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About The Author
Jay A Lykins
In 1978, Jay had just left the employment of GESCO — General Electric Supply Company, the same branch of GE that his dad retired from after 40 years. He was going in to business for himself and shortly after realized he was in trouble. He began to make notes to himself of the problems that existed and what he needed to do in order to correct those problems.
Those notes from 1978 started the beginning of a book he would write and later publish. The timespan was one of decades, not months or years, that these notes and answers would accumulate. The first edition was published in 1990 and can still be found on Amazon and eBay — if you look hard enough.
In 1998, we (my wife and I) found ourselves living overseas in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. This was a step up from the prior year, when we lived in Ganga, Azerbaijan. For 20 plus years, I had started and directed a small non-profit agency that took me to over 60 countries, helping mostly third-world entrepreneurs start or expand their businesses, using sound business principles integrated with biblical principles. In 1996, being empty-nesters, a decision was made to take what I was doing and move with it overseas. I put together a proposal and World Vision International, a relief and development organization, funded the project. Of the two, relief and development, I did the second part, development. That was the year in Azerbaijan. Now, it was 1998, and time for a new start elsewhere.
Another relief and development organization, World Concern, wanted to place us in Tbilisi, RoG which just happens to be next door to Azerbaijan. We stayed in Tbilisi for the next three and a half years. During our first year there, my book was printed again, the “second edition.” World Concern wanted to adapt it to their work internationally. With permission, they set about to rewriting the book for a specific audience and also developed a workbook to go with it. That took place in the year, 2000, and I think it was a success for them. While they were doing this, I was also having the book translated into Georgian for local use there.
To my knowledge, there are no more copies of this edition (I bought them all 🤓), although World Concern is still using the principles where they still have development projects.
You’re probably wondering why I’m even mentioning this and what’s the relevance. Today, I started the third edition, publishing the book online. It’s being posted to my website, and this evening, the first chapter was placed. At this point, I’m using the same text of the book published by World Concern. I should be clear, here — the initial book was more of an autobiography, relaying my struggles in business, the answers I found in Scripture and their implementation. World Concern’s version is more third-party, and I will leave it that way, at least for now. It is my personal walk, though — with more than a few stumbles along the way. As I post future chapters, I’ll let you know. There is a table of contents, so you will be able to see where the book is going.
Assistance requested and needed — I’m dealing with at least two revisions; a “ghost writer” for one revision; notes from computer files, post-it notes, retyping, etc, over a 45 year period. If you find errors, mistakes, typos, missing links or re-directed links, lack of continuity, etc., please let me know. You can leave a message here; Im me; or by email: j.lykins@outlook.com — it would be greatly appreciated
The name of the book is, “Values In The Marketplace.” To that end, here’s a link to the book, Table of Contents, and First Chapter:
“Values In The Marketplace” is a book I wrote following my own journey, from one of being an employee, to one of being a manager, and finally, one of being self-employed and providing employment to others. The book was used as a textbook at Covenant College in the 1990s. It also became an integral part of the training program I used when helping entrepreneurs around the world, to either grow or start their own business ventures.
The book also played a key part in the training used with missionaries in “closed access countries” — those countries which may not allow Christian missionaries to enter but will let in businesspeople. These countries included many from the Middle East, some from Southeast Asia, and Communist countries such as the USSR.
The book proved useful, from doing seminars in the Soviet Union — Moscow, Kyiv, Odessa — in the late 1980s, to working with missionaries who were going as businesspeople. These missionaries became known as ‘tentmakers’ and came from such organizations as Operation Mobilisation (OM), Youth With A Mission (YWAM), mainline church denominations (including PCA/MTW), and others. I became involved with these ‘tentmakers’ when I was approached and one said, “We are tired of being ‘tentfakers’ and want to become ‘tentmakers.’” I then went from teaching a course at YWAM’s University of the Nations on the big island (Kona) of Hawaii, to providing seminars from Morocco to Indonesia and Afghanistan to Nigeria — now known as the 10/40 Window.
The book is available in two editions — a first and a second — and both are being made available on my website (second edition, first). The fourth chapter is now being posted, and can be found here: https://discerning-islam.org/values-in-the-marketplace-outside-cover/
Jay has a background in Islamic Studies and has worked throughout the 10/40 Islamic world for over 25 years, from Morocco to Indonesia and from Azerbaijan to Nigeria. He has lived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Colon, Panama (Republic of); Port-Au-Prince, Haiti; Ganga, Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, Georgia (Republic of); Herzliya/Tel Aviv, Israel; Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City, Kuwait; Baghdad (Green Zone), Iraq; Harare, Zimbabwe; and Beijing, China – as a missionary, a Foreign Service Officer, and in early childhood. In addition, he has worked and/or traveled to Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and others for a total of 68 countries.
Jay is a retired Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State; during his career he has worked for General Electric and AT&T; Youth for Christ (YFC) and Young Life; even finding time to have been self-employed as an independent contractor. He was the founder and CEO of the non-profit organization, Global Reach (c. 1981), whose mission was to help identify and then come along side and train young business entrepreneurs. Training involved using sound business principles which were also supported by sound biblical principles from authors such as David, Solomon, Paul and other biblical authors. These locally owned and run businesses provided employment in their communities and financial support to their places of worship. Jay has worked under contract, identifying and training entrepreneurs, for such organizations as Young Life (YL), Operation Mobilisation (OM), Youth With A Mission (YWAM), Presbyterian Church in America/Mission to the World (PCA/MTW), Partners International (PI), World Vision International (WVI), Scripture Union, World Concern (WC), and others. World Concern published the second edition of his book, Values In The Marketplace, and still use the principles put forth in his book in some of their overseas ministries. Jay also led seminars for YWAM and taught a class at the YWAM University of the Nations in Hawaii on the island of Kona.
His education includes an honorary degree from the School Of Hard Knocks, a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies (English, Bible, Business, and History – Medieval History and The Crusades) from Covenant College – 1973; an MBA in Third World Economic Development – 1986; and a Ph.D., in Islamic Studies (Oil & Gas, and Money & Banking – Business Practices), Oxford, UK – 1988.
He and his wife, Lynn, now live in Oklahoma. They have three grown children and eight grand-children. Jay became a Christian in 1969; he is of the Covenant and Reformed Faith, and is currently an inactive elder of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).
About The Author
https://discerning-Islam.org
Last Updated: 10/2022
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