All the money's gone to heaven

When this is the kind of comment you hear from your stockbroker, you can be certain that the world has changed.

In trying to get to grips with the statement "All the money's gone to heaven", I realized that a lot of people around the globe would agree with one stockbroker's new perspective on life, politics, the economy and God. As he was relating the story of his nephew, Conrad Schwalbe, I found myself wondering how someone with a Phd in economics and a long history of trading in the most spohisticated markets in the world comes to a place of joining the "spiritualpreneurs" movement.



Suprisingly, the weekend forum launched to align Love In Action projects and partnerships with the overall vision of this charity organisation provided more answers than the latest musings of stockbrokers-turned-spiritualpreneurs. But before I get to the insight gleaned from the forum, let me start by relating the plight of Conrad Scwalbe and the awareness it has raised amongst his family members, friends and churchgoers .

Conrad is a U.S Marine in Iraq. He spends his days searching for weapons and clearing houses in Ramadi. Aside from never knowing whether the house he's going to walk into is boob-trapped, there are other occupational hazards: frequently missing meals, staying up for more than a day at a time, going for a week without a shower and getting woken up at night by the sound of mortatr and gunfire.

My intention here is not to have a discussion about the war in Iraq. The message in a story like this is that it is impossible to simultaneously experience gratitude and misery.

George Orwell once said that if one sleeps peacefully at night, it is because there are people who stand ready to do violence on our behalf. If you have nothing more than good health and the love of your family, you have a lot to be grateful for. I don't think anyone would readily join Conrad on his mission and regardless of one's political convoctions, I think most people are quite releived that there are people like Conrad willing to go onto the battlefield in times of war.

Feelings and attitudes do a lot to change one's perspective. As spiritual coach Sharon Wilson pointed out last week, feelings and attitudes shape our beliefs and these in turn direct many of our actions. You can't act from a place of gratitude until you really believe you have a lot to be grateful for and you can't really believe this until you imagine the life of someone like Conrad Scwalbe.

At the Love In Action forum this weekend, the pastor's wife reminded us that a charity depends on the generosity of volunteers and partners to attain its goals. It is extremely difficult for people to see that generosity brings "rewards in heaven" when they are struggling day to day with ongoing obstacles and challenges. So it was wonderful to listen to those who choose generosity in the face of many difficulties sharing their dreams and vision for various projects. I walked away from the forum wondering how to translate all this into practical income-generating activities and decided the best way to tap into creative strategies would be to apply Sharon's formula : Feeling-Belief-Action.

I was feeling very generous and grateful for everything I have been blessed with as I tuned in to listen to a leading stockbroker being interviewed in church. I figured the day we can all comfortably sit and listen to a stockbroker preaching "You aren't truly free until you are financially free" is the day charities like Love In Action will change the face of the war in Iraq and the day people like Conrad Schwalbe will go out onto the mental battlefield to clear houses of poverty. I wasn't quite sure whether this is a good thing for The Church or not until the host of the show asked the stockbroker : "But where has all the money that was there before the financial crisis gone?" .When he answered " Pastor, all the money's gone to heaven", I knew in that one instant that the only thing charities like Love In Action need to do to generate income is ask God to send it back down from heaven. If you beleieve it, you can act on this understanding to change situations of poverty and who knows, maybe even situations like the ones Conrad faces every day in Iraq.

Acknowledgements: You can learn more about Spiritual Wealth at www.spiritualwealth.com and about the "spiritualpreneurs" phenomenon at www.coachingfromspirit.com.

Love In Action is an evangelical Christian charity that we have partnered with and does not necessarily share the viewpoints posted on this blog. The photograph of the forum was picked with their consent to promote their work amongst readers in Southern Africa, as they do not yet have their own website. For information about projects please e-mail : loveinactionlesotho@gmail.com.

