Most of us recognize the name Jeff Bezos as he is the founder of Amazon and an acclaimed billionaire. The man is on a similar status to that of Solomon, yes the one in the Bible. With the seemingly endless amount of financial resources that Bezos has, he seeks to put it to good use through the mission of Blue Origin.

(Bezos, pictured to the left)

Blue Origin is a space company founded by Bezos and is seeking to create the infrastructure for regular human space travel for the sake of protecting our home, earth. The company seeks to “build a road to space with our reusable launch vehicles and lower the cost of access (to space), enabling a future of growth.” What an incredible mission this is! Origin’s commitment to reusable launch vehicle remains one of its major value propositions as this goal drastically sets it apart from other limited competitors.

(located to the left is Blue Origin’s New Shepard. This rocket is currently taking payloads to space and will soon fly astronauts)

Whether or not you are in favor of mass space travel, one does need to acknowledge that Bezos is not remaining stagnant in his desire for entrepreneurial thinking. The man has a plethora of wealth yet continues to put his talents to use rather than remaining removed from society and buried in his treasure. Bezos admits that Blue Origin is the most important thing he is doing right now. Furthermore, he firmly believes that our passions pick us and we are called to be open to exploring them and finding them out. While maybe not aligned with a Christian worldview, Bezos does understand that all humans have an underlying drive which fuels their passions. “Use the word “impossible” with great caution”, warns Bezos.

Started by Ryan, a former youth pastor in the Beaver area of Pittsburgh, Risen Fly Fishing exists to bring high quality fly fishing products to consumers at a much lower cost than its competitors. Starting with a few fishing items, Ryan built the product lines so that there exists today much fishing gear for customers. Furthermore, Ryan seeks to do entrepreneurship in a redemptive way; quoting the company’s website page, the venture exists to “put the customer first and reflect Him in all things.”

I stumbled across Risen Fly Fishing as I sincerely enjoy exploring different fly shops in the area of Pittsburgh. As I walked into the Risen store located in Beaver, PA, I was met by Ryan and I liked how personable he was towards me. He took thirty minutes of his time to help me learn the different fly fishing gear in his store.

Another reason why I love this venture is the intentional names with which Ryan names his product lines. As he seeks to represent the Kingdom of God in his business, Ryan names each of his fishing rods after different Biblical characters. As shown above, the Goliath rod is indeed named after Goliath himself; the rod is the largest of Risen’s production line. What an awesome way to incorporate Biblical characters which inevitably create opportunities to discuss Biblical literature.

In effort to put the customer first, Ryan also offers a deposit program which allows for customers to put down a small amount of money and pay the rest of the rod off as time follows. This allows customers to purchase expensive products at their convenience. In the fly fishing world, this proves to be an effective, differential way of catering to the customer’s needs.

While searching for another entrepreneurial endeavor to research, I stumbled upon “Fathers in the Field.” This initially caught my eye as my elevator pitch was an idea to help mend father-son relationships; this ministry is doing just that!

Started by John Smithbaker in 2005, this ministry aims to “share God’s love with hurting boys dealing with the same abandonment issues he dealt with for so long.” Although quite successful in his career-life, Smithbaker carried many scars from his childhood due to broken family life. Due to his father’s desertion while a youth, Smithbaker admittingly had many scars and much bitterness towards his father. Desperate to rid himself of the agony he was experiencing, John sought the Lord for forgiveness and reconciliation. While it was a long process of learning how to forgive and let go of the bitterness he had held on to for so long, John ultimately learned to abide in the Father’s love for him and true healing began.

In order to prevent the devastating cycle of fatherlessness in America, John Smithbaker and his team set out to start “Fathers in the Field” which seeks to mentor the boys in a one on one fashion through outdoor activities and by sharing a Christian understanding of the Heavenly Father.

One of the really neat things about this ministry is their “enroll church” option. As one’s who are seeking to build up the local church with faithful fathers, the option of “enroll church” enables different churches to enroll their members in need of this ministry so that boys in the church can receive a positive experience.

I really love the approach of this ministry as it uses story to convey a level of personal meaning with those involved. The story of John Smithbaker, while heartbreaking, truly sets a grand story of redemption which captivates the hearts of all humans coming in contact with the ministry. Furthermore, Smithbaker showed much determination and entrepreneurial spirit as he contemplated (for years) how to best effect the next generation of America.

John Smithbaker