Combining faith and commerce

There's a movement underway among businesspeople to combine commerce and faith. Their companies are called Kingdom Companies, and approximately 800 of them exist in the U.S. now.


One such enterprise is The Yeager Kenya Group Inc., which works with Kenyan farmers to provide organic onions to the U.S. The Denver Post recently covered the story of Bill Yeager and his organization:

Bill Yeager was hearing a voice inside his head — and not just anybody's.

'One night I was lying in bed and God spoke to me that I would do business in Africa,' the 28-year-old Montrose computer programmer said. 'At first it seemed like an awfully silly idea.'

Yet it kept coming back.

'Charities have been doing amazing things in Africa for a very long time, but the conditions are getting worse,' Yeager said.

'I believe if we can connect normal, everyday Africans to the global economy, it will finally change their lives,' he said.

Rather than converting people by preaching, the owners of these companies spread God's word by helping the poor and oppressed. A book even has been written about this movement, Great Commission Companies: The Emerging Role of Business in Missions.