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Ep. 31 - The 4 Types of Professionals Who Change Nations
18 Plays4 days ago
In this episode, Ken Freire and Patrick Lowndes unpack the false belief that only overseas ministry or financial giving creates global impact, and instead reveal how every Christian professional can participate in God’s kingdom through their everyday work. They introduce four distinct types of professionals—from local marketplace ambassadors to frontier operators—showing how each plays a role in transforming nations through faith-driven work.
Resources Mentioned
- Forge Program - https://www.frontieroperators.com/forge
Timestamps
- 00:00 – The mission of Buried Talent and the idea of professionals impacting nations
- 02:00 – The Big Lie: The misconception that only overseas ministry or funding missionaries creates global impact
- 03:50 – Marketplace Ambassador: Living missionally in your local workplace while engaging global cultures around you
- 06:25 – Global Advocate: Leveraging time, awareness, and resources to support global kingdom work (10–25% focus)
- 10:24 – Global Operator: Integrating your actual work into global impact through business, consulting, or partnerships (50%+ focus)
- 14:15 – Frontier Operator: Moving into frontier markets to build and scale transformative, kingdom-driven businesses
- 16:35 – What To Do Next: Prayer, self-identification, and taking action through resources and community
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction to Buried Talent
00:00:08
Ken Freire
Welcome to Buried Talent, the show for young professionals that tears down false beliefs about faith and work so you can unbury your God-given talent right where you are.
Four Types of Professionals Who Change Nations
00:00:18
Ken Freire
I'm Ken Freire here with my amazing co-host, Patrick Lowndes. And today we're talking about the four types of professionals who change nations.
Global Impact Mission
00:00:27
Ken Freire
Patrick, if anything, this is the thing that's core to our organization, to our heart, is really having a global impact. And why is that so important to us?
Integrating Faith and Work
00:00:39
Patrick
Yeah, no, I love it, Ken. i think so many times we completely buy into the lie that my only contribution to the kingdom of God is to earn as much as I can so I can cut a check to someone who's doing the real ministry or who's the real work for God's kingdom. And like that's just straight up wrong.
00:01:01
Patrick
but That is, yes, there are gospel patrons who help fund certain things. We do see that in the Bible. like we see you know We see Lydia doing some of that. you know We see others. But here's here's where we get it wrong, where we say that is the only thing that we can do. Our only contribution is that. We are totally missing the first creation mandate, the first commission that we had, and so
Vehicles for Expanding God's Kingdom
00:01:24
Patrick
much more. So we're going unpack that. We're going to get into that today so we can try to like fully embrace this idea that my work actually can be a part of helping God's kingdom be spread all over the world.
00:01:35
Ken Freire
Yeah, absolutely. You know, I've been thinking about this more and more. And I was like, there's three mandates that we have, you know, or three vehicles that God uses to expand his kingdom and to show how people can be transformed, right? Or an example of transformation. That's the church.
00:01:52
Ken Freire
That's family. And then that's work.
Misconceptions about Global Impact
00:01:56
Ken Freire
Like we are called to work. You you talked about that. the The original mandate is that we work, we develop, we cultivate. we And that's a big part of sometimes that we miss.
00:02:05
Ken Freire
So what's the big lie that a lot of believers tend to think about when it comes to this concept that we're talking about today?
00:02:13
Patrick
Yeah, yeah. So the lie is, if I want to make a global impact, that I need to do ministry overseas or just fund people who do ministry overseas.
00:02:25
Patrick
That's it.
Eternal Kingdom and Work
00:02:26
Patrick
and And the lie behind that is the assumption that doing something in the marketplace is inherently less valuable for the kingdom of God and showing his ways and what what he looks like. However, in the eternal kingdom, when we build like God's kingdom and we and we run, we operate God's kingdom, we're not just going to be looking for nonprofits to donate to for all eternity. That's not it. What are we going be doing?
00:02:54
Patrick
We're going to be working. We're going to be running jobs. We're going be administering cities. We're going to be running whole programs.
