In2theRiver

Good morning from Westminster, MD!

Can a business be a catalyst for people to experience hope? To say it another way, can it help people practically, creating real opportunities, as well as spiritually, pointing people to a reframed identity around the truth that they were created on purpose and for a purpose by a God who loves them?

As the son of a business owner and now a business owner myself as well as someone who has worked in economic and community development for more than 15 years, I have thought a lot about this. There are obvious ways businesses can benefit society and the people that live in it such as economic growth and employment. However, are there deeper, less obvious ways a business can bring hope to the people who work there and the communities in which they exist? The short answer is yes, but let’s explore it a little more.

One of the advantages of growing up in a business is that I had the opportunity to watch the impact a business can have. The truth is the impact can be a net positive or a net negative depending on how it is run. Despite the perception of many, I believe there are many more businesses producing a positive impact than a negative impact, but that is a topic for another time. Fortunately, my dad and his team, which started out small and grew over the years, always saw their business as a way to create opportunity for others and make a positive impact on their community. Of course, they also saw it as a vehicle for taking care of their families, but it didn’t stop there. This greatly shaped my perspective and continues to be an important part of our vision as a business today.

As I began to explore how I could use my gifts, experiences, and resources to make a difference in the lives of other people, specifically in Nicaragua, I became even more convinced about the hope-bringing power of a business. I talk a lot about this journey in my book, Hope Realized, but I more or less began to see how a business could be a hope ecosystem. In other words, an environment that works together to produce a cycle of hope, continually rippling out as it grows. The potential difference this could make was particularly clear in the communities in which I served, and continue to serve, in Nicaragua where the impact of poverty and hopelessness can’t be missed.

So, what would it look like for a business to be a catalyst for people to experience hope? In today’s post, I want to give an overview of a what it could look like for a business to be a hope ecosystem. In future posts, I will explore the specifics of how a business can be a conduit for practical and spiritual hope.

I want you to imagine a business located in a community in which many people are unable to afford to send their kids to school, put nutritious food on the table, or address medical needs. Unemployment is rampant in the community, and many people have decided their situation is hopeless. Sadly, this isn’t a new problem. This has been going on for generations, hopelessness becoming more and more ingrained as the years pass. Many believe nothing can ever change, but not everyone.

Instead of giving into the lie of hopelessness, someone decides to start a business and invites members of the community to be a part of the team. While the business is focused on being profitable and sustainable, its purpose goes much deeper. It starts with the way the business owner sees the people on his team and in the community. Where many see failure, the business owner sees God-given potential and purpose. This influences the way the business owner treats his team members. He looks for opportunities to reinforce their value and invest in their development. In this way and others, he is intentional about communicating that he believes they were created on purpose for a purpose by a God who loves them.

This perspective also impacts the way the business owner uses resources to address practical needs and create real opportunities. In some cases, this has been helping families with educational expenses for their children. In other cases, it is assisting with a medical need that would have lingered on and worsened in the past. It also meant paying his team members in a way that allowed them and their families to take real steps forward. Through these practical steps and others, the business owner reinforced his belief in the God-given potential of others. To say it another way, the business became a beacon of all-in hope in a place that many thought was hopeless.

This is a fictional story, but it is based on how I have seen businesses be catalysts for hope, particularly in places impacted by poverty and hopelessness. I don’t share this because I believe business is the only way to impact a community. Instead, I believe it is one of the components that can be used to bring hope to others and the power of it is often overlooked. When used in conjunction with other tools, a business can make a real difference.

So how specifically can a business be a conduit of practical and spiritual hope, and what exactly does that mean? I will explore those questions and more over the next couple of posts.

James Belt

Click here for more resources to help you bring hope to others, including more information about my book, Hope Realized!