One of the wonderful aspects of business in the United States is the idea of trust. The concept and the very reality that I can pick up my cell and call someone pretty much anywhere in the US and order something and have it delivered, then have an invoice sent to me. Do people sometimes get burned? Of course and they will always will. But the majority of the transactions can be done in this manner.

This reality of business transactions that we are able to enjoy in the United States is the result of our honest and hardworking American business people who have gone before us. We have built up a "capital" in the United States that allows us this freedom to trust. In other countries, the idea of being able to conduct transactions like this is often a foreign concept. This is one of the challenges of doing business globally that Americans need to realize and understand. It is the very core of why many of our relief efforts and infusions of money just flat out don't work when we give "aid" money to other nations.

Ken Eldred, in his book God is at Work, discusses the very concept of building up "spiritual captital" in nations so that a trust can be established. Not only for business, but for community growth.

If you are looking for an extra special gift that blesses several people, not just the receiver, check out Fair Trade Sports. Scott James is a close friend from college and we just connected again in person when he was in Waco speaking at our alma mater, Baylor University.

Fair Trade Sports sells sports balls that are made overseas, but rather than taking advantage of cheap child labor, they pay adult workers a fair wage to manufacture the balls.

I just got my oldest son the Fair Trade Match quality soccer ball in orange and he loves it. He is already asking when soccer season starts again.

The soccer balls prices are comparable to what you find at the retail department stores and more of the money actually goes to those who have labored to make the balls.