That time has come for the existing Paradigm Shift website. Though it has served us well, Paradigm Shift Communications Director – Corinne Gray, has been working hard on the new Paradigm Shift website. Below is a sneak peak:

Check it out: http://www.qideas.org/blog/the-2012-praxis-fellows.aspx

Over the past 2 weeks, we’ve seen $5,100 of the $14,500 come in. We still need to raise $9,400 by September 30. Every bit helps – $10 / $25 / $50 / $100 or whatever amount.

Join the others and GIVE on our causevox page: http://paradigmshift.causevox.com/

What’s Praxis?

Who are the Praxis Mentors?

Who are the other 2012 Praxis Fellows?

3 Unique Gatherings

25+ World Class Mentors

$100,000 in Cash

After a long application process, we recently received word that Paradigm Shift was chosen out of 80+ organizations to be a part of the Praxis Accelerator program. This program works with founders of social enterprises who are compelled by their faith to advance the common good.

Paradigm Shift’s founders, Jedd and Janelle Schroy, were chosen to be 2012 Praxis Fellows, meaning they will be traveling to New York City, LA and DC to participate in three gatherings over six months where they will receive mentoring and customized expertise from the founders and leaders of some of the world’s most successful and innovative organizations such as To Write Love on Her Arms, Opportunity International, Wal-Mart, Ideation, Invisible Children, Hope International, Blood: Water Mission, Catalyst, Adobe, and others.

We urgently need your help. At the end of September, we need to pay tuition fees of $8500 plus travel expenses from South Africa to these events.

Visit http://paradigmshift.causevox.com/ and make a small contribution.

But the number that really mattered to the volunteers is 95. That’s the percentage of Zimbabwe’s population that is unemployed. This means that nearly every Zimbabwean has to rely on running a small business to meet their basic needs and provide for their families.

For 2 full days the volunteers, all from the New Creation Family Church in Johannesburg, shared important concepts like budgeting, marketing and record-keeping aimed at giving the entrepreneurs the tools they need to increase their business income. One entrepreneur whose life is taking a new direction is Melody.

Looking at Melody Mari now it is hard to imagine that she wasn’t always the confident, self-assured businesswoman she is today. Now she owns a business selling clothes in her local community of Beitbridge, Zimbabwe. But just one year ago, things were very different. “Back then,” she explains, “things were really tough for me and my family.”

Though she’d dreamed once of going to university, she had to put her dream on hold because it was too expensive. Getting a job was therefore difficult for Melody. And for many years neither she nor her husband had a steady, reliable source of income. But in 2009 her husband found a job as an Immigration Officer and moved the family from Harare to Beitbridge – a small town that lies on the South African border.

But with salaries so low for government workers, Melody and her family struggled. They sold chickens and groceries to supplement their income. Still, as she describes, “things were really hard for us.”

When Paradigm Shift took its business training programme to Beitbridge in 2010 Melody jumped at the opportunity to join the course. During the Business Experience Course, Melody learned for the first time that the purpose of a business is to fill a need in the community better than the competition. She then took a critical view of her business and realised that, while there was a lot of competition for selling chickens, there was little demand.

And so she changed her business model to selling clothes imported from South Africa, which had a higher demand in her local community. Through the Paradigm Shift Business Experience Course, Melody also learned how to price her clothing to gain maximum profit.

It didn’t take long for things to turn around for Melody. She is happy to declare, “Things are no longer tough for my family.” Thanks to the principles she learned and applied, Melody’s business income increased, allowing her to take better care of her family.

Even better than gaining money to buy what she needs, Melody gained confidence and a sense of self worth. She explains, “At least now I’m somebody. I don’t look down on myself anymore. I feel good because I am prospering. And for that I thank Paradigm Shift.”

Melody also has the confidence to dream again. She dreams that one day her small clothing business will become a boutique in Harare. And there is no doubt in her mind that this dream can come true once she gains more experience and knowledge. “This is why I thank Paradigm Shift,” she says, “Without this course I would have no other chance to learn. I couldn’t go to university to study but God sent Paradigm Shift to show me how to run my business better.”

If you’re reading this blog you may already be a champion for Paradigm Shift’s mission to fight global poverty by equipping churches to sustainably empower the poor. And you may have already asked yourself the question, “What more can I do?”

Consider spending a year in South Africa as a Paradigm Shift team member. As a Paradigm Shift team member you’ll engage directly in the fight against global poverty, while experiencing the thrill of learning an entirely new culture! We have three new job openings. Check it out. Pass it on.

Click on the links below to read the full job descriptions:

DIRECTOR OF TRAINING

AFRICAN FAIR TRADE STORE MANAGER

CHURCH RECRUITER/MARKETING SPECIALIST

Excerpt of the article:

Today’s highlighted ministry is one of the most exciting groups that I’ve found to date! Paradigm Shift is an organization that partners with South African churches and equips them to provide business training, microloans, mentoring and discipleship to entrepreneurs in the community.  The materials provided by Paradigm Shift help local churches to become an entrepreneur’s source for good business and stewardship principles, which enables entrepreneurs to overcome poverty for their families and close knit communities.

I had the opportunity to meet Jedd Schroy, the founder and director of Paradigm Shift, and was really impressed with what the ministry is doing in South Africa.  Jedd’s passion is to equip the church to help the poor rise up from poverty by using basic but powerful business and spiritual principles.

Read the rest of the article at:

http://www.faithandfinance.org/2011/07/paradigm-shift-ministry-highlight/

But the number that really mattered to the volunteers is 95. That’s the percentage of Zimbabwe’s population that is unemployed. This means that nearly every Zimbabwean has to rely on running a small business to meet their basic needs and provide for their families.

For 2 full days the volunteers, all from the New Creation Family Church in Johannesburg, shared important concepts like budgeting, marketing and record-keeping aimed at giving the entrepreneurs the tools they need to increase their business income.

For most of the entrepreneurs, it was the first time they had access to formalised business training. Retabile Ndolovu remembers, “When I saw the poster about the Paradigm Shift course I couldn’t believe my luck. There is nothing like this in my community.” Retabile runs 2 small businesses in Beitbridge. She sells chickens and eggs at the local market, and she walks from door to door selling clothes. Her 2 businesses enable her to provide for her family.

At the Paradigm Shift business training Retabile learned how to manage her finances. “I used to spend more than save,” she explains. During the programme she learned how to create a budget, how to keep records of her expenses and how to save her money. She has since opened a bank account for the first time. “I know now that I need to save for the future and for my children,” she says.

Retabile (right) learns how to manage her finances by setting aside some of her income for monthly expenses, savings and business re-investment.

Paradigm Shift founders, Jedd and Janelle Schroy, were recently featured on TBN’s Praise the Lord program in their New York City studios.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JinRxPhk7M