December 1997 Update

Official Launch of Scruples Web Site set for New Year
The most comprehensive Information and Reference Guide for Marketplace Christians on the Internet can be found at www.scruples.org!. Please visit and check it out. The official launch of the Site is January  1st, 1998. If you have some input or suggested additions please contact scruples@csi.com  so that it can be included in the official launch. Thank you.

 Some highlights:

• A Directory of Marketplace Ministries: 161 Listed categorized under  Teaching; Career Counseling; Educational Institutions; Ethics Ministries;  Fellowship Ministries; Christian business Networks; Women's ministries and  Missions and Mercy Ministries; also, 73 Enterprise Development  Organizations are also listed. 
• A Library of Marketplace Teaching Resources: 226 Publications Listed under  various topics of interest to Marketplace Christians such as Faith At Work;  Biblical Principles for Business; Economics and Social Justice in the  Marketplace; Small Business development and others. 
• A Calendar of Equipping Opportunities for Marketplace Christians listing  Seminars; Schools; National Conferences from Tanzania to the Philippines  including many in North America and Europe. (Is your event listed here?) 
• A List of Marketplace Links: 80 plus 
• Articles of Interest to Marketplace Christians. 
• Forums for Debate on Issues of concern to Marketplace Christians: 10  Forums 
• A Micro Enterprise and Small Business Section 
• The Complete Set of Notes for the seminar Planning A Successful Small  Business and much more! Please bookmark, browse and feast to your heart's content!

Youth With A Mission launches Small Enterprise Initiative
At the Bi-annual meeting of the University of the Nations, the Centre for Entrepreneurial and Economic Development (CEED) was formally organized.  During meetings in Seoul, Korea, in early September, a group of YWAM staff and representatives from the YWAM University agreed to work together to develop business enterprise as a means to disciple the nations. CEED will provide the YWAM University with a structure for developing small businesses and training entrepreneurs to take the gospel to the nations of the world.  For more information about CEED please contact: CEED_UofN@compuserve.com.

Community Bank operated by Christian Ministry helps poor women start small businesses.
A community bank operated by a Christian ministry in Cambodia helps poor women provide for their families. The project is operated by World Relief, the relief and development arm of the National Association of Evangelicals. Through the project, poor women can obtain money to help them climb out of poverty.
...Ham Sary, a widow woman, was once so poor that even the village moneylender would not give her money and she was forced to forage for food. With a loan from World Relief she purchased a cooler and several blocks of ice. Now she sells up to 400 pounds of ice every day and is able to provide for herself and her daughter. Her regular income has made it possible for her to repay the loan and start a savings account, the ministry said. (Source: http://www.religiontoday.com/summary.html,October 18th, 1997.)

YWAM Business and Missions Initiative launches Business People into former Soviet Union
Christian missionaries are being trained in business principles. Students from Romania, Germany, and the Russian Republics recently attended a four-week Youth With a Mission program designed to help them develop small business skills so they can go to developing countries where missionaries are not always welcome. "Business can take you places that other activities sometimes cannot," said Mark Markiewicz, who directed the first Christian School of Entrepreneurs. "Some countries may not welcome traditional missionaries, but none are closed to business," he said. A good Christian business can lead others around you to ask, "Why are you here?" and "Why are you honest?" which presents opportunities to share the faith, Markiewicz said. The courses are offered twice a year in England. Contact Mark Markiewicz at Markiewicz@compuserve.com for more information.

The Ethics of Shrewdness
Don't be ethically naive, the marketplace needs shrewd Christians. Check out Scruples latest publication on the Ethics of Shrewdness from Matthew 10:16. How can Christians survive in an unethical marketplace? Only by being ethically shrewd! Some would say that shrewdness and ethics are opposites but to Jesus it is the calling of the Marketplace Christian.

Visit the Archive Page for past Scruples News and Updates.

Please bring to our attention other news worthy items of interest to Marketplace Christians by sending us an email: scruples@csi.com. Thank you.