes and offerings, or providing a platform to proselytize. He comes to see his professional relationships in a new light. “I’ve let myself become so consumed with the design grids and the buildings, and not so concerned about the people who help build them and eventually inhabit them,” he says in a moment of discovery. This is lively theology in a lilting, down-to-earth key. It will strengthen your faith — and your work. Each chapter concludes with discussion questions. Resources for further study are added at the end. How does an old down-at-the-wheelwells pickup fit into all this as an enduring metaphor? For that you’ll have to read the book yourself. — Wally Kroeker
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e’ve delighted in the steady flow of books that link daily work with Christian faithfulness, but this is the first we’ve seen that takes the form of a novel. Author John Elton Pletcher, lead pastor of Manor Church in Lancaster, Pa., says he wrote the book for “grease-covered car guys, running-fast real estate gals, plumbers, pastors, farmers, teachers, busy soccer moms, CEOs and everybody else who is working hard day after day.” He wanted to help them answer the question — “How does my everyday job, where I spend so many crazy hours of my life, connect to God’s larger story and his purposes in the world?” We’re not used to hearing pastors stake out this territory; in fact, many pastors default to a concentraThey found that tion on every kind of work the “gathered church” rather than the “dispersed can be missional church” of Mondayto-Friday. Pletcher’s — mechanics, book is a welcome addition to our shelf. plumbers, doctors, The story, which serious literature stay-at-home fans might find a bit didactic, follows Zach, moms, stock traders a young architect who has gone to visit his dying grandfather and and CEOs. inherits Henry, a 1977 Ford F-100 pickup that has seen better days. During the death vigil he meets up with Maggie, a longtime friend who is now a veterinarian. Then there’s Uncle Clyde, a traditionalist pastor whose favorite quote is “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.” That mantra not only defines his own meagre conception of ministry, it also fuels Zach’s simmering guilt for having chosen a secular, and therefore second-rate, profession. Zach and Maggie become immersed in Grandpa’s world. As they try to get Zach’s inheritance running, they meet one of his downhome neighbors who has learned 21
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News
Sarah’s Hope Jewelry keeps changing lives She travels to the Eusebia, a widowed factories and sits on mother of 12 in Nicthe assembly line aragua, used a $100 alongside the workers. microloan to plant an “We care about all acre of red beans. Over the people involved in 10 years, she was able the process,” she says. to parlay that into a “I want to know that 100‑acre spread where things are being fairly she raises cattle and produced and workers hogs. fairly treated.” “I have seen firsthand how education UPS has been an inand microfinance can tegral part of the busicompletely transform ness, handling inbound a life from poverty to and outbound logisprosperity,” she says. tics worldwide. The In Afghanistan, a company uses both woman living tradWorldShip® and UPS itionally cannot work CampusShip®, which outside the home, so a saves time on shipping woman named Nepton tasks. “We could not used a microloan to have accomplished raise chickens in her what we have withSarah Smith, right, with Ella Rose, a tortilla maker in Nicaragua who has backyard and sell eggs out the help of UPS,” been helped with affordable credit. to local shops. Now Smith says. “It’s been a she has expanded into real partnership. the neighbor’s yard, too. “Running a business and a of jewelry that reflects their to others,” she says. “Our These are just two of charity at the same time takes story. Each piece showcases motto is, if we are not helping hundreds of women whose a lot of energy,” she adds. a proprietary stone called alleviate human need in some lives have changed because “But giving is contagious, and E’Sperene®, a composite of capacity, we have no business of Sarah’s Hope Jewelry. This people want to help.” quartz and metal oxides with being in business.” Middleton, Wis., company was vibrant colors that shift as the So in 2011 Smith launched Sarah’s Hope Jewelry partstarted to support microlight changes, reflecting the ners with organizations such as a program called Giving Back finance institutions (loans Locally. Now, when customers changes Sarah’s Hope offers. MEDA (Mennonite Economic starting at $50) and small‑busi- (Espére is French for hope.) buy Sarah’s Hope pieces, the Development Associates) and ness training programs for retail jeweler donates a porSmith describes herself microfinance institutions that women living