Seeing possibilities

In this time of economic turmoil, a lot of us think towards what sort of job prospects there are after graduation. Most seem to take a pessimistic view toward this, thinking in terms of what normal career paths are getting harder and harder to enter. This is understandable. However, I always wonder why, gifted as we are with such opportunity and potential, we don’t stop thinking in terms of working for others and start instead to make our own careers in service to what we truly care about. For those who truly care about changing the world, the problems of hunger, poverty, disease, war, economic turbulence and human trafficking call for those willing to find opportunity in the brokenness of the world and bring transforming solutions.

A man who did see this opportunity was Muhammad Yunus, when in 1976, he founded the Grameen Bank in response to the crushing levels of poverty he saw in rural Bangladesh. This was the first serious and large scale attempt to reduce poverty through what has come to be known as social business. Unlike for-profit enterprises, social businesses reinvest all profits in expanding the business it self, rather than distributing them to the shareholders. There can, however be some diversity to this, as some such organizations do focus to some extent on making profits. The common factor is the shared focus on deriving maximum social benefit rather than maximum profits. This model has proved very successful. The Grameen Bank is now one of the leading companies in Bangladesh and has expanded its model to several other countries, including the US. It is also credited with being one of the main agents in reducing poverty in Bangladesh. This success, as well as that of many other such organizations throughout the world demonstrates that there are truly viable and sustainable economic solutions beyond charity to many of the problems we see around us today. We find these solutions when we take advantage of our God given skills and creativity and look for opportunities rather than problems.

This is exactly what I was led to do while in Thailand in the fall of 2008. I had become involved with a former Burmese refugee named Chala Chakeh. Having no money, but having what he describes as a divine call, he took in and is caring for 30 Burmese orphans. Seeing their difficult material situation and knowing that fundraising would be difficult because we were not affiliated with any organization, I looked for possible strengths. It turned out they all knew how to grow vegetables and raise pigs and chickens, as well as work rice fields. I considered the gains, which could be made from selling the surplus of these products, and found that, not only could the orphanage feed it self, it could turn a profit and pay for better education for the children. The only thing lacking was initial investment, which was and is in the process of being accumulated. We still do fundraising, but the house is slowly gaining full self-sufficiency. Even the fundraising we do helps make new connections and open new possibilities through new people and organizations. All it took was to see the opportunity and move. This is the critical thing.

So much we only see the suffering and evil and fail to realize that the bad things in the world really aren’t too big to confront. There truly are long lasting solutions. To reach them, we must let the divine transform our perspective from one of limitation to one of possibility. Only then can we go out and take dominion.