I am Beijing China this week. With a group called Global Partners in Hope. GPiH’s CEO is Ian Vickers. Ian and I have been friends for many years. GPiH goal is to service the people in china through four primary vehicles.
Marriage and family
Leadership development
Medical and
English as a Second Language
One of their partners in the Marriage and family piece is Mrs Choy’s orphanage. Although I did not visit the orphanage while I was here, Nate Work said it is incredibly emotional experience. I have attached a picture of Susie and Cordero and I. Sue is part of the group that and I am with and was adopted when she was under 2 years old, She was found in the streets in Seoul south Korea before when was adopted by parents from California. Her parents had 5 biological children and adopted 8 children. Susie was one of these children. Her story is simply amazing. Even before Lisa and I committed to adopting Zech, Alex and Ila, I have always felt that adopting children is one of the most notable things you can do. My bother Jason and his wife Ranelle have three adopted children and My cousin Gina and her husband Doug have four adopted children.
My favorite bible quote about this is
James 1:27
Religion that God our father finds as pure and faultless is this: to look after widows and orphans in their distress and to not let oneself be polluted by the world.
I am sure each of you know a family that has been blessed by an adoption. Please reach out to them and encourage them for what they have done.
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Did you know that China has 1.3 billion People and America has just over 300,000. But Americans still have a larger GRP than China. This means that although we have a fraction the of people we are still more productive, Alot of this has to do with our property rights and God has finacnially blessed the US beyond words, My father in law puts it this simply. The reason that American is so blessed it because we put “in God we trust” on our money Some other interesting Chinese facts
The World Health organization says that 62%of Chinese adults say they are depressed
90% of the women in their forties say they have had a least one abortion
the divorce rate in China is 52% and is raising 10% a year.
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Nate work
This is a pic of Nate Work. Nate and I are roommates while we are in Beijing. Nate is the second of six sons of Jim and Candy Work. The Work family are long time friends of Lisa and mine and live in western Douglas County, NE. I climbed Mt Rainer with Nate’s brother Tyler and their Dad. The reason that I say Nate is Mr Courageous is that Nate wanted to travel the world after graduating Elkhorn High School in 2009. His father urged him to do something significant, through a variety of connections Nate ended up in China teaching English. So this is a 18 kid who moved 14 times zones away from home trying to start a life. Nate does not know Mandarin well enough to get in to college and must leave the country and travel to Hong Kong every 30-120 days to replyfor a visa. In the mean time he lives with 5 guys and is trying to learn Mandarin well enough to get into college here. Wow, when I was this age all I wanted to do is try to figure out where the best college party is at. When I meet guys like Nate I feel confident the future of America is in good hands.
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I started doing endurance sports in 1997. Wow, things have changed in Omaha since then. My brother Kevin got me hooked on doing events and was living in Kansas City. There were almost no endurance events in Omaha in 1997. Here is a list of events we have added
Council Bluffs has a Half Marathon in May
There are at least two adventure races in Omaha; one of them is 12 hour
There is the Market to Market team relay
There is the Black Squirel Triathlon that gets bigger every year
Omaha is setting up it first ever Olympic Distance Triathlon
FCA is putting on a triathlon camp and UNO has had another camp already this year
Papillion has a Marathon
Papillion has a triathlon
The Peak to Peak Road Race
The Nebraska State Games Triathlon
An Exterra Triathlon at Branched Oaks
The Taco Ride(ok that not really all that far and its more about dirking, but the spirit is there)
Ok, we are no Austin Texas But we are getting to the point that each weekend you can do some sort of endurance race. Now let’s apply that to how much things in general in Omaha have changed since then
Quest Center
Mid American Center
West Dodge Expressway (I don’t really care about this but the governor showed up to open to that means it’s got to be a big deal)
The pedestrian bridge (now this is cool)
Riverfront Development
Dozens of changes at the zoo
Village Point and Scheels
Cabelas
The new ballpark for the Royals in Sarpy County
The advent of the Mega Theater in 1997 there were significantly less theaters in Omaha
If you can think of other significant things that have changed post something in comments.
