Redemptive Work for Shalom

God’s grand idea was for people to be co-creators, partners in the ongoing tender, loving care and stewardship of the unfolding creation process He put in place. As Pastor Tim Keller describes in his book The Reason for God, the Bible depicts a world that is brimming with dynamic, abundant forms of life perfectly interwoven, interdependent and mutually enhancing and enriching. Creation was designed to continue, the universe expanding, with human beings drawing out the vast resources of creation like a gardener does in a garden, bringing joy and flourishing to the creating community. In this, the Creator is delighted.

Shalom was established in the beginning with everything in proper order with each other: God with human beings, humans with each other, and the rest of Creation. God put everything under the stewardship of His image bearers, charging us with keeping the balance.

Now, we know this isn’t what happened—this perfect partnership in shalom was devastated through sin. The Bible tells us that when we decided to serve ourselves first, instead of God, the entire created world became broken. Fear overcame love. Shame, guilt, and mistrust grossly distorted shalom, to the point of murder between brothers. Disease, famine, natural disasters, and war ensued.

In response to this, God, in His culminating act of love, sent His Son, the ultimate Shalom, into the world. In His time on earth, Jesus was busy about His Father’s business here on Earth. After completing His heavenly Father’s business, Christ commissioned His followers to make disciples for the ministry of reconciliation, the busy-ness of restoring shalom.

This is Christ’s mandate for us, and He promised to be with us until the end of this age. "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain" (John 15:16).

Redemptive business ambassadors of Christ, for the reconciliation of all things—everything. Loving relationships with God, self, neighbor and creation itself.

So, what does redemptive work for shalom look like?

When imagining the future in the business of shalom, the person who immediately comes to mind is my good friend and member of Partners Worldwide in Kenya, Dr. Ruth Waweru. I first met Ruth when our family was living in Nairobi, and I was leading World Renew’s economic development work in the Eastern and Southern Africa region in the early 1990’s. Ruth had formed Liaison LLC to help clients achieve excellence in servant leadership, organizational behavior, and operational management. I engaged her to help me with strategic planning for our partnerships with local community institutions across eight countries.

In 1997 Partners Worldwide was birthed out of our first business partnership in Kenya and the launch of our first local partner, CHESS, a Christian cooperative helping entrepreneurs with access to the knowledge, capital, markets, and relationships where businesses can thrive. Ruth is a founding member of this partnership which requires interdependence, reciprocity, mutual respect, and humility. Today, she is the Board Chair for Partners Worldwide in Kenya and previously served on the Global Board of Partners Worldwide.

Ruth saw the systemic discrimination in the commercial banking sector, which led her to get personally involved on the Board of Directors for The Family Bank in Kenya for 12 years. Family Bank is one of the first indigenous banks to form in post-colonial Kenya. Its mission is to serve aspiring entrepreneurs with huge potential but little collateral, those rejected by commercial banks. They have been hugely successful and are now in the top 10 leading banks in Kenya, bringing more shalom and flourishing in the marketplace in Kenya.

Because Ruth is a firm believer in the unlimited potential of human beings created in the image of God, she founded and is a majority shareholder of Brookhurst International Schools, a wholly Kenyan-owned company. Brookhurst welcomes students of all cultures and religions from both Kenya and around the world to achieve their full potential and positively transform the world. They have indeed achieved global recognition for their excellence in education with 650 students, while creating over 200 jobs. The Brookhurst Foundation is restoring human dignity by supporting local communities living in informal settlements, especially vulnerable children with access to education and other basic needs including water.

Importantly, Ruth is also a redemptive farmer. She practices regenerative agriculture in Kinangop in Kenya. Her main crop is potatoes, rotated with peas and carrots. The produce is used to feed the students at her two schools, with the surplus sold to traders. They do purely organic farming using plant and animal manures, as well as organic pesticides. To maintain soil texture, they do minimum tillage. They bulk their own potato seeds and employ an agronomist. As part of serving their local community, high-quality seeds and training are shared with surrounding farmers. Yields have increased on average 40-fold!

Ruth is, finally, a woman of peace; I have never witnessed her anger or wrath. I will never forget the time Ruth helped Partners Worldwide in its formative years with a strategic planning session in Kenya. We had about 10 business partners from the US join with over 75 Kenyan business leaders from different regions of the country. The Kenyans had done considerable work ahead of our gathering. Still, the U.S. partners were voicing concerns to me about the lengthy process, during breaks at lunch, even at my table where I sat with our board chairman. I confess, I was a little nervous about it myself. Ruth, though, was patient, calm, and completely sensitive. She listened, clarified, and gave feedback on what she heard to ensure that every point of view was captured accurately. She was masterful in facilitating such a large group, while ensuring every voice was heard, even calling upon those who were intimidated by the success and power of others.

It was amazing, a miracle of sorts. She was a reconciler, a balancer, bringing together opposing ideas and forces to discover new wholeness. She was creating shalom right there and then. And the strategic choices made at that event remain the pillars and spiritual foundations of the global network that is Partners Worldwide today. Ruth is gracious, a servant leader, she has personal shalom, she exudes shalom, and creates shalom wherever she goes.

When I think of a redemptive business ambassador who I continue to aspire to learn from, I will always think of Ruth.

As we actively look for ways to use our work in the world for redemption and re-establishing shalom, we can consider these questions. Am I cultivating opportunities for others to thrive? How is my work helping those I serve—whether customers, students, or patients—reach their fullest potential? Do my choices support the success of local institutions and organizations? Am I contributing to the well-being and growth of my community?

God calls each of us, wherever we are serving, to work toward the flourishing of others. When we keep this as the center of our work and daily lives, it is then that shalom may begin to be restored.