Nativity Catholicpreneurs – Connecting Catholic Entrepreneurs in the North
“It is in giving that we receive” said the Committee Head Vernon in his opening speech to all Catholic entrepreneurs gathered together in the zoom meeting on the 15th July in an inaugural meeting of Nativity Catholicpreneurs. The meeting garnered good response as 34 enthusiastic participants met online and made their Business Pitch. The meeting was launched at the Butterworth Parish level with the support and blessing of the Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Dominic with the intention of creating a network among Catholic entrepreneurs at the Parish level and the northern region to help boost their business. The meeting began with a prayer, sharing of the word of God, a 25 second business pitch followed by a 3 minute business presentation by a member, a tip for the week and closing prayer.
Fr. Dom quoted William Wallace that “every man dies not every man really lives” , thus to savour the goodness of life one has to transform ordinary work life into an extraordinary calling. One can do that by including God in the workplace and he said that the book by Graham Power and Dion Foster on ‘Transform Your Work Life’ suggests a community prayer at the workplace. In his experience, he has found that the weekly prayer of Angelus and sharing of the Word has contributed to a well-balanced work place where everyone puts heart and soul into their work. Fr. Dom shared that 18 years (from the age of 12 to 30) , Jesus must have learned and assisted his father in carpentry and normal routines of daily life. God put man in the garden of Eden to work on it and take care of it. Man has to work to produce (Gen 2: 15). He quoted Col 3: 23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart” and Psalm 112: 5 – “God will come to those who are just”. So when we include God, everything changes said Fr. Dom.
The 25 seconds business pitch was the highlight of the program where entrepreneurs were given an opportunity to present themselves and their products. All were upbeat about highlighting their business and excited about this weekly meet. The participants were from vast array of business- law, food industry, technology, learning, special needs care, elderly care, home appliances, gift industry and many more.
A more detailed presentation for a business app in mobile phone by Joseph Lim provided opportunity for the participants to know more about a tech savvy method in monitoring and recording business transactions. Presentation like this are hoped to fetch more customers among the community and also provide publicity by word of mouth.
Stephen Chin wrapped up the meeting with a tip by sharing a motivational video on helping one another.
Vernon thanked Fr Dom for his support in promoting the event at a parish level and hoped for more participation in the future meetings. Stephen Chin (PPC Chair) commented that the idea came after they attended the Catholic Business Community meeting held in KL. He added that although they have had a Business Expo in church two years back but there has not been much follow up. This time they intend create a directory or an app to connect the Nativity Catholicpreneurs through the NBVMSCIC website. The Nativity Catholicpreneur also corresponds to the PMPC4 in 2016 where people with common interest come together to help and support each other.
It was a lively session- a community of one faith coming together to support and help each other to grow. The session ended with a prayer after which some stayed on for a chit-chat.