Transformational Ventures

2014 Year in Review

As we look back on 2014, we thank God for what He accomplished through a lot of prayer, hard work, and generous giving from you, our valued T-Ventures’ partners.

In the central Philippines, our team helped re-launch hundreds of small businesses that had been destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan a year ago. Visiting business people from the States, local business people, pastors, donors, missionaries, and others all coordinated their efforts. Thousands of people have been impacted physically, socially, and spiritually. The foundation has been laid for our BAM Business Development Center to launch in 2015.
In Nairobi, Kenya, we helped The Food Source launch a pilot aquaponics greenhouse called Uzima Farm. An initial group of fifteen entrepreneurs was trained through our BAM curriculum and they are growing their businesses to the glory of God.

Melissa Schaap and John Graham led a dynamic team of business people, family members, and other professionals on a […]

By |March 7th, 2015|Newsletters|0 Comments

Nairobi Update – Nov 1st

Nairobi Update: Diamonds in the Rough
If one of us stumbled upon an uncut, unpolished diamond, we’d probably walk right by it. It would be just another pebble blending into the background.
The same thing happens to talented, entrepreneurial people in the slum neighborhoods of eastern Nairobi. They blend right into the masses of people trying to live in extremely harsh conditions.
At T-Ventures, we believe that multitudes of future business owners can be found in these challenging settings. Many of them are hungry for training, coaching, and some start-up capital to launch or expand their current operations. When these opportunities are provided, in combination with the Gospel, the impact on their lives and community is profound.

A Diamond Example: Judy attended an impromptu BAM workshop led by Josephine, Melissa, and Bruce back in June. She left the workshop convinced that she should work with her love of creating artificial flowers and ability […]

By |February 8th, 2015|Newsletters|0 Comments

The Gift of Business – Aug ’14

The Gift of Business
While in Kenya this past June, we were reminded of some very important truths.
One of these reminders came during a seminar on starting a business we led the first Sunday we were there. These seminars were offered to the members of the church who are in or interested in business. About forty-five men and women joined us for the seminar.
As we began to make our way through the curriculum, we were impressed by the interaction of the participants. They had many great ideas and thoughts and were quickly able to apply the curriculum’s principles to their business.
One particular section in the seminar stood out to us: differentiating your business. This can be a challenging concept to practically apply to your business, no matter how experienced you may be or what business you may have.
The students came up with many innovative to differentiate themselves. Frankly, we were […]

By Bruce Swanson|August 1st, 2014|Newsletters|0 Comments

Kenya BAM Trip Highlights – July ’14

Kenya B4TE 2014
As we have arrived back from Kenya and had a chance to catch our breath, we have been able to reflect on our two weeks there and celebrate how God guided and provided for us. We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to experience first- hand how the Lord is at work in Kenya — we were blown away by all that He is doing there!
The overarching goals for our B4TE (Business for Transformation Experience) were to listen, learn, and serve. The seven adults who formed the in-country team went with the intention of actively listening to Kenyan leaders and entrepreneurs about what is going well and what their challenges are, learning from what they have learned and are learning, and better understanding their context so we are able to more effectively serve alongside them, even as we return to the States. We give God […]

By Bruce Swanson|July 1st, 2014|Uncategorized|0 Comments