Business Partners International (BPI)
2010 Ministry Update

Praise God for the work He is doing in Guatemala through the faithful!

Background

Guatemala is a relatively poor country where more than three quarters of the population lives in poverty. Wealth is concentrated among the upper class. Progress has been hindered by decades of civil war and the lack of a diverse manufacturing sector. Several years ago God put on heart of Shower of Grace Church (SOG) Senior Pastor Edmundo Guillen the great need and “call to action” to redeem the Guatemalan culture for Christ. This was to be accomplished by:
1) The population coming to know Christ through the Church.
2) Making education a priority through the Church to help irradiate the low literacy rate.
3) Teaching the “ science of how to do Business God’s way” to the believing community in the Church and break the poverty cycle.
Using the Showers of Grace Church as the distribution platform and thought the leadership of Pastor Edmundo SOG they began to faithfully action these God inspired tasks. As SOG progressed Pastor Guillen realized Showers of Grace Church had the capacity to action points one and two but need the help of outside Christian Business people to help with the third point.

Business Partners International (BPI ) role is serve the Showers of Grace “ “Entrepreneur School” business ministry by mobilizing Perimeter Members to go and teach how to research, start and operate a business. But more specifically a Kingdom Company. Each student is hand picked by the pastor community in the church . The students must be debt free, pastor recommended and have an idea for business they believe came form God. In every case these students have a passionate love for the Lord and there hearts are right for the Kingdom Business teaching.

The Mission:

In the mid 1990's Guatemala emerged from a prolonged civil war . Economic confusion and staggering unemployment reigned the day. Perimeter Church's BPI ministry and the Jholdas Group have responded by partnering with Showers of Grace Church in Guatemala City to teach and launch Micro Enterprise Kingdom Companies.

The Guatemala project has the potential to create small businesses and employment for qualified candidates. The process includes multiple teams of American business people teaching a prepared curriculum, assisting in the development of business plans, and providing micro-loans to graduates.

Jan 28

Brenda Johnson
Karen RobinsonCope
David Pritchard

Finally, we blog as we arrive home!
We were on the run the entire time and had limited access to wireless.
Butwe are all home and the mission trip was better than we could have imagined (thank you, God!). Throughout the mission in country, He showed us why our two previously scheduled dates for this trip werent in his timingwell share that with you at the end.  (photos at the end also)

Its been amazing! To start, our flight in Atlanta had issues in that there was a hole in the airplane and another one had to be found. We wondered for a few moments if we still were not in Gods timing for this trip, but another airplane was soon found, and we were only an hour and a half late arriving in Guatemala City. We had a late lunch with the most gracious of hosts, Estuardo and Gladys and their children Javier and Dulce. We then started the first evening of business Gods way training at Showers of Grace church.

The students were those who had already been through the first two phases of training. They came back to learn how to get their businesses up and running well operationally. One of the former students, and now Kingdom business owner, Gabriel, interpreted for us on the first night. It was a great time of getting to know the students, hearing about their aspirations for the businesses they believe God wants them to start. The students are amazing with huge hearts for the Lord. They pray with such faith and love and enthusiasm.

On Friday, we spent the day at the mission center training a pastor Juan Carlos, his son and two business men from his church in Palin on Phase 1How to take Gods idea and put it down on paper. Kingdom impact and strategic plan development. Phase 2 was also covered, so by the evening they were caught up with the other students. The pastor and leader of this group of men, Juan Carlos, is a man with a vision and passion to transform Palin by teaching men marketable skills and reaching out to children through the use of a mission center they built there. He left a successful career in life insurance sales to become a pastor. The village is one where MMM and Dr. Alb does medical missions, and the vision is to be successful in this village and then replicate it in the many other villages served by Medical Missions Ministries (MMM). .

In the evening Friday, we continued with Phase 3 training with the students which included a blessed and powerful prayer time led by Estuardo. We learned the needs and trials of our sisters and brothers and were so blessed to pray with and for them. On Saturday, we met our new interpreter, Erin. She is a young Mom originally from upstate New York, who is now married to a Guatemalan man. Together they have a ministry in gang-ridden Zone 18 in Guatemala City. During lunch, Gabriel (former student, printing company owner and another of our interpreters) gave a powerful testimony of coming to faith in Jesus and the act of forgiveness that God used to grow and bless his business.

On Saturday afternoon, the students graduated, including the men who did all three phases of the training in three days. When the training was over, it seemed that we all didnt want to say goodbyeno one was leaving! It was lots of talking and hugging and taking of pictures! It was so hard to say adios! Three or four of the students will be selected to receive small loans to start up their businesses. The selection is based on the business plans they created in Phase 2, their involvement in the training, and the potential impact of their kingdom companies.

On Sunday we worshipped at Showers of Grace Church. The people of this church know how to worship the Lord well with joy and singing and dancing and crying out to the Lord. We were invited to share about the ministry on stage during worship with the congregation. In the afternoon, we traveled to Antigua with our partners in the business ministry, Estuardo and Gabriel, and their families. It was a joy to fellowship with these families in this former capitol which has amazingly preserved Spanish architecture and a volcano as its backdrop.

On Monday morning, Karen and Brenda met with Berlin, the wife of the senior pastor of Showers of Grace church. She is responsible for the childrens ministries and the library of the church. She shared the testimony of her grandparents, who were some of the first missionaries in Guatemala. We offered to come along side her for any support she needs and we are pleased to come home with a couple of ideas to work.

While Karen and Brenda met with Berlin, David and Estuardo met to plan for the ministry in 2010. They reviewed the student loans balances and discussed tweaks to improve the approach to 2010 future teachings. A new class of debt free, pastor picked students will be exposed to the Phase 1 training May 13th 16th 2010.

