PeruMission furniture export business...

Business that Builds Community "Business done well changes lives, lifts societies, and glorifies God." -Thomas Sudyk, quoted in "The Mission of Business", Christianity Today We are pleased to announce that our long hoped-for furniture export business and training facility for carpenters is about to become a reality. "Parish", as the project is currently named, was first conceived of by missionary Brad Ball and developed together with Chris Bolton as a thesis project in Brad's MBA program at the University of Tennessee. In line with Peru Mission's philosophy of ministry, we plan to disciple men to become godly leaders in the community while also providing them with jobs and training. In the process, we hope to introduce North American households to beautiful handcrafted Peruvian woodwork, produced in a fully sustainable way. We have already begun construction on a facility in Trujillo that includes workspace, warehousing and offices. The facility should be fully equipped and operational by late May 2008. This summer we will begin working with a small group of carpenters on producing initial designs and samples, and training them to become future managers at the facility. In addition to developing their carpentry skills, we hope to invest in their personal and spiritual lives. Your prayers are needed! The next twelve months will be crucial, from selecting the Peruvian carpenters we work with to finding US distributors for our first designs. We still need to fundraise approximately $125,000 to complete the facility by the end of this year, and Brad Ball and Don Charlet are still raising their personal support. All are somewhere in the process of relocating their families to Peru. In addition to your prayers, you can also help our project by raising awareness among your friends and churches. In the context of a developing country, where opportunity is limited to a wealthy few and the rest scrape by on a day-to-day basis, creating jobs is a crucial part of social justice. By starting a medium-sized sustainable business, we hope to give Peruvian workers a dignified job and the ability to run their own businesses. To find out more about the project, or to receive Parish's quarterly newsletter, please contact Brad Ball at bball@perumission.org or Chris Bolton at cbolton@perumission.org. All profits will be reinvested in the business and in our church community here in Northern Peru. In His Grace,The Peru Mission Team To read the recent cover story in Christianity Today about Business-as-Mission, which highlights our project, click here.For a recent article about the need for mid-sized businesses in poor countries, called "What Micro-loans Miss", click here