Hi, I'm Doug Meadows, President of NTB Business Development. Below is a small glimpse into how this ministry was birthed

The South Pacific

Four years ago I was in Fiji visiting my new friends Koli, Ruci (Ruthie) and their son Mini. I was there on a mission trip with Life School International. We were there to teach basic biblical principals, and I was in charge of teaching the children.
I had fun watching Koli teach his son Mini how to drive the boat, just as I taught my son how to drive the car. So different, yet so much the same. “Stop” “Turn” “Look out” “Get out of the way, I’am driving now!”
There was a common occurrence that kept happening with us as we traveled through the waters. The boat that we used to get around from island to island kept having engine trouble.

40hp Yamaha OMC

As I looked around, I noticed that every one that had a boat had a 40 horse power Yamaha outboard engine. When I asked about repairs on the engine, a common problem occurred once again. It was not easy to get them repaired. Call me simple, but I saw a lot of young men, Mini being one of them, that needed work—and I saw a huge opportunity for small engine boat repair. It looked like a win-win proposition. But, as I went through my normal question asking, I learned that they lacked the training and the business skills to accomplish this business venture. So, I looked at the situation and thought what would it take to make this happen?
Train a young man to fix the engines, give him the necessary business skills to run this new business based on biblical foundational truths (without giving away the farm) and give him a small start up loan to get it going.

What if we could help do this?

Or maybe we could go to a village and help them to start an egg business, raising chickens for the eggs. Or maybe we could help start a honey business. All it would take is a little money and some training. Or maybe spark something deep down inside of them about their own dream. Let them know that it’s okay to dream and to think about what they want to do.

Africa, Cameras, Cell Phones & Bicycles

Shortly after that I found myself in Kenya, Africa. Once again working with the children of the area, teaching and playing with them, I developed a fond appreciation for my interpreter, Charles. At the time of our departure, we left Charles with a point and shoot 35mm camera. It changed his life. He was now a photographer and everyone was hiring him to take pictures of birthdays, graduations, weddings and all kinds of special occasions.
Then, the request came for a nicer camera, and since I had converted to digital and my nice 35mm camera was collecting dust, we sent it to him with lots of batteries and film to help keep his business going. Then I got thinking again, what if we bought Charles a bunch of advertising, it should’t cost too much.
So, through our communications I made the offer. The reply was not what I had anticipated. His request was for items much more needed than the advertising; he needed a cell phone and a bicycle. He had no way for customers to contact him and he had no form of transportation. Needless to say he now has a cell phone and a bicycle. But he still needs much more. He needs training in business skills, he needs to know how to run a business based on the bible, “business by the Book” and we still need to advertise him.

Dream . . . . . Internet Cafe

Then I asked him to dream….. dream about what he wants to do. The dream was an internet cafe. He saw the opportunity to have a business where he could employ other people besides himself. What an awesome idea, and what a need for the community.

NTB Business Development Begins

I have been sharing with my pastor of my desire to help develop business in 3rd world countries so in the spring of 2007 my pastor gave the launch I needed. We invited the pastor from Zimbabwe to stay with us for a few days and we began to brain storm on businesses that would work. We came up with the Epworth Project. We will help develop a cooking oil business. We are currently in the process on finalizing all the details and will be going to Zimbabwe in the spring of 2009 to launch this company