Ministry Teaches Families Biblical Models for Entrepreneurial Success
by Ed Thomas
August 14, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A ministry that strengthens Christian families is extending that vision to encourage them in business ventures. Vision Forum Ministries' first-ever "Entrepreneurial Boot Camp for Christian Families," which started today in Texas, is designed to pull those families back to a biblical approach to work. Vision Forum's founder, Doug Phillips, says each three-day Entrepreneurial Boot Camp uses biblical examples to show the value of entrepreneurial efforts for discipleship in the family setting. "It pictures the family as a place of different generations working together," he explains, and the program teaches that even in the process of working, entrepreneurship is "part of the discipleship model that God gives us."
That model, the ministry founder asserts, teaches that wealth accumulation can raise up God's people and their families for kingdom purposes and keep them together. Whether the endeavor is in agriculture, direct sales, real estate, or anything in-between, the Boot Camps are designed to highlight the notion that 21st century technology makes it possible for the family to work together in any field.
"So while entrepreneurship may not be the answer to all problems, it certainly is a component to rebuilding the Christian family," Phillips contends. "When we think of the Psalms that talk about righteous and blessed men, we always see them in the context of men who are enjoying the fruit of their labor with their children around them," he notes. "So entrepreneurship is a biblical concept."
On the other hand, the Vision Forum spokesman observes, most of the world's business models separate families, and these models can cause all kinds of problems, from infidelity to poor ethics, largely because they are put into practice outside of the family teaching environment. And sadly, he suggests, many contemporary families -- even Christian families -- have been more affected by the world's model than by the biblical model of business.
"The tragedy is that because modern families have become so incredibly fragmented -- because they cannot see beyond the present -- the result is we are not mighty in the land," Phillips asserts. And another result, he adds, is that "we are losing the hearts of our children."
But Vision Forum Ministries hopes to help families turn these trends around through its Entrepreneurial Boot Camp for Christian Families events. These boot camps are taught by independent businessmen who include their families in their work, and they include sessions on such topics as business models, raising capital, and running a business.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.