This week Assist News Service published an article about Paradigm Shift entitled, “Paradigm Shift Extends God’s Family by Empowering Entrepreneurs.”

The article provides a comprehensive overview of the four key components (business training, microcredit, discipleship and mentoring) the Paradigm Shift program uses to connect business-minded members of local churches with microentrepreneurs in their communities.

Please forward the article to anyone you think might be interested in learning more about Paradigm Shift!

21: The most recent number of microentrepreneurs who finished the first Paradigm Shift course last Saturday. Most of the entrepreneurs pictured below live in a  community where there is no running water and electricity. Their level of interest, engagement and desire for future involvement was unbelievable.

This group and another are signed up to come through 18 weeks of weekly meetings where they will study additional business topics along with looking at what the Bible says about their lives, their families and their businesses.

Should be a fun road of growth in the next 18 weeks.

Paradigm Shift’s team just grew by 25!

That’s some incredible growth huh?

How you may ask… well by a new volunteer team being trained up through a partner church. It is a team of business trainers, life coaches, table trainers, microcredit coordinators and mentors.

Each person fills a specific role that works towards the greater goal: seeing their church engage with the poor both spiritually and economically.

Paradigm Shift uses the powerful principle of leverage. The team of five Paradigm Shift staff members leveraged the time, energy and efforts of over 100 last year. This year, the team of seven Paradigm Shift staff members will leverage the time energy and efforts of over 500 this year.

This isn’t the amount of entrepreneurs trained. This is the number of South Africans empowered to be the answers to their own communities pressing needs. This is a gathering of South Africans taking the initiative to hold out hope for those forgotten. This is ultimately Paradigm Shift’s reason for existence: training, equipping, empowering South African churches to muster together the requisite human capital within their congregations and offer it in service to those who need it most.

It started with one church.

It grew to two.

Then to four.

And now to eight.

Eventually twelve.

Soon sixteen.

Then to twenty.

It is at twenty churches that we cap it. Why? Because we are making the Paradigm Shift better and better so that eventually it will become a replicable outreach put into the hands of congregations across South Africa and then soon into other parts of Africa.

It is an exciting road ahead… Looking forward to sharing the journey with you.

This year, the growth trajectory for Paradigm Shift looks more like a 90 degree incline and with that growth curve we needed more hands on deck. God has been faithful to bring those individuals along.

Last year, four staff members mobilized 103 South African volunteers across four churches. This year, six staff members will mobilize 600 volunteers across 20 churches!

So the Paradigm Shift team is growing! Pictured below is the 2010 Paradigm Shift team in South Africa.

At the beginning of January we welcomed Michelle (picture left front) to the full-time staff at Paradigm Shift. Michelle is serving as the National Project Coordinator, which means she is involved in a variety of aspects of the growth planned for 2010.

This week, we just received a second addition to the 2010 staff. Cate Carroll (picture front middle) is serving as the Cape Town Regional Manager, which means she is heading up Paradigm Shift efforts across the country. She will be doing a bit of all the aspects of Paradigm Shift as well.