Effective Communication

When we ventured out into the world of Web 2.0 applications, Joint Venture Partnerships and 'Creating a lifestyle of freedom from a life of service" (a philosophy inspired by personal lifestyle coach David Wood of SolutionBox fame), the landscape was fuzzy and we had no clear sense of where we were headed with this.

We began this endeavour with the decision to put Ron Kussmaul's advice into practice: "Find something that requires faith to accomplish and apply yours to it." Casting the vision to bring H.U.B (Humanity Unites Brilliance) to Lesotho did not require much faith but communicating that vision has tested us to the limit. We are grateful for the tests. We have grown more individually and as a team in the last 3 months than in the last 2 years! Ellen Britts, another great lifestyle coach -author of "Marketing Qi" and 'The art of zen list-building'- gave us an illustration of how marketing qi works in her report about bamboo: the bamboo stalk taks a couple of years to grow under the ground before it sprouts and then suddenly shoots up higher than any other plant around at a very rapid rate. That just about describes the kind of "business" growth we have experienced since January, although we did not know how to categorise this venture that falls somewhere between a ministry, a Social Entrepreneurs' network and a non-profit, humanitarian organisation.

Our first clue as to what was happening and needed to be addressed was a report from executive coach Steve Little. The Perfect BizFind Report clarified so many things about how roles and responsibilities needed to be allocated but the breakthrough really came from finding "The Cure for the home-business from hell". If you are running an internet or network marketing business that you started as a vehicle for getting to financial freedom without doing any work, you need to think again. As my mentors keep pointing out when I complain that I never expected the bamboo to shoot up quite so quickly: "most wealthy people are spinning a lot more plates than the average person on the street; the real difference is not how much work they have but how much they love what they do"

One person on the team is so thankful that her partners moved her out of her "home business from hell" and put her in touch with the gurus who showed her how to really make things happen. The landscape became a lot clearer for all of us when we decided to change from jeans to slightly more formal business attire and start having weekly, scheduled meetings at our new office instead of in the garden of my home. We all agreed we still want to reserve Monday mornings for shuffling paper in our jeans and tackling the e-mail monster. Our team claims we can provide anyone, even in the sleepy nation of Lesotho, with "Ultimate Freedom" so we decided we might as well start the week practising what we preach. Shuffling paper is not quite as mindless as it first seems: a lot of ideas spring out of the sudden discovery "oh, is that where I filed that invoice?" and paging through the latest report on what's happening in cyberspace can actually prevent you from falling asleep at the wheel.

That was certainly the case when we received Nancy Marmolejo's report: "1000 friends on Facebook is NOT a plan". It was a real Aha moment as we finally figured out what we had been doing wrong all this time!

This Monday, for the first time in 3 months, we found ourselves consulting. A busy medical practice called us in to figure out what is wrong with their communication system. The key decision-maker to whom we need to present a solution pulled her chair up so close to mine and leaned forward so attentively that I realised this is a situation that needs massive doses of Marketing Qi, Perfect BizFind assessments and 'Viva Visibilty'. Having only just learned how to unravel the "home business from hell" and communicate our own vision more effectively, it came as a bit of a shock to suddenly be thrust into the middle of "the medical practice from hell". Any ideas or suggestions from friends and partners would be most welcome.

Compassionate Capitalism works

We had our doubts about the validity of compassionate capitalism as a new economic model to solve the global problems the world is facing. But recent opportunities to form Joint Venture Partnerships and the blessing of making postive connections with like-minded individuals and organisations has shown us that "God's ways are not our ways" and we ned to always remain open to new possibilities. So it is with a great deal of excitement that we prepare to launch out on our journey through the Emerging Economy with trusted friends in business, advisors, sponsors and partners by our side.

One of the first ventures we found resonance with was the Ka-Ching Foundation in South Africa, a non-profit organisation that equips children, youth and adults with entrepreneurial skills. we look forward to hosting them in Lesotho next month.

Books we recommend

It is an immense privilege to learn from and share insights with like-minded people. As Social Networking becomes the new mode of co-operative marketing, we are excited by the opportunity to distribute these books to our circle of influence. All of them have greatly blessed us in our consulting practice, our business and our fund-raising intiatives.

