Uganda

It is a place I’ve never been. It is a place where I have only one personal friend. It is a place I rarely think of.

Uganda will become my home in one week. I know only where I will stay my first several nights. I have no job nor do I know exactly what work I will seek. Though, a deep sense of spiritual peace resides within me as I prepare to make this move. Such peace also seems to be the source of the energy that drives me. In many ways, this is a step of faith as the order of unknowns does not cease. Yet, my adventurous spirit also intervenes and guides my steps.

My heart’s current calling urges me to learn business in the African context. The physical suffering on this continent holds an unprecedented stake in the world’s history of man’s failures. You know the statistics. You’ve seen the pictures. Africa needs change. I believe that such needed change is to come. Business will be the driving force. At a time like no other, Africa is poising to become the next “economic boom.”

I envision an Africa of opportunity. I envision the West investing money in entrepreneurial ventures throughout the continent. I envision economic development bringing prosperity, which may be defined as simply having three meals per day.

As this next step in my life has come clearly before me, the following step remains in complete darkness. I dream that through business I may bring prosperity to others. That is, I dream that prosperity of the heart will come forth within those that I interact with. By mutually sharing in the love that Jesus brought into this world, I rest confidentially that such spiritual prosperity will follow! And, just maybe, this love can be shared over three meals per day with all Africans. This is my dream!

TS

The Escape of Certainty

It was all but certain – I would live and work in Oklahoma for the near term. A six-month apartment lease was signed. A new car was in my mind’s order. The desire to establish a community of friends was pressing. Life would settle for the time being. Peace was within me. That was May 5th of this year.

It was that day in which I began a three-month stint of contract work for Dominion Farms. Owned by Calvin Burgess, Dominion Farms stems from the spiritual calling that this serial entrepreneur had as a young boy. His knack for business truly met his altruistic heart when he began this $25-million agribusiness project. Visit www.dominion-farms.com to gain further insight into the company.

Excitement loomed within me as I first stepped into the office and into the entrepreneurial role of developing a youth training center in West Kenya on the company’s property. Day by day, I was driven by the faces of the Kenyan youth I had encountered last September while there. They deserve hope, and that is what our effort is to bring them. Yet, slowly, I found myself being drained of energy. My body and mind were not thriving. Something needed to change.

As I finished the contract, I searched for what would be best for me to do next. I deliberated on staying in the States or going abroad. I inquired into the knowledge of others and asked for advice. Uncertainty became a rather close companion. In one month’s time, I knew not where I would be or what I would be doing. Though, I was content with this. “It is all part of the adventure,” I would tell myself.

TS