Connections

We have recently met a very awesome couple who have worked in Thailand and desire to go back. Looking like they have business inclinations as well, mmmm. Something could be brewing :)

Standing out in the crowd

Lisa and I visited alot of business while in Thailand. Several were a part of our field trip to Bangkok and the rest were businesses we were either interested in or just needed! This particular business caught our attention. They were one of 100's of businesses in the middle of a sea of similar enterprises. What caught our attention? Well we were treated in a very personal way. Conversation, respect, hospitality to name a few. With an invite to come back and see the factory we gladly agreed to return the next day and meet the husband of the operation and see the factory. By the time we had left we had been invited next time to go to the countryside and see the farm and coffee plantation. Somehow I think we will be seeing these guys again!

Field Trip to the "heavenly abode"

After completing our 2 weeks of lectures, small groups discussion, home work etc we headed off to visit businesses in four different nations. Our trip was some 400 miles down south to the capitol city of Bangkok. Actually Bangkok is in the world book of records for having the longest name which was given by a King. It translates to "The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarm." I must say for a city that resembles the heavenly abode I found the traffic quit congested and the pollution a little high on the charts!

Pollution aside there is something about Bangkok that I love. Our first business visit was actually en route to Bangkok as we made the trip by van. I will hopefully elaborate on some of these visits later but our first visit was truly amazing. An export company that produces a 100% natural deodorant.

Here is the list other businesses we checked out.

• Jewelery Exports - staffed by about 90 women who have been given the opportunity to come out of the sex trade.
• Language Consultants
• Micro Finance and Hang Bag Export
• Granite Company & Natural pesticides
• English language school

more stories will emerge under the tag field trips .......

Some links

If your are new to BAM here are a few great links to get you started.... once you get to the links you will have plenty more to follow.

www.businessasmission.com

www.businessasmissionnetwork.com

Change of strategy

With a noble start on thinking I could do the "day one" "day two" blog entries I have succumbed to a slight adjustment. Lets try the "week one" "week two" method and see if I can get caught up!

On week one our main speaker took us on a tour of the ten commandments. I admit I wasn't fond of the idea when the intro was given, after all Jesus sums up the law with two statements; "love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength and love your neighbour as yourself. " That seems much simpler though not necessarily easier to follow! Her chats turned out to be an amazing and insightful walk through the law down a path I had just not bothered to journey before. I will move on with my summary but give you a clue. If you only view the commandments as law and reference to the rule book you will miss its greatest value - articulating in great detail the core value of life from which we can gain understanding in various applications of life on planet earth. Our speaker introduced the main mind and life moulders in society; government, church (religion/spirituality) science / technology, businesses, family, educational, arts entertainment-media. With that backdrop and after much interaction we moved on to focus on the sector of business and mission.

Update - 76 Hours of brain massage

OK - Its Saturday and Ive just finished 76 hours of intense brain massage. Our main speaker has a wonderful teaching style that basically probes and asks alot of questions. Drop this into a student body of 25 people with about one dozen cultural mindsets that are asking hundreds of questions throw in a little jet lag and BAM there you go:)

Last night we wound up the week by about 12 of us going out for dinner together. We had a plan to find a Korean restaurant and booked a taxi/truck but managed to get lost along the way. Our Korean American Intel IT specialist somehow managed to pull out his lap top after we stopped the truck, got on line, found a phone number and got us on our way. The Korean restaurant ended up being small and jammed so we found a Vietnamese place that ended up being owned by Christians. A fantastic meal and lots of laughter with new friends from around the globe gave cause for thanks and great ending to a week of unlearning learning and thinking through the great texts of scripture that guide us into a richer understanding of living life to the fullest.

Blogging plan

My plan is to use the DAY ONE DAY TWO method for the headlines then something descriptive for the other post ie Questions to ask - thoughts tpo ponder etc.

Please feedback as we continue to enjoy the red hot chilli peppers of thailand!

Love from the east.

The Hansen Team

Chiang Mai - day one

We managed to get out of the airport and into our hotel by about 1:40 am after a long haul across the sea that left us tired and well tired. My first session started at 8:30 after breakfast, the miracle is we made it! Lisa joined me as we had an enjoyable and refreshing time of singing and worship. With a soggy brain and a tired body this shall perhaps be short. We have made new friends today with folk from India, Nepal, Australia, USA, England, Vietnam, Thailand and China. We made a field trip later in the day to tour a business that operated here. Quite an amazing God story of unfolding events, provisions and opportunities. Many of the BAM theories were seen in practice and our minds were stretched as we heard stories that were clearly outside most of our boxes. If you like blurry lines, room for movement, painting outside the lines and organic growth this business was a fine specimen. The highlight I think of today was that even with a brain that was less than fully operative I had a very intellectually stimulating day. On that note I shall retire to rest the body and the mind with great anticipation of this three week journey called Business As A Mission. Tommorows blog should have some photos highlights of today and maybe some video.

Cheers and thanks for joining me on this journey.

The Hansen Team