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GoStrategic Newsletter: Second Quarter 2024
Madagascar & South Africa Travel Report
Madagascar, the world’s fourth-largest island, is renowned for its breathtaking ecological biodiversity and diverse colonial heritage. Yet, within its borders lies a struggle against corruption and deeply entrenched cultural paradigms. Our Malagasy GoBusiness graduates are among those endeavoring to bring about essential change in their homeland. We recently had the privilege of co-hosting a weeklong series of events in this vibrant nation.
GoStrategic’s Executive Director, Katherine Gallagher, embarked on this trip to Madagascar in early March. The visit was a collaborative effort with leaders from several other ministries, including Marc and Doris Stettler of YWAM Burtigny, Pierre Bonin of ID2R, and Jan Strydom of Family Life Institute. As these three also serve as Career Direct consultants, the trip afforded them the added opportunity to meet with a team of Malagasy trainers and clients.
Local GoStrategic school alumni coordinated several speaking engagements for our visiting team, including presentations at a nearby high school and university, the organization of a public business event, and a special gathering of school alumni. Our team was also privileged to tour multiple community projects founded by alumni, including a multi-campus school and a diverse community center. (For an inspiring story recounted by Katherine about the community center’s founder, click here tor the Testimony of a Pineapple.)
The fruit of this visit was manifold, with significant connections being forged with new contacts, including securing a partnership with a Christian publishing company and amplifying our message to a broader audience through a Christian radio station that will air recordings of the event. Furthermore, enrollment in our business school surged, underscoring the hunger for biblically based training in Madagascar.
A number of new introductions were made between key leaders in the region who are excited to work together in future partnerships. The team of local alumni are working to scale their efforts and further develop GoStrategic’s Madagascar affiliate school and its continued growth in the island nation.
Following the week in Madagascar, Katherine flew to South Africa where she was joined by her father, Dennis Peacocke, founder of GoStrategic. They spent the first few days ministering at a church in Witbank at the invitation of Pastor John Bendixen, a longtime friend of the family and the ministry. Their itinerary then led them to the Pretoria area, where they participated in radio interviews, met with pastors, and attended several events coordinated by our ministry partner, Family Life Institute, in conjunction with the efforts of local GoBusiness alumni and the Doxadeo church network. At one gathering of church leaders, there were over a dozen denominations represented (including Catholic, Baptist, and Dutch Reformed!), and several key leaders were in attendance at the business gatherings, resulting in new enrollments in the business school.
One of the most exciting outcomes was the multitude of new networking connections established, alongside numerous reunions between individuals and ministries that had not been in fellowship for some time. The response was truly remarkable, reflecting the fruit of years of relational investment and months of strategic planning. Katherine shares, “We had the opportunity to meet so many people in person for the first time [whom we had previously only known virtually]. What a joy to be together!”
The trip concluded in the coastal city of Cape Town with our Transforum event. We experienced the synergy of collaboration as we brought together over 25 organizations, alongside pastors and leaders who traveled from various parts of South Africa and beyond, representing numerous jurisdictions of business and ministry.
While there’s not enough space to fully elaborate on the significance of the Cape Town event and the extraordinary testimonies and relationships it fostered, it was indeed the powerful culmination of years of sowing. The alignment of purpose, timing, and the presence of the Lord was visibly evident. In addition to outstanding keynote sessions, dynamic jurisdictional panels, and a rich selection of workshops, we were encouraged by the strategic updates from ministries operating both in South Africa and internationally.
Notably, Landa Cope delivered a poignant keynote, making her final address on African soil, as she prepared to depart to the United States days later, after more than 25 years of residence and ministry in South Africa. It was an emotional and beautiful tribute, with her transition symbolizing both an end and a new beginning.
Feedback from attendees resounded with gratitude and inspiration, emphasizing the profound impact and newfound hope cultivated during this special time together. We look forward to the testimonies that will come from God’s divine appointments, trusting that He is already using this experience as a catalyst for personal transformation and Kingdom growth.
Additional photos from Madagascar and South Africa are posted on our Instagram and Facebook pages.
International travel and events come at a significant financial cost to the ministry. If you would like to help underwrite this venture and the continued work of expanding our schools and God’s Kingdom in South Africa and Madagascar, we invite you to click the fundraising link below. Your support is greatly appreciated!
Capitalism, Socialism, and the Case for Choice-Based Economics
The critiques of capitalism go well back into the nineteenth century. At their core, the best of them are much more about an unequal distribution of wealth than any of the self-evident needs to fine tune the exclusively economic properties of the overall system. Even Marx’s early challenge to capitalism related to his concerns about “alienated labor”—the assertion that workers are mere objects of production—which is more about psychological matters than pure economics. Indeed, the failure of capitalism as portended by many did not transpire because the system of capitalism proved to be far more resilient and adaptable to social needs than any of its harshest critics from the political left ever supposed possible. Beyond this, capitalism’s inherent capacities to create massive wealth, vast global middle-classes, and sustainable growth over periods of hundreds of years made it the hands-down victor over its rival economic contenders. Nevertheless, today, in the twenty-first century, socialism has been hurriedly resuscitated as an imaginable challenger to capitalism by the die-hard intellectual elites and the younger generations who tenaciously disregard socialism’s bleak history of unbounded economic failure. Click here to read the full article.
Global Virtual Transforum
Inside Out & Bottom Up: Principles of Transformation for Ourselves & Our Nations
Join us Saturday, May 11, 2024 for an engaging virtual event (hosted via Zoom) featuring practical and inspirational teaching, interactive Q&A, a curated virtual meet-up with participants around the globe, and regional discussion groups. Get equipped and connect with Kingdom-minded individuals worldwide! This event will also be available in French.
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