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Releasing the Nehemiahs: A Historic Marketplace Milestone at the Center of the World
by ELLIOTT SNUGGS
A historic milestone for marketplace transformation recently took place high in the Andes. Gathering in Quito, Ecuador, a dedicated group of marketplace leaders concluded an intensive 18-month journey, marking the first-ever A3.business graduation ceremony to take place outside of Asia.
Nestled at an altitude of 9,300 feet and surrounded by breathtaking volcanic peaks, the setting provided a fitting backdrop for a monumental spiritual shift. The four-day gathering was charged with a clear sense of divine purpose. Looking out at the stunning, snow-capped vista of Mount Cotopaxi, it was evident that a new chapter for Kingdom leadership in South America had officially begun.
Rebuilding the Walls of the Marketplace
What began in September 2024 as individual business owners drawn together by shared curiosity and a hunger for integration has matured into a fiercely bound community. From the outset, this cohort assumed a distinct and powerful identity: The Nehemiahs. Like the biblical Nehemiah, these men and women are not pastors or church staff; they are marketplace practitioners, builders, and executives called to rebuild walls and restore broken cities through their daily work.
As I shared the graduation challenge, I reminded the cohort of the core pillars that have defined their transformation:
* The Rooted Soul:
True marketplace transformation begins from within. Real professional influence holds no weight if your soul is hollow. To change a nation, leaders must first allow God to deeply root and change them.
* Peer Vulnerability:
Business leadership can be intensely isolating. Over the past 18 months, you successfully have broken out of isolation, shifting into an authentic peer community where learning at each session in your table groups has become shared life.
* Shattering the Divide:
You have experienced a paradigm shift: the total demolition of the sacred/secular divide. Work is no longer viewed merely as an "excuse" to do ministry or fund a church, but as a sacred calling where your business itself is worship and a tool for Kingdom restoration.
Bringing Meaning to Business
The core charge given to these pioneering graduates reflects a key focus of A3.business: We are not looking for leaders who seek meaning in business, but leaders who bring meaning to business.
These executives have been structurally deployed back to their offices, law firms, businesses, and institutions to manage workplaces where success is no longer measured strictly by financial gain. Instead, they are pursuing a triple Kingdom bottom line: economic excellence, reproducing Christlike leaders, and catalyzing social transformation.
Geographically positioned at the equator, Quito serves as a literal center of the world. This first cohort now stands as a beacon of light prepared to radiate outward across Central and South America. They have not merely finished a professional development course—they have been commissioned as strategic catalysts to transform nations from the inside out.
The A3 community celebrates the historic graduation of the Ecuador Nehemiahs, eagerly anticipating the regional movements that will spark from their obedience. Arise, marketplace Nehemiahs, and let us build!
Elliott Snuggs
