My Journey to Here

Josh Moore

I grew up as a PK (Pastor’s Kid). My parents were farmers until I was four, and then left the farm to become pastors. 

Throughout my school years I was interested in business and also passionate about ministry. My expectation for my career was that I'd start out in some sort of management or business role and then God would suddenly call me out of that into full-time ministry sometime in the future. 

My plan was to go to the University of Waikato and study management, but in my final year of school I started to feel unsettled about that plan. I prayed a huge amount about what I was supposed to do when I left school. Because I was unsettled about management I decided to swap to another degree, but I still felt uncertain about it. 

Then one afternoon I was reading the "Apo News", which was the newspaper for the Apostolic Church Movement (as our denomination was called back then).  I read an article about Te Nikau Bible College moving to Hamilton to become Vision Leadership College (which is now called Vision College).  When I read that article, it was the clearest I’d ever heard God speak to me. He said, "That's where you're going next year". I was ecstatic, because after months of praying and uncertainty, I finally had a clear answer about what I was going to do when I left school. 

So my plans changed. Instead of going into business and then being called into ministry, I was heading straight into ministry. I studied ministry and leadership for two years at Vision College, and then went to university for a Graduate Diploma in Strategic Management. After that I started working for church full-time running the student ministry. As far as I could see, I was going to be in full-time ministry for the rest of my life. That's what I felt called to.  But things changed at church and after four years’ working full-time, my role was made redundant.  That was a big surprise, because I didn't have plans for anything else. But God did. 

When I finished at church I worked in a start-up charity, and then a real estate firm. That is really where my marketing skills and passion for business grew. I found myself in my first National Marketing Manager role, and later became the National Marketing Manager at ATC New Zealand, which has now become the Activate Education Group (AEG). 

During these employment roles, my passion for business was reignited, and continued to grow. 

A key driver behind my passion for business is that I'm passionate about giving to kingdom causes, and I see business as being a vehicle for being able to give large amounts of money. 

But God expanded my understanding as I got connected to Christian business people through a ministry called Business Edge, which was launched many years ago from our church. One of the key things I learnt through Business Edge was that business isn't just about earning money to give. Business IS ministry. 

Most of us do not work for church, so the marketplace is where we spend most of our week. It's where we express our faith Monday to Friday. As business leaders, God wants to be involved IN our businesses! 

So 10 years ago, I left the marketing manager role and launched out into running my own business. It's been an amazing faith journey all along the way.  I now have eight people in the team, and a growing client base in New Zealand and Australia.

When I went full-time we had a close friend who prophesied that our income would not go down. And that is exactly what happened. I’ve seen God's provision multiple times along the way and walk in testimony of God's blessing and seeing prayers answered in business. Like when I had a meeting with a potential client in my first few weeks of being full-time and walked out with a contract that paid me the equivalent of one-third of my previous salary, for just one morning per week! And when we started to declare blessing over the business every day, and then saw more enquiries come in than we’d ever had.

That's not to say it's always been easy. There has been some very challenging times along the way. At times I’ve taken risks that haven’t worked out and we’ve lost thousands of dollars, or at other times we've lost a critical staff member and struggled to replace them, leading to a much heavier workload. Every growing business experiences cash flow challenges at times, and leading a growing team can be a real stretch. But it also feels amazing to walk out my calling every day. 

As I build a thriving business, I view it as my ministry. It is a key part of how I live out my faith. From the company culture we build and the values we live, to the way I treat staff, customers, competitors and suppliers - it is all an expression of Christ in the marketplace. It also grows my faith as I learn to partner with God in business.

I know that the dreams he has placed in me for kingdom impact won't be fulfilled in my own strength. That’s why it is so important that I run the business in partnership with him. 

I started my career in full-time ministry, and thought that is where I would always be. But over the years God has expanded my understanding of what I'm called to, and what ministry looks like – and I know for sure now that I’m called to full-time ministry in the marketplace. 

God has developed in me a passion for seeing his kingdom expanded in all aspects. I'm passionate about church being the best it can be and I love contributing to church in all sorts of ways. I'm also passionate about Christians living their faith Monday - Sunday in the workplace. I'm passionate about Christians in business, running businesses that glorify God, expressing His values and I’m passionate about seeing Christian business owners release funding into his kingdom. 

Christian ministry is something we can all live out wherever God has placed us during the week. And if you’re in business or senior management, and want to connect with others in church who are in that same space, come along to Activate Business events. It’s a great way to be encouraged to live out your faith every day in the marketplace.