By Tommy Lee and Sarah Lee
Jun Du and Angelos Delis, professors from Aston University, recently published an article in the World Economic Forum about the inevitable change COVID will bring to globalization. But let’s be honest - unless you run a company that provides a product, or your long awaited new fillintheblank is delayed yet again due to the coronavirus, you likely aren’t thinking about global supply chains on the regular. But maybe you should be. The times are changing, and these changes have very real material and spiritual implications on how we run our businesses, our ministries and our lives.
How So?
A quick primer on globalization: It relies on a worldwide network of manufacturers, resources and information (a supply chain) to allow businesses to produce goods and services in the most cost-effective way. For example, the computer you just ordered - those manufacturers often use highly specialized pieces that are created by only one or two overseas suppliers. If one of those suppliers is shut down due to, let’s say, a pandemic, they can’t complete the production of your computer. Their efficient and cost-effective chain of supplies has been disrupted and you can’t get your computer until they find a new supplier or their existing supplier is able to get back into their factory again, create a product and ship that product. The implication? You can’t get your work done, make money, provide for your family. This concept applies to an unbelievable amount of goods and services we use today.
Globalization really began to advance in the 1800s, with the First and Second Industrial Revolutions. As shipping, air travel and the internet has been made exponentially more efficient, international trade has become deeply embedded into the fabric of almost every country.
Why is Resource Global so concerned about globalization?
Every person reading this is affected by globalization and the supply chain. And every person reading this is affected by the way COVID-19 has severely deconstructed the “norms” we have come to rely on. Many in the Resource Global family run businesses and organizations in Africa and Asia and the factories you run have been brought to a standstill due to this pandemic. The economic impact on your businesses and the people you employ is astronomical. How do you lead in a way that honors God in perhaps the most difficult season of your lives, especially when leading will most likely result in cutting jobs and wages?
And for the rest of the Resource Global family who depend on these goods and services to run your ministries and families, you may not be a direct part of a supply chain but you are most certainly a consumer. The ease at which you obtained supplies to run your daily lives is disrupted. Let’s just talk toilet paper for a second. What was once just a grocery store afterthought has now become a scavenger hunt prize subject to price gouging. So much time and energy has been wasted on finding what was once taken for granted. And the same goes for prescription medications, medical supplies and even simple things like eggs and flip flops!
And don’t forget that as globalization is disrupted and the economy is in a freefall, those running or working for nonprofit ministries are watching their donations dry up overnight.
So What Are We to Do With All This?
Be Prayerful - Thy kingdom come Lord! Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!
Be Mindful - Remember our cohorts, indeed all of our churches, are filled with young marketplace leaders who deeply desire to run their companies in a way that honors God.
Be an Intercessor - There are believers around the world who are weathering historic, and often life-altering, change due to this unexpected de-globalization.
Be Flexible - God is not a “that’s the way we’ve always done it” kind of God. His heart is to conform us into His image and He rarely accomplishes that without trial and change.
Be Humble - The glory is God’s alone, and that may mean your way of life changes indefinitely.
Be Ready - How is God asking you to be ready for change, to be a bridge-builder, to stand in the gap for those on the other side of the chain?
Some of the hardest work is still before us. Businesses, many led by fellow believers, will have to rebuild or reinvent their supply chains. Jobs will be lost. The economy will continue to take a hit for the foreseeable future. Donors will stop donating and consumers will stop consuming while we travel the long road to a new stability.
According to Du and Delis, “Nobody can predict the next crisis. But the most reliable and efficient insurance by far is to build a strong international cooperation network.” While this is true for the efficiency of future global trade, it is undoubtedly true for the global Church as well.
To view the World Economic Forum article, click here.