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Accounting, Accountability, Righteousness, Justice, Peace, Prosperity
Author:
Stephen Keel - August 2006
Isaiah
32:16-17 (The New Living Bible)
Justice
will rule in the wilderness and righteousness in the fertile field. And
this righteousness will bring peace. Quietness and confidence will fill
the land forever.
Proverbs 13:23 (NASB)
Abundant food is in the fallow ground
of the poor, But it is swept away by injustice.
I am seeking to be an
agent of change in the world of rural agriculture. My initial efforts were
targeted at developing agricultural technology that could be used by
cooperatives.
My work has led me to the conclusion
that apart from introducing righteousness into the world of micro
financial transactions, even the best of agronomists are doomed to remain
poor.
Luke 16:11 (King James Version)
If therefore ye have not
been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the
true riches?
My original efforts were targeted at giving the rural farm better
agricultural technology. Today, I am seeking to equip him with basic
business accounting skills so that he can both understand, manage and
increase his wealth.
I see a positive connection between the teaching and practice of basic
accounting and world peace.
Justice and righteousness must occur at the marketplace level in
transactions between individuals to allow the impact of righteousness to
be experienced on the global level.
In Isaiah, Chapter 32, we learn that, “righteousness
will bring peace.” Men are not
peaceful when they feel like they are being cheated through low wages or
deceitful business practices.
Much attention had been focused on the
redistribution of goods as a remedy to poverty, anger and hopelessness
experienced by the very poor. Although not all agree, it seems apparent
that merely redistributing wealth does not guarantee prosperity or peace.
Wealth appropriated from others does not bring the same sense of
accomplishment and satisfaction as wealth created by the sweat of the brow
or the exercise of ingenuity and determination.
When work brings income the income must be
protected from the use of false weights and measures that rob the worker.
Proverbs 20:23 (King James Version)
Divers weights are an
abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good.
Devaluation of currencies upset many. There
is a positive relationship between macro level dishonesty and micro level
dishonesty. If banks and governments use false weights and balances to
earn unrighteous profit, individuals at the micro financial transaction
level are, in their own minds, fully justified in their practice of
deceitful transactions.
If individuals can discover the profound
benefits of righteous financial transactions, they can influence their
communities and their nations. Fostering financial righteousness is a
challenge. Common deceitful financial transactions challenge basic
biblical teaching.
Psalm 84:11 (New Living Translation)
No good thing will the
LORD withhold from those who do what is right.
Sears and Roebuck announced, “Guaranteed
satisfaction or your money back.” They said it, they meant it and they
prospered. People bought from them because they could trust them.
Deceitful financial transactions at the
macro and micro level incite lack of trust. Lack of trust destroys peace
and encourages injustice.
I am now working to
develop Wel-Fi.com: web-enabled wealth management tools for
rural finance clients. Using this system, the small and medium-sized
rural farmer can manifest righteousness in his financial transactions.
E-banking practices that follow conventional accounting procedures
dramatically improve the efficiency and profitability of these activities
by using debit card purchasing and bill payments. The challenge is to
provide a system that is easily understood by the users.
The multi-lingual user interface takes advantage of
artificial intelligence. The conventional menu system is replaced by a
chat screen that asks the user “What do you want to do today”. The user
response, plus information known from a record of the user’s previous
secure logins are used to guide the user, using conversational
instructions, to the successful accomplishment of his or her goal. All of
the user’s conversational activities are, under program control, inserted
into standard accounting reports such as income and balance statements
that the user is encouraged to read and understand. Since these reports
describe the user’s assets and income, he is highly motivated to
understand them.
At the small and medium-sized business levels in
developing nations, agricultural activities take place in a primarily
“cash only” environment. Subsequently, undocumented transactions leave in
doubt the righteousness and efficiency of business transactions and the
probability of investor confidence in the management of capital that may
be available to invest in small and medium scale agribusiness.
Additionally, cash can be dangerous. In many parts of
the world, the presence of cash invites violence.
Many subsistence, small and medium sized farmers are unfamiliar with
business accounting procedures and terminology that are standard in
healthy world economies. Additionally, marginal or subsistence farmers may
have no significant understanding of equity or wealth management.
The
Internet is growing and
changing at a furious pace. It's no longer the
wave of the future. It is
here NOW, and
the figures are
staggering. The Internet
is fast becoming the key
soldier in a communication revolution that includes innovative banking
solutions.
We can develop an internet banking solution targeted at the clients of
various Rural Finance Lending programs. By encouraging
their clients and participating banks to use this service, Rural
Finance Organizations can increase their stature as agents of significant
economic and social change.
The accounting tools this system will provide will create a practical
framework of accountability. Within that framework, farmers, agencies and
bankers will be able to work in truly transparent and righteous
relationships that will build trust and, in time, peace and prosperity.
Stephen Keel
3900 Milton Highway
Ringgold, VA 24586
stephenkeel@reinmex.org
http://helpforthehungry.org
Personal Information:
Director
and founder of Help for the Hungry, radio program bible teacher
http://aproverbaday.org with broadcasts in 27 countries,
30 years of jail and prison ministry,
4 years as a full-time volunteer
chaplain in a maximum custody prison for youthful offenders; author,
Recipe for Revival, an exhortation to house church participants, author,
Math Mastery, experiences in intuitive mathematics for elementary students
written in Apple Basic, former NCR, AT&T, Compaq, Hewlett Packard reseller
serving banks and hospitals; committed atheist/existentialist/pleasure
seeker who discovered the Lordship of Jesus Christ at 28 years of age;
father of 8 children, school teacher in Alaska, former Alaskan bush pilot
and salmon fisherman.
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