January 2011 Kingdom Business Summits

In January 2011 Ian and the Proton team travelled to Romania where 56 Christian business people came together at two inspiring 24 hour Kingdom Business Summits.

Ian, accompanied by guest speaker Steve Robinson [CEO of Langley House Trust] and Wendy Bolton [the Proton Foundation's Business Development Manager] braved the early January winter weather to undertake a 5 day whirl wind trip to Romania.

A snowy scene greeted the team as they touched down at Cluj airport, and after a 2 hour car ride, the Christmas trees and New Year lights brought a warm welcome to their first stop at Baia Mare.

Some of the topics covered during the Summit included:  Abundance Mentality, Leading in a Crisis, Developing Sustainability and Missional Business.

This was Ian's first visit to Baia Mare and it was a pleasure to not only speak to over 20 local business people during the Summit, but also visit Logos Church and it's daughter Gypsy congregation. Ian also had the privilege of meeting the soon to be new Mayor of Baia Mare and it was a good opportunity to hear his vision for the community and begin to dialogue on how the Proton Foundation might be able to assist in the future.

The team then immediately headed 4 hours south east, driving through the fog to the city of Targu Mures to repeat the Summit to another group of business people.  This town of approximately 145,000 people, is in more central Romania.

Delegates were already waiting for the team to arrive at the conference venue and it was a joy to spend the first couple of hours chatting with the 30 plus delegates over an evening meal.

The following morning the Summit resumed with a buzz as Ian continued to inspire the business owners on what a missional business could look like, going beyond wealth creation, and how to bring Jesus and Kingdom values into the marketplace.

What Ian is sharing is very new to some of the Christian community in Romania and a need was expressed for more help through practical seminars and workshops on good practice, processes and procedures.  We pray there will be many more opportunities for the team to return to this area of Romania to deliver training courses and workshops.

The opportunity to visit these two cities was a first for Ian and the team but the new friendships made during those few days will continue to grow in the future, as we explore ways to see the Kingdom advance in Romania through missional business, social enterprise and community regeneration.

Ian will be speaking at several Business events across the globe during 2011 and a Kingdom Business Summit is planned for November 2011 in Krakow, Poland.  See the events section of the Proton Foundation website for more details.

More photos available in the gallery