Talents in Faith and Work
00:03:00
Patrick
And so try to tell me, Ken, that that is not what we should already be doing now as as a practice run for you for all of eternity.
00:03:10
Ken Freire
Yeah, absolutely. and thats And that's where people get so confused. They think that like here we're going to do something completely different. It's like, no, we're always called to cultivate.
00:03:17
Patrick
Yeah.
00:03:19
Ken Freire
We're co-creators with God. And I think that's why people feel confused, honestly, many times because they were like, I have these skill sets, I have these giftings, but they seem to not be able to be utilized here
00:03:21
Patrick
That's right.
Defining Professional Types
00:03:32
Patrick
Yeah, that's right.
00:03:33
Ken Freire
in their work context.
00:03:35
Ken Freire
or Or in church. So they're like, I guess, I think underlying, they feel this guilt. Like maybe I'm a second class Christian or something like that.
00:03:43
Patrick
Yeah, that's right. So how do we overcome that? Well, we're going talk about four types of professionals and really mindsets, things that you're called into to help you be really active and faithful. So can we jump into them, Ken?
00:03:57
Ken Freire
Let's do it.
00:03:58
Patrick
right. Number one, the very first one we would say is a marketplace ambassador. I would say that if you say and you claim to follow Jesus, every single person falls into this category of I'm an ambassador for Christ wherever I live, serve, work, and play.
00:04:08
Ken Freire
Thank you.
00:04:16
Patrick
right like that is That actually is the church. It's not a building. It's not a once we get it's it's literally on mission 24-7. I'm an ambassador. So a marketplace ambassador to to To make it more specific, the first type of person is is someone who says, I'm called to be really focused locally on my own city.
00:04:35
Patrick
and'm And while I'm focused here, maybe you're like, I'm certainly not supposed to be focused elsewhere. I'm just focused right here. And I want to express my faith in and through my workplace. But here's where you tie into the global piece.
00:04:47
Patrick
Many of the cultures and cities where we live are multicultural. We live in a globalized world. Most cities have people from different cultures and even people from the far reaches of the world literally working, if not in your city, then maybe even in your office.
00:05:03
Patrick
especially if you're
00:05:03
Ken Freire
Thank
Role of Marketplace Ambassador
00:05:03
Patrick
working at a bigger company. So the marketplace ambassador says, not only am I going to be focused here on people that look like me, but I'm also going to be looking for how can i how can I show people and befriend people into what is God's kingdom like? What does his his his his and his kingdom look like in this marketplace right here? especially with people who are foreigners or who probably didn't have a chance to to hear about God's ways in his kingdom because they came from a different country that where it was it was not prevalent. right So that's what a marketplace ambassador, local focus, but they're also caring about it welcoming people in that are from the outside. That's kind of this global mentality of how you can affect nations, even if you're really just focused on Seattle, where I live, or Nashville, where you live, or Dallas, or New York, whatever. So that's the first Does that make Any reaction to that, Ken?
00:05:55
Ken Freire
I think we just have to remember as Christians how our world since the early 2000s has started to shape drastically because of globalization.
00:06:06
Patrick
Yeah.
00:06:06
Ken Freire
right we're
00:06:07
Ken Freire
One, the internet, right everybody's now interconnected. And then two, so many more different cultures are coming to the United States that like we and interact with them quite a bit.
00:06:10
Patrick
Yep.
00:06:17
Ken Freire
I mean, I was born and raised in New York City. I interacted with so many different cultures and it was a great way to give them and shine the light of Christ and be a good witness to them.
00:06:22
Patrick
Yeah.
00:06:26
Ken Freire
So that's Marketplace Ambassador.
00:06:27
Patrick
That's right. All right, cool.
00:06:28
Ken Freire
What's the second one?
00:06:30
Patrick
That's awesome. Second one is a global advocate. So this person still also living locally in the same city where you are and still your day job might not really have anything to do with you know people on other side of the world or businesses or customers or operations on the other side of the world.
00:06:47
Patrick
But here's the difference. The global advocate says... hey, i while I've got my 40-hour week job here, I'm running my thing here, want to try do some volunteering.
