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NOT BUSINESS
AS USUAL
Written by Brittany Linder, LETU junior business major. Courtesy photos used by permission
LETU students pictured from left:
Carlos Cantu
Sarah Krippner
Curtis Wise
Trifena Sutanto
Ryan Jacobs
Brittany Linder
Lucas Trevino
Dr. Karen Jacobs
Jamee Ruhl
Sam Epp
Josiah Walker
LeTourneau University junior Brittany Linder was one of 10 business students who
participated in a Spring Break outreach to Preston, England. These undergraduate
and graduate students developed presentations to educate local business owners on
growing their businesses. The students also shared their faith with this Post-Christian
community where over half of the children come from families suffering deep financial
hardship and unemployment. Here is her story:
As our plane descended into the United
Kingdom, I felt a little fear about how
God might stretch me and my team
during our trip. The quality time
we spent on the eight-hour flight
transformed us from strangers into the closest of
friends, yet we knew we would be the faces of
LeTourneau University’s School of Business.
Preston, England is a place where many are
blinded to God’s truth. LETU professors Drs. Karen
and Wayne Jacobs helped organize the trip for us
to serve with a church that was planted in 2011 by
their friends Jason and Nicola Greene, who were
originally from the Preston area and returned as
missionaries. The Jacobs’ knew the Greenes from
Longview, Texas, where their paths crossed in a
marriage coach training seminar. They shared the
same faith and family values.
Jason Greene had told the Jacobs’ that Preston,
England, is a dark place. While statistics show that
many profess Christianity, the truth is that most are
not attending church or seeking a relationship with
Christ. Poverty was crushing their hope.
Months prior to our departure, three teams
of students began working with our faculty
sponsors to learn about the economy in England.
We brainstormed, researched, and prayed
in preparation for an outreach to encourage
struggling small business owners in Preston. We
developed workshops to help the business owners
identify their competitive advantages, write their
business plans, learn their strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats, and devise strategies to
set their businesses apart from their competitors.
Our goal was to help them grow and prosper their
small businesses in a depressed economy, but also
to showcase God’s love and grace through our
conversations and actions.
Through Jason’s connections through a local
business network, we presented our presentations
28 | NOW Magazine | Spring 2013