You should never side with 3% of the population, it puts you in a tiny minority. In Taiwan, only 3% of the population considers themselves followers of Christ.
However, 24 leaders just finished Crown’s Leading Steward’s Course. Our Board Chairman was leading the charge. Donald Wu is pictured below leading a prayer for the work getting ready to begin in this island nation.
He is one of the prinipal officers in an extremely large textile company. He is well respected in all kinds of circles in Taiwan. He’s been a great friend of mine for several years now.
Getting to this training was no easy effort for him. He cut his visit to the US short and left right after his nephew’s wedding. This was the day before we started the training. He came straight from his travels (up all night in the air, then all night again so he could travel with his wife to their home city, Tainan and back). He refused to leave and give his body the rest it was desperately calling for. He was committed to this training and to what it could mean for his country.
It’s leaders like Donald that make me want to bet on the …
Just over a year ago Paul Shin decided to officially help Crown get off the ground in his nation, Korea. He and his friend David Yang began the process…they’ve done an unbelievable job.
Some things he and his team have accomplished:
Working with the Chaplain’s office of the Korean military to get Crown’s Life Group study approved for their soldiers (it’s compulsory for 2 years in Korea).
Established an office with 2 full-time paid staff and 11 significant volunteers.
Excellent and high quality translation and reproduction of materials.
58 people willing to take two days off and spend $130 to be equipped through Leading Stewards.
Several products on the way to being translated and contextualized.
It has been an absolute joy to see what these guys have put together in such a short time. Way to go, Crown Korea, may God go before you as you turn consumers to contributors in your nation.
Check out these pics from their office:
He now has 2.1 million palm trees. Wow.
Dr. Suparno Adijanto has been steadily growing his palm oil business for years. With hard work and discipline he’s made quite the contribution to society in his nation of Indonesia. Through his business hundreds upon hundreds are employed and biodiesel is produced as an environmentally friendly alternative to gasoline. Dr. Suparno long ago made the journey from consumption to contribution, but recently he’s taken it to a whole new level.
He’s found time to captain the work of Leadership Development for the continent of Asia. On this recent trip, Alex and I had the privilege of traveling and teaching with him. His wisdom and experience were greatly appreciated by the leaders we trained together.
Dr. Suparno is helping others find their path to being contributors. He recently helped start The Crown Financial Clinic in his home nation of Indonesia. People who are financially sick stop by his “hospital” for triage, diagnosis and treatment.
He has formed a whole team of Leading Stewards Course graduates. They are treating those trying to move from their unhealthy spending patterns towards a “whole-life stewardship” model.
Way to go, doc! I cheer you on as you continue to turn the tide in …
Our leader in Malaysia (and a current student of our Leading Steward’s Course) just had an incredible opportunity to speak publicly on what God has to say about money.
This was done at a forum that was answering the question “What does religion have to say about money?” Malaysia is mostly Muslim, but has ties with Hinduism and Buddhism as well. Check out Erik’s recounting of the event below:
The Buddhist speaker was the first to speak and he quoted the Buddhist texts in Sanskrit which nobody could understand and talked about the concept of Karma: Cause and Effect. greed and good works. At the end, the speaker is of the opinion that the solution is within oneself. The answer is within you. If you look inside you, you will find the solution.
The Islamic scholar defined what is spirituality from the Koran and talked about the 4 levels of spirituality = iman, dakwah, obedience and piety. While acknowledging that God is the creator, mankind is the trustee. Islam is against greed. However, the issue of ownership was not resolved , who is the beneficiary and …
