Good News Florida

LIFEWORK LEADERSHIP 12 JANUARY 2018 Good News • South Florida Edition GN - Was there anything in particular that stood out in your mind that made you think, “Wow, If I could do it like that”? DC - No… Well, DeBartolo, they fly in here sometimes in their jet. So, I kind of knew of them, but I didn’t know they were Christians and were going to give a case study. And, well, we all know Apple. And the leader of Apple Canada, he was one of the speakers. And we all know Walmart’s fame, and one of their top execs was a speaker. I really love to learn myself, so when those guys were speaking, it was like, wow, how could God use us further? We’re using our business as a ministry. We are supporting missionaries. We’re supporting some of the nonprofits, but then the Egbe story came about. At the same time I was doing Lifework, I wanted to take Sueanne to show her where I grew up. The hospital was about to be closed. There had been no missionaries there for about 10 years, and everything was run down. It was in a very, very poor state. Most people here would have just demolished it because none of the hospital equipment worked, so it was hardly even a clinic. It was really, really a mess… There were a lot of Africans that came up to me and said, “I would be dead if it wasn’t for your parents here at this hospital,” and “I worked at the hospital and this served this whole region,” and “I became a Chris- tian at the hospital, and now I have a church.” And I just heard story after story. But I was busy working here at Banyan and then one night Sueanne and I were praying, and we asked, “Is there anything we should be doing as it relates to Egbe or has it had its day?” And I just felt this tug in con- junction with as I’m doing Lifework and I said, I’m going to go to SIM, who was the owner of that station, and ask what are you guys thinking of doing there? …And they just basically said we don’t really have that in our plans. So then, the Lord working in my heart, I went back to them and said, “What if I were to put together a plan and start looking to revitalize that hospital.” They said, “That’s not our model for you to not even be living in Nigeria…” But they had a board meeting and said, “We would like to give you permission to do this and we’ve never done this before. You live here and Egbe is in the bush thousands of miles away and there are no missionaries there. So, Don, I have no idea how, but we all do know that God is bigger than any of us.” I said, “OK, that’s really what I needed to know. Thanks a million.” Then… I didn’t really know Stephan[Tichvidjian] other than I knew he talked at Lifework, but a few weeks later I went to the men’s Bible and he said, “Don, tell the group a little bit about yourself.” And I said, “Well let me just start out with, the passage that we are speaking about tonight at my very first Bible study is what my Dad wrote in the front of my Bible.” It was the proverb about the Lord directing your paths. And I said, “And the only white preacher I ever really knew by name was a man by the name of Billy Graham. And as missionary kids we all had to gather around the shortwave radio to listen to the Hour of Decision with this guy with a crazy accent, Billy Graham. And I’m coming to the first little men’s Bible study I’ve really ever been to… and the group’s leader is the grandson of Billy Graham. And I just have to share this with you because this is bizarre.” After Stephan and I talked a little bit, I discovered he used to be in charge of missions at Calvary Chapel… So, I told him what I’m planning on doing is rebuilding the mission station where I grew up. And he said, I know SIM and asked if I see Franklin at Baynan as he’s a big aviator. Soon after …I sat at lunch with Stephan and Franklin, and Stephan said tell him a little bit about what you’re going to do with Egbe. We had talked aviation and motorcycles and everything, but we hadn’t talked about that. So I did, and I said I’ve got a five-year plan all set out in a binder in the car. That afternoon he invited me to the board roomwhere he called in some key people. I gave them a presentation and Franklin said, “OK, which one of you five can go to Egbe with Don in three weeks?” And they all put their hands up, Don said with surprise. So like three weeks later here we are all going to Egbe with his top guys. And they called from there to Franklin on the satellite phone and said, “Yea, we see Don’s vision. We really do.” So, Franklin said, “I’m going to help you…” GN – You began this the year you were going through Lifework? DC - Yes, 2008. And I liked Lifework so much that I went again in 2009. It was right around 2010 when all of this was happening…so I love to work and I work many, many hours here at Banyan. I was thinking how in the world can I start something like this in Africa when I feel so obligated to always be here at Banyan without any outside projects? Now I’m going to do something that’s way out of my comfort zone and that would be leaving Banyan for like three weeks at a time three times a year. How am I going to do that? As things were coming together, my Banyan CFO called me out to the hanger and there’s about 120 of our employ- ees. They had all taken this collage of pictures and signed the outside and said, “You go re- build Egbe and we’ll build Banyan,” and they gave us a $10,000 check from the employees. So here’s SIM, here’s Franklin, and here’s the Banyan team. And I said to Sueanne, “What is going on here? God has called us to do this.” GN – So, it’s done. Your five-year plan happened in five years? DC – It did. We’re still working on an eye center right now and really working with the staff in best practices, systems, procedures - working toward efficiency, inventory, running the organization, again, with excellence, in a very rural area… GN – Beyond that project, which you said was a call for you and Sueanne, how has Lifework affected your company? DC – At the beginning of Lifework I was being raised to a little higher level that Banyan is my ministry. As opposed to its just a business and you use the money to help other min- istries…Then I learned of Chaplains of America, and I was probably the easiest sell they’ve ever had. That next day I just called them up and said I would love to care more about the spiritual side of our teammates wherever we can. It was introduced to our team as caring in the workplace. If a wayward teenager doesn’t come home or if one of our technician’s wives comes down with cancer, if one of you are having a baby, our HR director can only help you out a certain amount. But there’s this company called Corporate Chaplains of America where these guys are trained in all the social services. … Then we asked our teammates what charities would Banyan like to officially be asso- ciated with? We have a Spirit committee that headed that. So it’s not managers involved, it’s teammates. And it came back 4KIDS and the Egbe Project. In fact, they would even like to payroll deduct if they want to give a donation or if they want to volunteer with these things that Banyan would get behind. And that was, again, another sign that God has two ministries: Banyan and Egbe. And since then we have interwoven Banyan into the Egbe project in in- credible ways… GN – Who should participate in Lifework? DC – I send one of our leaders every year to Lifework since I’ve been there. So, I think it’s about five. And it’s because I think Lifework supports our culture. It’s totally in alignment with the speakers who come there and the principles and values of a Christ- centered business. That just enhances it that much more. But who should go to Lifework? Well, for somebody that’s a believer or Christ follower who owns a business – it’s a must… You mingle with people who all have the same kinds of challenges and looking for solutions. But even a bigger significance is they also are believers, so they look at things from a little different perspective. Then you have speakers come in who say don’t be afraid to be looking at it for even a bigger perspective. This is how it worked out in my case. What has Don Campion learned personally? I always read about how God does in- credible things and how he can use people to accomplish great things. Well, I’ve had the privilege… I got pushed a little bit, walked out in faith, and then God has used us in a way I never dreamt possible, which then, of course, strengthened our faith tremendously… Before it was just more of a job, but now it’s more of a life, and I just feel like I’m get- ting to live three lives in one. There’s so much excitement in so many areas, and its people I met at Lifework that I keep in touch with. Chief Don and Sueanne Campion in Egbe, Nigeria. (Continued from page 10)