00:06:57
Patrick
I want to try to do some coaching. want to try show up to different events and try to find out how our business is going into hard parts of the world, all over the world, and how are people leveraging business to be able to make an impact for God's kingdom.
00:07:12
Patrick
And I'd say it's, let's say it's maybe 10%. of your time in a given week is focused there. So most of the time you're still running your job, but you are you want to advocate for, here's how God is using business and innovation and all sorts of creative ways to show God's kingdom and and redeem big problems in the world.
00:07:30
Patrick
You want to be about that in your volunteer time and like pretty actively. That's why we call that an advocate.
00:07:35
Ken Freire
Thank you.
00:07:36
Patrick
So yeah, you're focused here locally, but you also are pre-active. And so this is this is you if you've probably been to two or three conferences in the last year that are more globally oriented.
00:07:46
Patrick
Or maybe you've been tracking with some people and helping coaching them over Zoom calls on the other side of the world. Or maybe you've considered doing an impact investment or maybe investing in a fund in a different part of the world. You would be a global advocate.
00:07:59
Patrick
So that's somebody who is who wants to be in the game, but knowing that their
Role of Global Advocate
00:08:04
Patrick
main focus of their work week is probably not directly touching that. Make sense?
00:08:09
Ken Freire
Yeah, absolutely. and And what's really important to remember, you may be wondering, Ken, Patrick, why are you guys so focused on globally? Like, why not just focus on my town or my city?
00:08:21
Ken Freire
And it's because Jesus was the one who in the Great Commission was like, hey, remember, it's not just about your neighborhood. It's about the whole world. Like God's redemptive plan is to reconcile the whole world but back to him.
00:08:34
Patrick
That's right.
00:08:35
Ken Freire
So I want
00:08:35
Patrick
And you know, Ken, I'll even jump in and say his followers, I would say, unless they literally physically went, I would say the early church did not have a responsibility for someone living in Jerusalem to necessarily be about what was going on in the other side of the world, unless like somebody brought a distant message and we funded a little bit and then they took it all the way back. Like that's the old school. I think today to whom much is given, much is required.
00:09:00
Patrick
we we we are Because we know what's going on in like five seconds on the other side of the world and we can easily connect with everything going on, I think we do need to play more of a part in what is God doing around the world to some extent, to whatever measure or focus God's given us. And that's different. That's a different level because we've been given much.
00:09:20
Patrick
I think more will be required of us and expected of us than Christians 100 years ago that had no idea what was going on around the world. I mean, I'm just going to say that. It's a little bold, but I think we're being held to a higher standard than Christians 100 or 200 years ago.
00:09:36
Ken Freire
Yeah. I mean, if you think about it, like you said, someone in Jerusalem probably didn't know what was going on in China, right? Like they're like, they didn't even know, right?
00:09:45
Patrick
Yeah, that's right.
00:09:45
Ken Freire
so But here we know everything. and And this is where the global advocate, I would say, if this is you, your responsibility is to make people aware of what's going on. Cause so many times you want to close off of what's happening.
00:09:58
Ken Freire
I mean, I think about our our brothers and sisters in Nigeria, that that's become more prominent that we realize like, Hey, that they're being persecuted. They're being, you know, attacked.
00:10:07
Patrick
That's
00:10:08
Ken Freire
And it's like, Hey, raise a flag about that. Be aware of that. But also you're aware of how God is working by using businesses to help transform societies and making societies better.
00:10:11
Patrick
right.
00:10:18
Patrick
That's right. That's right.
00:10:19
Ken Freire
Right. Right.
Role of Global Operator
00:10:20
Ken Freire
So so like it's a it's a both end, which leads us to the third category.
00:10:21
Patrick
Cool.
00:10:26
Ken Freire
So you might be like, yeah, I want to do more than just 10 percent.
00:10:26
Patrick
Yes.
00:10:30
Ken Freire
I feel like i I want to do more of a global impact. You may be a global operator.