Our second meeting on Monday was with Manuel Espina who is well networked with Christian business owners, ministries, and banks. His father was a past vice president in Guatemala. Manuel is a man of vision whose desire is that Guatemala would be transformed one village at a time. His heart is to help unite the various missions at work in Guatemala to help bring greater impact for the kingdom and the people. One of the outcomes of that meeting is research to find organizations that offer micro-lending for in Guatemala. One goal is the ministry taps into an existing micro-lending bank that can offer and maintain obtain small loans to start their Kingdom Business.

In the afternoon, we met with a former student at his place of business and provided consulting. When reviewing his financials, we were delighted to see he is very profitable and growing. His goal is to grow his business 50% this year, and he has specific actions he is taking to do it. Additionally, he is a man of God whose business is a Kingdom Company, and he is living out his Kingdom impact statement.

We had dinner at the home our dear friends and partners in ministry, Estuardo, Gladys, Javier and Dulce Perez. We found that they are excellent cooks, and it was a joy to be with them at their home. We watched a movie Flywheel together that was all about business Gods way.

Tuesday our last day. We were eager to get home to our families but sad to leave this wonderful country, dear friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. We started the day with an awesome and impacting devotional with Dr. Alb. He taught us about not letting our past experience and expertise keep us in bondage and from what we do in the future. Gods intention is to use us in ways we cannot imagine, just as he made the fishermen of low status fishers of men. We were in Luke 19.

We had breakfast with one of the founders of this ministry, Fernando. He and his wife have two Kingdom businesses. Afterward, we drove to the new location of Vida Real Church, which will be used for worship for the first time on February 7. It is a joy to see what the Lord is doing through His bride in Guatemala!

guatemala_city

Jan 28

We are now home and letting the experience of the past week sink in. Although this trip was delayed twice, God revealed why we were not in His timing the first two times we tried to make this trip. The following would not have happened, had we gone in September or December:

Juan Carlos, the pastor from Palin, and his team would not have attended the training.

One of our Phase 3 students would not have been able to attend the training.

We would not have had a meeting with Manuel who is going to help us find micro-lending organizations (our contact with him came about from a visitor to Perimeter church in December).

We would not have been able to visit with Ronnie Madrid, the pastor of Vida Real, and see the church that they are building which is scheduled to have the first service on Feb 7.

The mission was a blessing at every turn. We are all grateful to the Lord that He would use us for the work of His Kingdom. We thank God for all the prayer warriors who covered us with prayer. We felt it!!! Although we went to serve, teach and bless others, we were the ones who were taught and blessed! This was an anointed team. Thanks and praise-be to God for our families, our prayer and financial supporters, Guatemala partners Estuardo and team at Showers of Grace, Global Outreach at Perimeter Church, Dr. Alb and Medical Missions Ministries. We praise God for the work He is doing and excited to be witness to the transformation we proclaim will take place in Guatemala in our generation we pray.

Please continue to pray for the people. For Gods provision, that He would choose to rise up leaders to go and do the work and for the middle class gap to be filled by this coming generation. That the bribe and extortion will be vanquished in the name of Jesus we pray!

There is lots of work ahead to do in His name. Business Partner International (BPI) Journey dates have been established for 2010 :

Phase 1 May 13th- 16th 3 Team members
Phase 2 July 15th 20th 6 Team members
Phase 3 September 16th 19th 3 Team members

Please contact David Pritchard for journey info
404 644 8899 Cell or e mail david @gillna.com


PHOTOS:

                                Saturday graduation outside Showers of Grace Church





Former student and printing business owner, Gabriel (left) with the printing machine he purchased from the loan provided by the proram.   Estuardo (right) is the business ministry leader in country.



Praying with and for students...



                      One of the students, Hector, graduates...




Classroom and students at Showers of Grace Church



Karen, David & Brenda with Juan Carlos (center) and his Palin team...



Lunch in Antigua with Estuardo, Gabriel and their families

Beautiful view of Antigua and the volcano

Karen and Brenda with Berlin

guatemala_city

1/20/2010 BPI Phase 3

Jan 20

Our team: Karen Robinson, David Pritchard, Brenda Johnson

It is here! After a couple of delays, we leave for Guatemala tomorrow, Thursday, January 21, 2010.

We will be sharing God's design for Kingdom businesses to students in Phase 3 of BPI's training (Business Partners International). In Phase 3, they will be trained on getting their businesses up, running and operational. In addition to business plans, these students also create a Kingdom impact plan!

Each student worships at Showers of Grace Church and was handpicked by his or her pastor. Each is debt free and has a business idea they believe came from God. At the end of Phase 3 training, the students will become the first 2010 graduates and begin to build their businesses.

We are meeting with past graduates to get progress updates. Additionally, on this trip we are partnering with Medical Missions Ministry to teach new welding students about Kingdom Business. These students are planning to start a business in the village areas of Guatemala.

We appreciate the prayer support from family, friends loved ones back home. Please pray for the students, our Guatemala partners, and for the three of us as we endeavor to be used of God to impact his eternal kingdom.

To God be the glory.

David J Pritchard

New! BPI Guatemala Blog! Click this link or copy and paste in browser address window.   http://guatemala-journal.blogspot.com/ 

Contacts:
For more information about these companies and to learn about becoming involved in this aspect of the ministry, including the opportunity to bless these Kingdom Business start-ups, please contact David Pritchard at (770) 945.0564, ext. 110. Cell (404) 644.8899. Email david@gillna.com