Month: July 2010

FIFA World Cup and the global job market

/ Steinar Opheim

Steinar Opheim

Regardless of who the winner will be, the FIFA World Cup taking place in South Africa is giving us valuable insights into the global job market. 

12 (37.5%) of the 32 teams  playing in South Africa have non-native coaches. Coaches from Argentina are heading three teams. The number of German coaches is also three. Other nations who have for-hire coaches in the World Cup are Brazil, France, Italy, Netherlands, Serbia and Sweden.

There are many things we can learn from this list regarding the global job market. Here are some points:

1. Sports is a growing sector in the international job market

For most nations it is important to perform well at the big sports events. In order to achieve this, the national teams look for the best coaches available. Many nations have realized that they need to start growing their athletes early if they want to succeed. So there is a desire to hire good, foreign coaches also further down in the sports hierarchy in each nation. Other growing sports sectors are the fitness clubs and personal coaching for anyone who would like to get in better shape.

2. Foreign employers look for experts

Except for Serbia and Sweden all the nations listed above are famous for their good soccer teams. Employers hiring people from the global job market are looking for experts. The better you are in your profession, the easier it is to get a job. Since it is usually expensive to hire foreign experts, the employers would like you to pass on your knowledge to the local staff. 
As soon as possible they will try to manage without your expertise. 

3. If you do not produce the desired results, your contract will end

The non-successful soccer trainers will not have their contracts renewed. The same applies to experts in other professions who do not produce the desired results. If you want to stay long term in another country you´ll have to work hard and you need to make sure that you stay on top of your profession.

The list of World Cup coaches also gives us some other interesting facts. Seven of them are in their forties, 14 are in their fifties, 10 are in their sixties and one is more than 70 years old. Notice that none are in their twenties or thirties. The Western job market often fails to value gray hair and experience. Many non-western job markets do. 

Conclusions

1. There is a constant demand for experts in the global job market. We should all aim at being as good as possible in our professions. This is makes us more attractive in the marketplace.
It is also a Biblical principle to make good use of the talents God has given us.

2. We should always try to give our employer the maximum return for the investment he has made by employing us. Equally those registering and starting businesses in other countries should do their best to make their businesses a blessing to the nation they are living in.

3. There is a great need for more gray-haired Christian professionals who are willing to bring their professions and experience with them to other countries.

Tentmaking and national laws

/ Steinar Opheim

“Should Christians Convert Muslims?” was the headline of a Time Magazine cover story a few years ago. In some sense the article implied that Christians going to Muslim countries are doing something wrong because their activities are causing tensions. But is that true?

Among the politically correct only the religion of tolerance is accepted. Christians settling in other countries in order to lead people to Jesus are under attack. Even among Christians, tentmakers working in sensitive areas may be met with criticism. The conception is that a tentmaker often comes with a hidden agenda and that he 
or she are entering the nations through the backdoor. 

In this picture it is important to sort out what is right and what is wrong. First of all we should underline that Global Opportunities and Tent are training people to respect the laws of the countries they are going to. When it comes to sharing faith, the laws in most nations are not causing too much trouble. With maybe one or two exceptions, no countries in the world have laws against people talking about their faith in a private setting. In most non-Western cultures religion is an integral part of daily life. So it is common to talk about faith and share thoughts about the big questions of life in day-to day talks. In fact, it is socially expected to talk about your faith when asked. It is inappropriate not to. Getting people to ask questions is key to sharing Christ. This creates many opportunities for sharing about Jesus also in nations that 
are regarded as “closed” for the Gospel. 

A Christian who had lived in Pakistan for several years, testified that he did not have the gift of evangelism. “But in Pakistan I didn’t need that gift. There people talk about faith all the time,” he concluded.

Many nations have laws that makes it illegal for the citizens to change their religion. So the people the tentmakers are living among, break the law if they accept Jesus as their saviour. Many of those who receive the gift of salvation and eternal life through Jesus, realize that 
the suffering they may have to face here on earth is nothing compared to the glory they will receive (Rom 8:18). The tentmaker may of course be considered as a partner in crime to those who break the law by changing their faith. But in this case the authorities who prohibit their citizens from having the freedom of belief are the ones to blame. It should also be mentioned that many of the countries prohibiting religious conversions have signed the declaration on human rights giving everyone the right to “change his religion or belief.” 
(UN Declaration on Human Rights, Article 18).

No missionary, nor any tentmaker, will force anyone to follow their faith. What these ambassadors of God’s kingdom are doing, is to point towards a man who said he had come to restore our relationship with God. In nations where exchange of ideas and beliefs is prohibited, even the politically correct should aim their criticism at the authorities who are denying their people basic human rights. Those who share their faith with others should not be the target. 

Note: Dave English, Executive Director of Global Opportunities was interviewed for the 
above mentioned TIME article.