00:10:33
Patrick
Yeah.
00:10:36
Ken Freire
Patrick, walk us through what's a global operator.
00:10:37
Patrick
Yes. Yeah, so let's say you've been volunteering and helping a little bit and you're like, I just want to get more in the game. I want to be more directly on the front lines.
00:10:47
Patrick
This is actually me after I sold my company. i sold my company. I was like global advocate on steroids, but I'm like, you know what?
00:10:52
Ken Freire
Thank you.
00:10:54
Patrick
Like, I think I could do more. I think I could be more intentional. And so global operators, they still probably live in their own in their own country or maybe in a different region of the you know world.
00:11:05
Patrick
But let's just say for our argument's sake, you're living in your own country, your own city, okay? But the big difference here is you are looking for ways to use your work week, like what you're doing with your work, to to be to impact the ends of the earth more directly. I'll give you a few different examples. One example could be there's lots of companies that operate offices in those parts of the world. We have a couple guys in our cohort, right, Ken?
00:11:29
Patrick
couple guys in our cohort, they're global operators.
00:11:29
Ken Freire
Yeah.
00:11:31
Patrick
They're they're doing sales and marketing, and they're they're providing market access to the North American market for companies doing highly important work in tough parts of the world. But those guys are living in North America,
00:11:43
Patrick
operating and doing what their skill sets are, but they're very much like, this isn't like a little volunteer 10%. It's like 50, 70, 80% of their work is touching what's happening over there. And so that could be one is you could be a remote employee of a company headquarters somewhere else. You also might be a company that you're running a consulting operation and you get to pick which clients you serve.
00:12:05
Patrick
So we have another person in in our Forge program that is basically picking which clients do I want to serve. And so they're picking clients that are all over the world. A third angle here could be you you could have an operation successfully running here in the United States and the and the subcontractors and teams that you wish to build, you can choose, are you going to work with Joe down the street in Nashville? Or are you going to go work with a company doing highly strategic, impactful work in a difficult part of the world? And so that's what we actually do at Frontier Operators. We actually have you know contractors that are mission aligned. So we are actually very involved in helping build companies around the world just by operating our own company here. So
00:12:42
Patrick
So that could be a remote employee, consultant, picking certain contractors, or you could say, I want a part of my business operations to be regularly working with partners around the world.
00:12:54
Patrick
That's what a global operator is all about, Ken. So there's going be a few fewer people that do that, but if you are like all in on like changing the world through business, like you're probably leaning to be a global operator.
00:13:02
Ken Freire
Thanks.
00:13:07
Patrick
Yeah.
00:13:07
Ken Freire
And I don't want you to miss this because if if you look at all of this so far, it's almost like a scale of how how focused and how intentional you are with your time on global impact.
00:13:16
Patrick
Yeah. Yeah.
00:13:17
Ken Freire
You've got a marketplace at of ambassador who's like 10%, then the advocates like maybe 25, 50%. Now global operators like, hey, I'm not just building a business here in the United States for myself and for those people around me.
00:13:29
Patrick
yeah
00:13:29
Ken Freire
I want to see how we can impact other people as well and in around the nations. right And business, the beautiful thing about business is that there's a lot of places around the world that they're not making a lot of money. They're they're like in barely survival mode. And you can drastically change their life by hiring them, creating jobs there, creating, you know, supporting their families.
00:13:54
Patrick
Yeah.
00:13:54
Ken Freire
That's a beautiful work to when you see other developing nations grow.
00:13:57
Patrick
Yeah.
00:13:59
Ken Freire
Right.
00:14:00
Patrick
That's right.
00:14:00
Ken Freire
and And that's what a global operator is like, their mind is like, how how do I go in there? How do I start changing things? But then, like I said, there is a scale, which leads to the final part.
Role of Frontier Operator
00:14:10
Ken Freire
And that's the frontier operator.
00:14:13
Ken Freire
Walk us through this one.