in difficult or tion of the proceeds to local as “an entrepreneur to the distribute the loans, and the impoverished circumstances, charities, ranging from soup bone,” whose first business, MEDA-founded ASSETS (A both in the United States and kitchens to women’s shelters, launched at age 14 with her Service for Self‑Employment abroad. The company donates Habitat for Humanity or the sister, paid for her college Training and Support) to at least 10 percent of profits United Way. education. After obtaining a provide scholarships for small to nonprofit organizations that “Our customers raised master of divinity degree and business training. do this life‑changing work. $100,000 for charities in their a second master’s and doctor“We want people to under“I have traveled to meet backyard this way,” she says. ate of theology, she put her stand the women, their stories with many of the recipients theological and entrepreneurial and the power of microfinance “Being able to see this happen and have seen firsthand how in the United States and Canbackground to work in a new to help women improve their education and microfinance ada is really rewarding. And calling: helping women rise circumstances,” Smith says. can completely transform a life it’s something any company out of poverty. “It’s a giving circle.” from poverty to prosperity,” can incorporate in its business Smith’s personal connection “Unlike other businesses, says founder Sarah Smith. extends to the company’s inter- model.” ◆ especially public companies, Smith meets personally with where the business model and national supply chain as well. Reprinted with permission from the women who have received Jewelry is manufactured in the value proposition is driving UPS Compass. ©2014, United loans and scholarships, then United States, Italy and China earnings and value for investParcel Service of America, Inc. All returns home to design a piece ors, we want to bring hope following fair trade standards. rights reserved. The Marketplace May June 2014
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Course sees leadership through Anabaptist lens The 13th class of the Values‑ Based Leadership Program will be held Oct. 28‑30, 2014, and Feb. 24‑26, 2015, both at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, Mount Pleasant, Pa. VBLP helps leaders see their roles and organizational processes through an Anabaptist lens, encouraging servant leadership while celebrating community and diversity. It stresses shared vision and motivating colleagues to work together to contribute their strengths to the overall process. “Other training I’ve taken provided academic and theoretic learning, which was valuable,” says 2010 graduate Galen Lehman, president of Lehman’s Hardware, Kidron, Ohio. “VBLP provided emotional learning, which was invaluable. When I came back, people around me noticed an improvement in who I was and how I led.” Registration is limited to 45 participants for the five‑day program, which is divided into two parts. Leaving a time gap between parts one and two aims to allow participants to reflect on and implement what they learn and to bring real‑life experience back to the second session. Tuition for the two‑part
program is $945 before Aug. 31 and $1,045 thereafter (not including transportation, materials, lodging and meals). VBLP is sponsored by Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical
Seminary, Everence, Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Education Agency, Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), MHS Alli-
ance and Schmucker Training & Consulting. To register or learn more about scholarship opportunities go to www.vblp.org/registration/ or call 800‑839‑1021. ◆
New MEDA initiative honors “20 under 35” MEDA has launched a new initiative to recognize 20 young professionals under the age of 35 who embody values of faith, business and service to others. Nominees for the recognition will exhibit a strong commitment to faith and service and will display excellent leadership and/or creativity in
business, says Ethan Eshbach, MEDA’s coordinator of young adult engagement. “We see a rising tide of young professionals who have an entrepreneurial spirit and who are making a difference in our world,” he says. “In light of MEDA’s mission to create business solutions to poverty, we want to honor and recognize
young professionals who are living out these same values.” Those chosen for “20 under 35” recognition will be featured at a reception at this fall’s MEDA convention, Nov. 6-9 in Winnipeg. For nomination requirements or to learn more call Eshbach at 1-800-665-7026 or e-mail eeshbach@meda.org. ◆
Comments? Would you like to comment on anything in this magazine, or on any other matters relating to business and faith? Send your thoughts to wkroeker@meda.org
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