Dreams Come True- Ilze Stoltz and Chiaki Satoh: a true story of faith, courage and love overcoming a life of victimazation to become a blessing to others. A third of proceeds from sales go towards the Dreams Come True Refugee Fund to help victims of xenophobic attacks in South Africa re-build their lives.

Go to http://dreamscometrue.cfsites.org/ for information on how to order.

How to track, set and manage goals- compiled by Stefanie Hartman. This is by far the most incisive book on goal-achievement ever written.

"Wealthy people think on paper" is an old proverb that you will begin to live when you start using this workbook. Go to www.hartofsuccess.com to order the e-book.

The Bliss Factor- by Milana Leshinsky. Thank you Milana for this precious gift. When we first arrived in Lesotho, everyone thought we were crazy to establish a fund-raising and wealth-creation venture here. Thanks to the inspiration from people like Milana, we have tapped into our Bliss Factor and are loving every minute of the work we do. Limited offer available at www.TheBlissFactor.com

Go to http://www.richdreams.com/ for this speacial offer and other excellent products. "I'm Rich beyond my wildest dreams" by Tom and Penelope Pauley revolutionised our thinking. We approached the Rich Dreams system with a great deal of skepticism as the titles seemed to suggest "prosperity preaching" which we are very wary of. But after getting to know Tom, Diane, Penelope, Chris and Alex through their video blog, we decided to take the plunge and have not looked back since. This system is truly amazing. Within two months of using it, our entire team has reached 76% of its goals and objectives for 2009. This is truly a gift that keeps on giving. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the Rich Dreams team for the work you do.

Readers in Southern Africa who do not have access to online payment facilities can write to : Life Ministries Lesotho, P.O.Box 1668, Maseru 100 Lesotho to request hard copies of materials. Prices will be negotiated with affiliates with orders received.

Tribute to Go-Givers

I enjoy the immense privilege and blessing of working in a country that I consider a "Go-giver haven". Although very small and little known because it is completely land-locked, Lesotho is truly "the kingdom in the sky".

I look forward to giving the friends and people I have made connections with here copies of The Go-Giver as a belated Christmas present and can't wait to read it myself.
You must be wondering how I can share Go-giver stories without having read the book. Well, I first heard about Bob Burg and "The Go-giver" from business coach David Wood, who researched the Laws of the Stratosphere for his own book, Living a Lifestyle of freedom from a life of service (due to be published in janaury 2009). While I don't yet know exactly what the laws of the stratosphere are as described in The Go-Giver, I am quite sure that they are the same ones I see people applying here in Lesotho to create a lifestyle of freedom from a life of service.

Your next question will undoubtedly be : "Why hasn't the Go-Giver community ever heard of its counterpart in the 'kingdom in the sky'?
The first reason is that that Go-Givers here are the missionaries, leaders of humanitarian agencies, volunteers and field workers who actually live out the "life of service" part of the equation.
The second reason is that the number of Impact Partners in this part of the world far outweighs the number of Giving Partners. When David Wood first told me about HUB (Humanity United by Brilliance), I knew at once that this is what is most needed in Lesotho to create awareness about the many ways in whcih Go-Givers of a different kind are leaving a positive, lasting impact on the communities they serve.

I am now trusting in the laws of the stratosphere to attract HUB representatives to Lesotho in 2009 so that we can share Go-Giver stories in person. My partner and I are in the process of creating a website that will make these stories available to other Go-Givers and anyone who wants to become part of HUB but if you would like to use the stories in the meantime, it would be a real blessing to the Impact Partners in question.

