Thursday, May 7, 2009

God is Stirring Marketplace Leaders in Peru

Over 350 Peruvian business leaders and professionals recently attended a marketplace leadership event sponsored by Global Advance and the Peruvian Cathedral de Fe Christian business network. The Business Leadership by Design course on leadership character and Biblical principles for business were taught by Don and Deb Jones, entrepreneurs from Dallas. Kevin Pate, who directs Global Advance Marketplace Missions, lead the entire group to commit their businesses to God’s purposes in their nation.

Cleaning Up for Christ

José, a Christian businessman in Lima, Peru, is “cleaning up” with his business. His cleaning business is located in the heart of the interior design district of Lima. A true entrepreneur, José has excelled in the niche of cleaning commercial and residential carpets, rugs and curtains. He gives all the credit for his success to God, as he dedicated his business to Him years ago. At this time, he estimates that he has about 87% market share in the city.

For the past three years, José ’s company has experienced an annual growth trend of about 20%. He believes that his carpet cleaning company has flourished due to his diligence to base his business on the Biblical principles of hard work, excellence, honesty and good customer service. He further stresses the importance of customer service in saying that about 80% of his customers are repeat business and most of his new customers come based on word of mouth from satisfied customers.

Nicolas and Mary Elena

This dedicated Christian couple own and operate a successful business in Lima, Peru, which converts vehicles from gasoline dependent to natural gas or liquid propane gas dependent. They have just opened their second location in the city and are extremely excited about what God is doing in their business. They feel blessed that God is allowing them to be a part of this business, which they consider His business.

Nicolas and Mary Elena related the following testimony – Nicolas explained, “we have always believed in giving out of our business and over a year ago, God spoke telling us to give over and above our normal offerings for one year.” Mary Elena, the accountant on the team, said, “I was nervous about doing this, but we both felt with certainty that God had spoken.” In the next year, their business grew steadily each month and they had a banner year!

At the end of that year, Nicolas said that he and Mary Elena both agreed that they had completed their obligation to the Lord and would therefore, stop giving the extra percentage. Although they agreed to stop giving, “secretly neither one of us felt right, nor had a peace about stopping (our giving to the Lord). Immediately, our business dropped and we had a terrible month. In talking with each other, we discovered that we both strongly felt that we should not have stopped giving the extra percentage.” Without hesitation, they reinstated the extra percentage and their business rebounded the next month!

Nicolas and Mary Elena are a great example of a husband and wife team who work together, are generous and look to God for direction in their business. They are an inspiration of what can happen if we hear and obey the Lord’s voice in everything we do.



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