For returning missionaries, education often provides the key to unlocking a bright future, both at home and abroad.

As Steve Gibson traveled throughout the Philippines, however, he saw the struggle native missionaries faced in breaking the cycle of poverty they were born into.

“I saw a need to serve returned missionaries and help them make a livelihood for their families,” Gibson said.

Gibson said there are many missionaries from the Philippines, who, when they return home, have no way to progress toward providing for their future families because of the poverty level most of the people live in.

Gibson and his wife decided to start an academy which would provide native Filipinos with an opportunity to learn business and entrepreneurial skills.

They started the Academy for Creating Enterprise in 1999 and have had such success with the program that they decided to expand to other areas.

“We have one campus in the Philippines, are incubating a campus in Mexico and have plans to move to Brazil,” Gibson said.

An average of 28 students attend the eight-week training courses, where they live on campus and gain education and skills that will prepare them for their futures.

“The students are taught how to start and grow small businesses,” Gibson said. “We teach them how to create prosperity for their families.”

Gibson said many of the graduates have successfully started small businesses such as drug stores, bakeries, Internet cafes, computer repair shops and real estate companies.

Spencer Wilcox, a junior majoring in economics, has collected information from the Academy for Creating Enterprises and has compiled the information into a series of charts highlighting his findings.

According to his research, by the age of 45, 62 percent of the returned missionaries who have attended the academy have started successful businesses, compared with 32 percent of returned missionaries who have started businesses but did not attend the academy.

Ninety-five percent of the academy’s expenses are paid by scholarships with each student required to pay just a $50 tuition fee.



Copyright Brigham Young University 13 Apr 2009