TRANSFORM KENYA
Dr. Jeremiah Koshal, Regent University alumnus (MBA ’00, PhD ’05) and former Research Fellow with RCE, moved to Nairobi, Kenya in July to help establish RCE’s affiliate there. Transform Kenya, a center that will help propagate RCE’s mission of revitalizing communities and nations through business, will act as an entrepreneurial catalyst for sustainable transformation.
Sustainable transformation calls for the promotion of economic growth, social development, environmental stewardship and spiritual nurture of individuals, communities and nations.
Transform Kenya will help develop several small-to-medium businesses. Some of the current business undertakings include working on an ecotourism lodge project among the Maasai people, and providing better and affordable fertilizer (AgZyme) to local farmers through the Kenya Agribusiness Development Program. Transform Kenya will also help equip local entrepreneurs through various training programs. These include partnering with Regent University’s School of Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship to offer the MBA cluster, partnering with the Nehemiah Project International to offer Biblical Entrepreneurship, and offering the “Successful Business Principles” course to existing SMEs.
RCE Director Dr. John Mulford (far left) has just visited a number of countries in Africa, including Kenya, and visited the Koshals there. Jeremiah writes, “Things are coming along well. We enjoyed having John around here for four days. We traveled to the village and to Maasai Mara, and a bit here in Nairobi. It was so nice of him to come and visit. We think about everyone at the Center and beyond, and we thank God for all the friendships and love.”
Please keep the Transform Kenya center and its projects in your prayers, particularly for funding for the ecotourism lodge project.
A HEART FOR KENYA
After sensing God’s call to invest in Kenya, Patrick Bell (Regent MBA student) is finally moving to Nairobi, Kenya. Pat and his wife Holly have been running a private school in Japan for the last seven years. Though they are in business, they have been ministering to the Japanese people in many ways. While taking a course on international business with Dr. John Mulford, Pat decided to undertake a project on selling Japanese used cars in Nairobi. Dr. Mulford connected Pat with Dr. Jeremiah Koshal – a Regent grad and employee of Regent Center for Entrepreneurship (RCE) – and Joseph Lenku, the two partners for Go Africa Safaris (www.goafricasafaris.com), a Kingdom business based in Nairobi, Kenya that aims to create massive jobs and other useful investments in the communities. Joseph LenkuAt that point, Pat decided to do two things:sent one car to experiment the market in Kenya and also paid a visit to the country to survey the market and meet with Joseph, who is in charge of operations for Go Africa Safaris.
Besides the safari business, Pat and his two newly found partners felt the need to add a consulting arm to their business – Apex International Consulting Group . With a consulting arm, the three partners will offer business consulting, business training and development seminars, mentoring, a business correspondence school, motivational speeches to businesses and youth, and business marketing audits. The business marketing audits involves web-based software, designed to analyze a company’s complete marketing actions and results.
Pat and Holly came to the States for the summer trying to raise money toward their intended December 2007 move to Kenya to venture into the Kenyan market. Pat and his brother Mike were also working on targeting a sale-ready date for their web-based software. This was a great step of faith for them and though their fundraising efforts to support the business (i.e. loans, grants or other kinds of investment money) has not been very successful, they are determined to go as long as the lord keeps saying, “Go.” Like Moses when he was asked to lead the children of the Israelites, Pat and Holly are asking the Lord’s presence to go with them.