“Before I became a pastor, I was a businessman but I left my business.”, said one of the pastors we trained in Mozambique. “After the Pioneer Business Planting training I realized I shouldn’t have walked away from doing business. Now I know I can combine business and church. I can share about Jesus when I am doing business and be the church in my business.”
This inspiring testimony above is one of the the many from the five-day Pioneer Business Planting training last June in Mozambique. 40 people from our Mozambique network of 40 house churches from three different locations in Maputo (Capital City of Mozambique) were trained. One participant came from the North of Mozambique, Beira (17-18 hours drive).
Pioneer Business Planting Activities
The outcome of this five-day Pioneer Business Planting training is to start a Kingdom business that does not exist in their area and help the church planters to become self-sustainable. This will help in three different ways:
- It serves the community as they have the opportunity to buy a product or service that isn’t there yet.
- There is less to no competition, so it’s easier to start and grow the business.
- The business doesn’t compete with existing businesses which helps them become a witness in the community.
In one game we learn about leadership. It’s called the “Blind square game”. In this game, 5 team members have to hold a rope which both ends tied together. The 5 people need to close their eyes, hold their hands on the rope and form a square while the eyes are closed. In this game the people learn to listen, make a plan, work together and communicate.
During the training we talked about finding a good business idea and writing a business plan. We also talked about sales, marketing, creating a personal and business budget, problem solving, and leadership.
Orphanage started by All Nations
The team also visited the orphanage that has been started by All Nations years ago. We gave them some input on a sewing business. The idea is to have local people sell what they make. They have sewing machines and materials already and are working on a business plan for it.
TESTIMONIES
“I have opened my mind to selling and starting a business. Pray first and don’t separate business and church. I also plan and research products or services that people don’t have in the community. What would they like to have? In business, we must love our customers, and gradually, we can start sharing the words of God with them. We must have a brand to see and if we get some profit and then order the product again. More importantly, separate the money of the business and our salary. We can also invest the profit to grow more and remember not to use the business money for personal expenses.”
“I feel a strong responsibility for our church members. Many of them ask me for help, but I didn’t have much to give. Now I know what to give them. I can help them start a business and become self-sustainable.”
