Hello, Partners and Friends,
I believe God designed life to be a journey, not a destination, and that understanding this helps us know that we never “arrive” with all the answers; because the journey is always ongoing, and learning is, therefore, a lifelong experience.
I also believe that our social enterprise undertakings are a result of the unending desire to understand and learn, and were precipitated on observations and questions. It’s been a part of my personal journey and still is.
Many years ago I began to wonder if donation-dependency was the biblical equivalent to what we call faith-based ministry? Though common practice and appearances seemed to suggest that to be the case, I could not find Biblical support for that conclusion. Paul the Apostle practiced a business trade well into the years of his ministry; did he lack faith? Even Jesus worked until he was 30 years old in his dad’s business (who was what we would call today a general contractor).
Besides this, as a missionary committed the Gospel, I began to wonder about God’s care for people in the here and now. While I believe the safety of ones’ soul is of critical importance, I began to wonder if this meant God had no regard for a person’s temporal life, such as their ability to work, eat, be safe, or to lead and feed one’s family? Did God care only for people to be “saved” and ready for the next life? Did he not care about their present needs or suffering? Again, I found no support for such a conclusion in the Scripture. Rather, that God did care, and that His creative design required a healthy balance; eternity and time are both important.
These were just a couple of thoughts that eventually led us into what we now call our Social Enterprise ministries (SE). And what blesses my heart about these undertakings is that it gives us not just a message for people, but a means of engagement. It led us to consider not just the means for people to hear God’s Word, but to know and experience God’s care for them. Our enterprise projects have become a place to express the truth that God is honored by our personal work, teamwork, and productivity.
Of course, much can be written about this ideologically, without even discussing the practical economics. Consider: we now have over 120 people working gainfully each day throughout Frontline. People who (with exceptions of course) enjoy their work, have fun together, and are compensated for their productivity. And, we get to celebrate together profitability geared to sustain and grow our mission of church planting, care of the abandoned and needy, and Christian education. (Can someone shout Hallelujah!)
Through SE we get to minister to people both in word and in deed. We enter into doing life together with people. And being a Christian company, organization, or school, we also get to share the Word of God, and the good news of Jesus Christ!
I am extremely proud of all our workers, team leaders, supervisors and managers. They are wonderful people, dedicated and hard working. And we rejoice that so many of our employees have committed their lives to the Lord Jesus.
Frontline Threadworks
Garment -Trimming Area
But… no, we don’t have all the answers. And we continue to pray for God’s wisdom and direction, as we seek to maintain a godly balance of concern for our journey through the here-and-now, as we move toward that which is to come.
Jeff Pessina
Director of Social Enterprise
