In Business and About God's Purposes

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 15:56:05 +0000

Kathryn Brill

In Business and About God's Purposes

Jesus is Lord over every industry and field of study. What does it look like when we commit ourselves to making choices that honor him in the work that we do?

For Will Haughey, an alumnus of Greek ��ñ�� at Indiana University, it meant using his business skills to be part of the solution to social problems in Honduras. Will left the investment banking world in 2008 to join his brother Chris in founding a toy company called Tegu. Learn how Will is following Christ in the business world in this video from ��ñ�� Staff Conference 2014:

The idea for Tegu sprung from the brothers’ experiences in Honduras, a place with abundant natural resources but a great deal of poverty. Will and Chris saw an opportunity here when he wondered: how could they utilize these resources, such as the beautiful wood of Honduran trees, and create a business that might provide job opportunities in Honduras?

Tegu produces wooden blocks with strong magnets inside. Kids can play with the blocks by sticking them together to form their own creations. While Tegu is a for-profit business, it’s also committed to making choices that reflect God’s values, such as sustainably sourcing their wood and helping support a local school for children whose families scavenge in the nearby trash dump. For Will and Chris, “business as usual” means business for the glory of God—and it’s making a difference in the life of the community around them.

For further reflection:

“Are You a Disciple For Life?”

-From the blog: “Glorifying God in Every Vocation”

-“From Oreos to Justice”

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Indiana University

Greek ��ñ��

God Always Has a Plan

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:37:15 +0000

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Gordon Govier

God Always Has a Plan

Paula Puckett still finds it hard to believe that four friends on her dorm floor invited her to an ��ñ�� prayer meeting. It was at the start of the second semester of her freshman year at William and Mary. “I’m amazed because if I had been in their position I wouldn’t have thought someone like me would’ve wanted to come to a prayer meeting.”

Even though she was more interested in partying than praying she decided to go with her friends. At the prayer meeting she observed women who had a peacefulness and self-confidence that she had never seen before.

Majoring in ��ñ��

“Back in my room alone my simple prayer was, ‘God, whatever those women have, I want,’” she said. “I dove into ��ñ�� head first and never missed a meeting after that. I did everything, went on every mission trip, and to every chapter camp.”

After she graduated, with degrees in Spanish and Religion, she thought for a long time that maybe she should’ve devoted more time to her studies and less time to ��ñ��, to get the full advantage of her college education. But now, after being on staff for most of the past 20 years, she’s come to a different conclusion.

“I was becoming a staff worker, learning what it meant to follow Jesus,” she said. “I was getting in touch with what it meant to do campus ministry even as a student. I’m not as hard on myself now.”

Following God Overseas

Paula joined staff following graduation and worked on several campuses in New England, with her longest tenure seven years at the University of Rhode Island. After she married Blake, a friend from high school who had been her first donor, they explored overseas ministry with ��ñ�� Link.

In the fall of 1999 they moved to central Asia. “And that began the great adventure, the greatest adventure of our lives so far,” she said. After a year and a half, just when the ministry seemed to be going well, they were suddenly deported. They moved to another Central Asian country and enjoyed two more years working with students. “The Central Asian ministry was really beginning to gel,” she said. “We saw God doing some amazing things.”

One of the most amazing things was the first ever Central Asia IFES student conference in 2002. “It was the first time believers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikstan had ever seen each other,” she said. “They had never met so many believers from outside their own country.”

The next six years saw several moves back and forth between the U.S. and Central Asia, related mostly to her husband’s career in law and the military and not with student ministry. In fact, Paula left ��ñ�� Link staff for most of that period as their family began to grow. She calls it her five-year maternity leave.

Returning to Campus Ministry

“The day I resigned from ��ñ�� was one of the hardest days of my life,” Paula said. “I feel like I was born to be on staff; not a day went by that I didn’t miss it. I have never been able to imagine myself doing anything else. God was faithful during those five years off staff even though it was hard.”

To other women on staff who are faced with a similar decision, Paula counsels patience. Changes come, but God always has a plan.

“I had this strong sense that He was going to give it back even sweeter than it had been,” she said. “And that has been my experience. The last three years have been the most satisfying ministry that I’ve ever had.”

Paula rejoined ��ñ�� in 2008 to work with the Graduate and Faculty Ministries at Indiana University. While there she saw the chapter grow from 10 to 40 students. Then when her family moved back to northern Virginia she discovered the campus of George Mason University (GMU) was just a few miles from her new home. She also discovered a GMU faculty member had just contacted ��ñ��, requesting ministry on campus. Paula is now working with graduate students and faculty on two different GMU campuses.

Reflecting on her 20-year career in campus ministry, Paula says the most important lessons she’s learned have been about prayer. “In my younger years I did my staff work based on what I thought I should do or based on training. And I prayed too. Now I pray first and my staff work flows out of that. Now I don’t want to set foot on campus until I have a sense that God goes before me.”

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William and Mary

Link

Indiana University

George Mason University

Indiana University

In Business and About God's Purposes

In Business and About God's Purposes

God Always Has a Plan

God Always Has a Plan

Majoring in ��ñ����

Following God Overseas

Returning to Campus Ministry

Majoring in ��ñ��