Missional Business Conference Reflection: Christian Heritage College

This report is a student's personal reflection on the Missional Business Conference held at Christian Heritage College. It highlights key takeaways from speakers like Martin Upton, Peter King, Michael Oon, Phil Cave, and Kara Martin, focusing on the intersection of faith and business. The reflection covers topics such as building a profitable business with Christian values, achieving personal vision while benefiting the community, facing fears, the importance of people in business, and establishing businesses aligned with Christian perspectives. It further delves into dealing with adversity, achieving vision through planning and implementation, and the prerequisites for national growth, including education, economic development, and community values. The author concludes by emphasizing the importance of personal responsibility in creating a better world and the lessons learned regarding running a successful business while staying true to God.

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PERSONAL REFLECTION ON MISSION BUSINESS CONFERENCE
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Course
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University
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Personal Reflection on Mission Business Conference
Part A
Martin Upton was one of my favorite speakers since he discussed about business and
God. For a long time, I have wanted to start my own business but the nature of today’s business
world encourages one to be deceptive and manipulative in order to make a profit. Upton negated
all this by explaining that it is possible to build a profitable business while still holding your faith
in God.
The solution lies in staying true to God and building your business accordingly (Martin
Upton). Your business should incorporate God’s love and should offer it to your clients. It
should be a reflection of you and your belief in God’s love. Besides being Christian oriented,
your business should give value to your clients.
Next was Peter King, his teaching was more about your role as an individual in fulfilling
your personal vision while being beneficial to the community (Peter King). I truly believe that I
am a better person now after understanding how I can change my reality now and achieve the
vision that I want for myself.
Michael Oon’s presentation was inspiring. His change of lifestyle and how he met God
was a real testimony on facing fears. He clearly indicated that God is found in the wilderness.
Our lifestyle of comfort ability may make us forget that we need God. His explanation as to why
the Israelites wandered the wilderness for 40 years clearly elaborates that we need to be patient

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for the will of God to manifest in our lives (Michael Oon). He was a good speaker full of
emotions.
Phil Cave was all about business and how to succeed. He reiterated why in business the
people are the key assets (Phil Cave). They are the engine block that make the car run.
Persistence was one of the pillars that differentiate successful business people and failures.
Persistence to pursue customer’s needs and wants to the fullest would enable your business
thrive. Communication was also a key part of a successful business creation. Ability to converse
with your client may allow you to fulfil their need.
Last but not least was Kara Martin’s presentation. She was all about establishing a
business that was in line with Christian perspectives. She was strong and confident which was
inspiring (Kara Martin). I resonated with her teachings and understood her perspective on
trusting God.
Part B
Martin discussed about adversity and how to deal with it. In our day to day lives, we will
always encounter situations that my make us question God’s plan for us. Just like Job, we should
understand that God’s plan for us is greater and God always has good plans for us despite the
shortcomings we encounter. And so we should face adversity with courage and belief that God
will get us through it and understand that it is through adversity that our strength is renewed in
our Father who is in heaven.
Martin’s teachings was about living life to the fullest in Christ. The end goal is not to
achieve worldly goals but to live a fulfilling life which would be a testament to other people that

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God is working in you. Your life should be a reflection of God’s work and it should count in the
ages of time.
Peter discussed about achieving vision. The steps I need to take are pretty simple and
straightforward but I need discipline to achieve my vision. First, I have to clearly determine what
my vision is. This will incorporate what I want for my future, what are my strengths and how my
vision can be helpful to my community and the general world.
Second, I need to truthfully examine my current reality. Why I am in the current situation
that I am in. What is hindering me from achieving my vision and making it my reality (Peter
King). The steps that I can take to get from my current reality and live my vision. What I am
doing wrong and what I am doing right. This step involves me being realistic about my current
situation and how I can change it and start working towards my goal.
Third, I need to formulate a plan on how I am going to get from my current reality to my
vision. I need to establish what needs to be done to start achieving my vision. I must clearly
differentiate my short term goals and my long term goals and see how the short term ones fit into
the bigger picture (Seelos and Mair 2005). Then, I have to formulate a strategy that will enable
me achieve my vision. Following the plan would enable me from deviating and taking the easier
route.
All planning would be a chase of the wind if I do not implement the formulated strategy.
Implementation would be a step by step process which would convert my vision from a concept
to a reality. The process would be difficult and cumbersome but following the plan would be the
shortest path for me to achieve my vision.
Finally, reviewing of my progress would a crucial part in achieving my vision. A perfect
plan never exists hence deviation of the plan with the vision may occur. Reviewing will enable

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me adjust my plan accordingly to keep it in track to achieve my vision. Review of my
implementation will also make me account for internal and external factors that were
unprecedented when formulating the plan (Leyh 2012). Necessary adjustments of the plan would
incorporate the uncontrollable factors.
Peter King also highlighted on pillars that were prerequisites for growth in a country. The
pillars are education, economic development and community values (Peter King). Education is
clearly a prerequisite for national growth as Nelson Mandela said, “education is the most
powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” An educated population is an
enlightened population. From fighting corruption to being less manipulated, education plays a
key role in growth of a country.
Economic development is another prerequisite for country growth. Economic
development empowers the population to be financially independent and avoid reliance on
government funding or aid. This would make the population less vulnerable to manipulation
from the government and enable them speak up against corruption. Economical development
also improves living standards of the population which may enable them pursue other goals
rather than self-sustainability (Bay, McKeage, and McKeage 2010).
Cultural value is the other prerequisite for country growth. The strength of the country is
dependent on application of morality by its people. Blurriness of the line between good and
wrong may leave a nation vulnerable to anarchy. Cultural values stimulate greater responsibility
in individuals and their role in keeping the society rational. Good cultural values can be the
cornerstone of a mature democracy.
Part C

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Attending the missional conference was a great eye opener for me. Apart from
understanding myself, I understood the role that I needed to play as an individual in creating a
better world. The greatest lesson that I learned during the conference was that as an individual, I
was the greatest hindrance in achieving my vision.
All in all, the speaker’s had good lessons on how to run a successful business while
remaining true to God. They all explained why it is possible to run a successful business by
adhering to simple principles that would make you disciplined. The event was an eye opener and
I am confident that I can successfully establish a thriving business.
References
Bay, D., McKeage, K. and McKeage, J., 2010. An historical perspective on the interplay of
Christian thought and business ethics. Business & Society, 49(4), pp.652-676.
Franke, N. and Lüthje, C., 2004. Entrepreneurial intentions of business students—A
benchmarking study. International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management,
1(03), pp.269-288.
Kara Martin. Missional Conference, Christian Heritage College.

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Leyh, C., 2012. Critical success factors for ERP system implementation projects: A literature
review. Advances in Enterprise Information Systems II, pp.45-56.
Martin Upton “Can I live a Christ calling in business” Missional Conference. Christian Heritage
College.
Peter King “Three Pillars of Transformational Development that is a prerequisite for growth in a
country/society.” Missional Conference. Rwandan Community and Christian Heritage
College.
Peter King “Turning your vision into reality.” Missional Conference. Rwandan Community and
Christian Heritage College.
Peter King “Vision Made Practical File.” Missional Conference. Rwandan Community and
Christian Heritage College.
Phil Cave. “Business and Life” Missional Conference, Christian Heritage College.
Seelos, C. and Mair, J., 2005. Social entrepreneurship: Creating new business models to serve
the poor. Business horizons, 48(3), pp.241-246.