This is a summary of the Go-Giver stories I would like to contribute:

Ilze Stolt went from living on the streets of Cape Town for 10 years to making peoples' dreams come true. As she struggled to overcome a debilitating disease, the loss of her first love and the devastation of being rejected and abandoned by her family, one goal kept her moving in the direction of a better life and growing into the Go-Giver she is today: the burning desire to reclaim her son from foster care and make his dream of becoming a photographer come true. You can read the full story of how Ilze and her son manifested their dream and went on to bless others in their self-published book Dreams Come True. One third of proceeds from the sales of the book go to the Dreams Come True Refugge Fund that Ilze and her son established in September 2008 to help victims of xenophobic attacks in South Africa rebuild their lives.

A new educational model for the 21st Century called Full Circle Learning:Teresa Langness developed this educational enrichment model to teach kids and youth the value of character development, spiritual perception and community service. The success of the first centre in Los Angeles that serves inner-city youth atrtacted the attention of Go-Givers on the African continent and a Full Circle Learning pre-school was built in Lesotho as a pilot project. Thanks to the dedication, selfless service and contributions of private donors, the project director, youth facilitators and volunteers, Full Circle Learning schools are being built in Zambia, Ethiopia, China and Japan.

In the Footsteps of Moshoeshoe Expedition.
"The banks in Lesotho say that they would be willing to finance Controlled Leverage projects but there are no bankable projects available." -Director of Public Finance for a large consulting group operating in Southern African countries.

When Lesoetsa Makafane heard this comment on the radio, he decided to submit his PHd thesis to government ministries. He realised that if he could get a positive reaction to his thesis from them, he would be able to appraoch banks, corporate sponsors and investment companies with a proposal to convert his field work into a long-term, sustainable, bankable project.
The focus of his thesis and field work was to re-create the route travelled by King Mosheoshoe and a French missionary in 1860 through the mountains of Lesotho.
'In the Footsteps of Moshoeshoe Expedition' will take place from June-August 2009 and will identify projects along the route that will benefit from HIV/Aids awareness and training, community service initiatives, outreach programmes and eco-toursim developments. This gives communities, humanitarian aid agencies, government ministries, investors and Go-Givers an awesome, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help accomplish Lesotho's Millenium Development Goals.The organising committee of the expedition is recruting 10 teams of 12-15 members each and each team will be assigned to a specific component of the journey. I am confident that we will see a few Go-Giver stories emerge from this initiative.

The Go-Giver Phenomenon

Go-Givers are people who consistently apply and live by 4 golden rules, no matter what the conditions, circumstances or challenges facing them: Keep Growing, Keep Moving, Keep Giving, Keep Creating

We gave intent to receive copies of the book published by Burg-Scott Communications in exchange for promoting the Go-Giver Stories Competition but nothing materialised. As there are no bookshops in Lesotho and very few people here can purchase items online (thank the universe that the credit crunch has not affected this part of the world!) it seems we will have to wait until one of the missionaries makes a trip back home before we can share in the Go-Giver phenomenon.

Thank you to all the Go-Givers who contributed christmas gifts for the children who are discipled at the United Pentecostal Church, funding for the Word of Life Christian pre-school, donations for the Jewels of Hope Project that provides food, care and a childrens' ministry to Aids orphans and the people who ordered copies of Dr Brown's guide to Controlled Leverage Investments in support of Louis Gregory Foundation projects. You will all be receiving VIP invitations to our annual fundraiser.

An exciting adventure

The purpose of this blog is to introduce individuals, groups and organisations to an exciting adventure being planned in Lesotho for June-August 2009. Until these plans are finalised, we do not want to disclose too much information over the internet and therefore refer to the adventure in very general terms. The idea is to attract individuals and groups suited to participation in this event and this blog therefore describes the "ideal adventurer" we are looking for.

If you think you fit the profile, are prepared to invest $ 3,000 to participate, are able to travel to Lesotho for 4-12 weeks in 2009 and have always wanted to have a significant impact through acts of service and community upliftment, then please leave a comment requesting an application form to be mailed to your psotal address. With the form you will also receive a brochure with complete details of the adventure. We look forawrd to hearing from you.

The kingdomfootsteps team