Kenrick H. Burgess - Biblical Project Management: Re-Building the Wall Around Jerusalem

Praise the L ord !

Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty firmament!

Praise Him for His mighty acts;

Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!

Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;

Praise Him with the lute and harp!

Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;

Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!

Praise Him with loud cymbals;

Praise Him with clashing cymbals!

Let everything that has breath praise the L ord .

Praise the L ord.

Psalm 150, NKJV

It is in the quiet crucible of your personal, private sufferings that your noblest dreams are born, and Gods greatest gifts are given in compensation for what you have been through.

Wintley Phipps

Grammy-nominated Vocal Artist

Founder of the US Dream Academy

United States of America

September 30, 2019

Mr John Faithful

Jerusalem Drive

77012 Nehemiah Gardens

Global, PE90056

Dear Mr Faithful,

I am much older now with many years of experience. I have managed many projects and people from different cultures, countries, creeds, and races for more than forty-five years. Some people were wealthy; some did not have enough; some had just enough; some had more than enough; some were religious, and some were secular. There were hostile people and hurting people. I have been praised by religious leaders, prime ministers, royalty, business leaders, colleagues, and honoured by many. There were haters too, most were covert, and few were overt. Many recognized the favour of God in my life, but there were those who were unpleasant and envious. I have also made mistakes, but I have learned many lessons from them. This one thing I did: I refused to quit. I never stopped praying, serving, or loving God. It is over forty years since graduating with a degree in civil engineering, and I have gained a lot of quality experience and have had exceptional successes since then.

Now that you are a project manager I recommend to you seven qualities that you must have that will make you invaluable; cherish them, live them, do not despise them or neglect them, but harness them and they will enable you to attain a life of significance. This book will teach you about these qualities, for Nehemiah displayed all of them. I call them KBs seven invaluable qualities. These qualities are:

heavenly wisdom- Get it!

diligence- Pursue it!

kindness- Be it!

integrity - Keep it!

generosity- Live it!

graciousness- Practice it!

controlled speech- Do it!

Embrace these seven qualities, and they will raise you to the level of a significance -driven project manager.

Yours faithfully,

Kenrick H Burgess

Author

Over the years, there have been several excellent literary documents done on the Book of Nehemiah, but this work stands out because it addresses the matter of Biblical Project Management as it relates to the Kingdom of God, projects that are currently being undertaken and life in general.

The book focuses on the Jewish patriot, Nehemiah, who became the governor of Judah in the post-exilic period of Israels history. Nehemiah was a prominent civil servant in a vast empire and functioned consistently with the best principles of project management during a period of extreme political, economic, and social crisis of his nation-state. He was committed to providing security for his people who were vulnerable and on the brink of despair.

Dr Kenrick Burgess, the author of this monumental work, is uniquely qualified to produce this document. He has earned prestigious academic degrees, distinguished himself from a professional point of view as it pertains to civil engineering, project and programme management, and business administration. Furthermore, he is extremely knowledgeable about the primary sources of the Bible and scholarly literature associated with the fields with which he interacts. Of note is the fact that Dr Burgess developed the Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree in Project Management offered at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine and has taught in the programme from its inception in 2001 to 2016. The writer demonstrates his ability to integrate every significant aspect of Project Management with the Word of God in Nehemiah. Moreover, for over thirty years he has been serving as a volunteer pastor of churches and strategic institutions in the Caribbean.

This book has the potential to bring about a paradigm shift in the thinking and practice of its readers who are project management practitioners, other professionals, students and persons engaged in worthwhile projects of every sort. The insights in this book will help you add significant value to all the projects you will do and positively impact the stakeholders with whom you interface. We owe Dr Kenrick Burgess a debt of gratitude for this work that will transform lives, institutions and nations as its readers implement the principles highlighted and are inspired by Nehemiah, himself an outstanding project management practitioner.

Dr Anthony Oliver, PhD

Former Vice President of Academic Affairs, Caribbean Graduate School of Theology,

The heights of great men reached and kept

were not attained by sudden flight,

but they, while their companions slept,

were toiling upward through the night.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)