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Next week I will be going to Beijing China with Ian Vickers on a business as mission trip. Ian and I met when we were both attending a bible study at our church called Noble Men. Ian and I quickly connected because of our love for endurance sports. Ian and Christ Community Church recently spun off an organization called Global Partners in Hope with a mission to help churches spread the word of God in China. They do this through a variety of platforms. Ian asked my self and two other Christian business leaders to help him give a talk entitled Ethics in Management to 50 Chinese CEOs. Because of the broad range of people Lisa and I deal with in owning our businesses the topic of ethics is especially close to us.
I am asking for three things
1. If God is leading you to support this mission please send a check to
Global Partners in Hope
C/O Christ Community Church
404 S 108 Ave
Omaha, NE 68154
Write on the memo Paladino China Trip
2. Pray that God gives us the opportunity to have an amazing impact in men lives.
3. As you many know this will be my fourth business as mission trip in fourteen months. International travel combined with the change in my routine creates a wear and tear on my body that is comparable to that of running a marathon. Pray that I feel God’s strength during the trip, that I am able to sleep well despite the 12 hour time difference, that I do not become ill from eating different foods among other things. And finally that when I return that I do not get anxious about anything that happened at work while I was gone and I smoothly transition into my normal routine.
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I had a mentor of mine tell me that a private equity guy told him that the reason that they do not buy real estate and instead invest in companies is that there is not enough risk in real estate
At first blush that statement does not seem to make sense but when you peel back the outer layers of that statement it is so simple it is perfect. I have always felt that if you want to make a lot of money you need to take huge risks
Along with this axiom I have always thought risk always equals return
The highest return I have ever profomed in a real estate deal is 14 percent. My friends in the private equity business tell me that they do not even look at deals that has a return of less than thirty percent . They say a lot of those deals end up paying nothing but it takes just a few to do as projected or a little better and you really are making money.
In real estate a great return is ten percent.
What does this mean if to want to invest in real estate? You need to go around looking for deals with the greatest amount of risk. So the next time you see an apartment building that is completely vacant it might be worth investigating
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I just spent the day getting certified as a contractor licensed by the EPA to do renovation work on properties that have lead paint in them. The requirements, especially the paperwork is daunting. You have to do it even if you are working on your own rental properties. This will simply make it significantly more expensive for landlords to do business. The only company in Omaha that that can teaches the classes is Midwest training institute. Basically there is a lot of disclosure for tenants and owners to sign, as well as a bunch of requirements to how to work safe in a home that has lead based paint. The law goes into effect 04/22/10.
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2010 Winter OlympicsIf you are a frequent reader of this blog, I talk a lot about the expectation of winning. Well we are seeing it first hand with the American at the Olympics. 23 metals so far and 60% of the metals are still to be handed out. Where is China? How about India? Think about the populations of those countries vs. the US. I put together a chart I attached. It helps to be in a climate that as snow on the ground year around when it comes to winning the gold.
On one other note. The residential rental activity is really good right now. Our phones are ringing off the hook for people looking to move. A lot of this has to do with people getting there tax returns back
Quote of the day
I was talking to Ken Thompson a developer in Lincoln the other day and he said “The lending environment has gotten so tight that Developer fees can no longer be counted towards equity”
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The united states is becoming less and less free. The USA is now considered less free than Canada. I guess all of Obama’s help is really hurting us.
See the attached link, US is now the eight most free country in the world.
Hong Kong is number one. Sudan is last. Mali is 112 Azerbaijan is 96 China is 140
http://www.heritage.org/index/Ranking.aspx
Click on some ofthe countries
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I went to a UNO alumni get together in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago and the new AD from UNO, Trev Albert’s spoke. Trev was a former Husker and talked about the expectation of excellence. He was referring to when the Mavericks showed up to complete in a sporting event, they gave it everything they had and there was an expectation to win. I think we should see Trev’s comments as a way we should treat life. I am not that great of a wakeboader but the expectation is that I will have a great set every time I get behind the boat. The same goes for me being a real estate agent. I know that when I call on a listing appointment that I expect to get it. This kind of attitude is very motivating if you surround yourself with people like this. If you ever get the chance talk to someone that is really good at a particular sport either now or in the past and ask them to talk about how they felt when they were winning and at what point they knew they would win. His story is very inspiring. My brother Kevin is a very good triathlete and took first place over all in the Black Squirrel triathlon a few years ago. The next blog I will post is his story if this event. Winning is very contagious, especially if your are around people that have an expectation of winning. Do you think you are a winner? Why?
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