00:14:14
Patrick
Okay. yeah Obviously, this is the name of our organization, so we're a little bit passionate about this one and biased about this one. But what we found, Ken, is that there are some people that say, not only do I want my work to be affecting those different parts of the world, I actually want to go to those frontier markets that are frontier to the kingdom of God, that are frontier to economic advantages. right I'm talking about tough markets. economically and spiritually, and they want to go help operate really impactful, like industry-shifting, nation-shifting businesses. I'm not talking about a rinky-dink coffee shop that nobody asked for. I'm talking about significant operations that will literally turn heads that will make oligarchies go, whoa, what are those guys doing? right like Not just theoretical ones, like real ones. like go What's going on there? Right?
00:15:03
Patrick
And then also, like we're seeing this, Ken, with some of our operators, the things that they're doing, the investment, the attention that they're getting, even from local governments, ministries of economics and finance, like that's the level that our frontier operator wants to operate at. And some people are going to go over not like shaking hands with presidents of countries, but they're probably going to go over helping those teams,
00:15:23
Patrick
right Because there are people, forerunners that are ahead of you that are trying to build and scale. And yes, they're developing their own people to do that. But frontier operators say, hey, sometimes there's there's a benefit and a power when the global body of Christ works together and foreigners lock hand in hand. with people that are locals and they're building companies together using the best of the of the of the gifts that are that are available in the global body of Christ, right? this is not This is not just expats coming in as foreigners. This is a partnership shaking hands And that's some of the the beauty of what we're seeing happen with frontier operators. So frontier operators saying, I actually want to go live in those parts of the world and be very directly, not just my 50, 60 percent of my workday, but I actually want to go and spend like all my time there. And so those people are looking at, like I want to go and spend some, it might be two years. They might be thinking, I want to go longer and build something over the course of 10 years. right So that's what a frontier operator is, Ken.
Self-Assessment and Guidance
00:16:20
Patrick
Now bring us home now because we just went a little bit of a world tour. or you know I'll say those four different buckets.
00:16:26
Patrick
Orient us to help us understand like what do we do from here, given that.
00:16:31
Ken Freire
Yeah, I think one, you start with prayer and just say, hey, which one do I desire? Which one do I long for more? And if you're like, I think I want to be a frontier operator or a global operator. I just don't know how to get there.
00:16:45
Ken Freire
Man, I'd encourage you to shoot me and Patrick a DM or email us, right? Contact us because we'd love to just help you. We just so walk you through it and figure out where do you land? The second thing is you might be able to self-diagnose yourself just by listening to this and say,
00:17:01
Ken Freire
Oh, yeah, I am a global operator. Man, awesome. Well, then I'll come up with an action plan of what should I do?
00:17:05
Patrick
Yeah.
00:17:08
Ken Freire
How should I create? Like, what would be the next steps?
00:17:10
Patrick
Yeah.
00:17:11
Ken Freire
And if you don't know, again, just reach out to We'd love to help you figure out what's a good path. Ultimately, we don't want you to stay stagnant.
00:17:17
Patrick
That's right.
00:17:21
Patrick
Yeah, one way to help you get out of that stagnancy, Ken, is we have an assessment to help you think about these things.
00:17:21
Ken Freire
Got it.
00:17:28
Patrick
And it's called the Global Christian Professional Assessment, right? To what extent are you already thinking like this? Or maybe you're not. Maybe maybe you need to be activated more into this.
00:17:39
Patrick
But that if you take that assessment, it's going kind of take your hunches and kind of put some data behind them. And so hopefully if you take that, you'll find your way into to maybe chatting more about the resources we can give you if you're a marketplace ambassador, global advocate, global operator, or a frontier operator.
00:17:55
Patrick
So that'll be good for it today, Ken, but thank you for walking us through that. Everybody, we we're excited to see how God has wired you and really to what extent you can be one of those professionals who can leverage your career, whether you're at a big tech company or whether you're at a small mom and pop shop in Nashville or in the ends of the earth.
00:18:04
Ken Freire
right.
00:18:14
Patrick
to see God's kingdom come to the earth more fully through the marketplace. Thank you, and we'll join you next time on Berry Talent.