Do you have a passion for business or a zeal for entrepreneurship? Do you feel like there is still more to life than business, no matter how much you get out of it? If so, there is a pretty good chance that you have a deeper calling on your life, one that can only be fulfilled through  life purpose transformation. What is a Mission Based Entrepreneur? You might be one and not even know it. Is it possible that God gives passion and vision for a reason beyond ourselves?

Eric Bahme, the executive pastor for Eastside Foursquare Church in Portland, OR., examines how business can play a vital role in mission-based movements. He speaks beyond theory and shares the experiences that he and his Church endured leading up to, purchasing, and operating two hotels in Portland Oregon. A Church owning a hotel, what gives? Beyond operating a hotel Eric highlights how the decision has brought ministry staff in contact with over 33,000 people a year and has annual sales of over $2 million. Eric writes with much enthusiasm “Last year we reached tens of thousands of new people with out leaving our Church grounds!”. What gives is that over time Christian strategy changes, but the message that Jesus Christ loves you and is seeking reconciliation never does change.

Up to this point it may sound as if the book only speaks to what Eastside Foursquare Church has done. Not so,  in great part Eric shares the qualities, challenges, and potential of MBE’s in the future, this is only the beginning. The book is written from the heart and when you finish the book you may realize a couple things. First of all you may realize that Mission Based Entrepreneurship isn’t about the entrepreneur, it’s about being faithful in what God calls you to. You may also walk away understanding that through Christ anything is possible and the Glory of two hotels owned and managed by a Church in Portland Oregon goes to God. You may even walk away with a renewed hope, passion, and desire to allow God to be the center of your life in everything that you do.

Through the development of economic engines (say like a hotel) it’s possible to take your mission to new heights. What are you passionate about? What mission is on your heart or what ministry do you feel called to? While the book isn’t going to give you all of the answers it’s going to give you a renewed hope. Read about how one leader and his congregation have spearheaded The MBE Revolution in Portland Oregon. Greater things really are yet to come.

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What is not really being talked about is corporate philanthropy. The term that is being used to a greater degree is called “inclusive business model”. This model seeks to encourage businesses to take their core business strengths and include the poor in the value chain. A main factor in the success of the model is that MDC’s are not a corporate hand out, it’s a viable distribution model that CCS, Coca-Cola’s bottling partner, relies upon. The MDC’s are accounting for over 80% of all product sales in over 5 countries throughout Africa.

MDC’s work well, and have also contributed to sales growth throughout areas of implementation in Africa. The centers allow for more efficient distribution in high density areas. Rather than wait for infrequent deliveries the supply chain brings small quantities of products to retailers a lot more frequently. In all, over 12,000 jobs have been created through the implementation of the MDC. Likewise total sales have risen to over $500 million per year. The total impact has a direct impact on almost 50,000 people when you consider the dependents of the distributors.

Between the purchased product by the MDC and the retail price distributors earn a profit between 3-5% of the total sales amount and some MDC’s are using bonuses as well. The MDC’s are profitable and are a key driver for sales in Africa. What was not discussed in the report is the impact on poverty. Generally speaking, jobs that increase individuals income is a good thing. Owners of the MDC are not considered to be the poorest of the poor, rather they typically are considered to be middle class.

One barrier to expanding the impact to a broader soci0-economic base is the cost of starting and MDC. On average it costs the owner around $6-10,000 dollars dependent on the area that the MDC is being created. More research is needed to determine how the model can make an even greater impact on poverty. As for now the manual distribution model is off to a good start.

I created an Excel document with the framework for you to download and use here. I hope that this helps you as much as it did me.

• The Team
• The Resources
• The Opportunity

Taking that model into account what is different? I’m seeing three areas that have changed the most:

• The Purpose
• The Collaboration
• The Benefits

I’ll keep working on it as I advance but for now here is: