"Few Christian business people in Germany experience the power of God in the workplace," says Campus für Christus staff member Joe Hartung. "Their knowledge of business comes from non-Christians, while their knowledge of Christianity comes from people who don't know business. This leads to parallel lives."
To help bring these two worlds together, Joe and his wife, Sibylle, began Young Professionals Leadership Link two years ago in Berlin.
"Leadership Link fills a market niche," explains Martin Jetter, an international marketing consultant. "It's hard to find people who can speak to the needs of businessmen. We don't know how to live out our faith at work, where people are unbelievers, and there is lying and cheating."
Joe became aware of this need 12 years ago. At the time, he directed a factory in northern Germany making work uniforms and was climbing the ladder of professional success. One night, while on a business trip, he watched a TV show about the bizarre things German executives did to grow in character.
"I realized these businessmen would do anything to improve," says Joe. "But what they were looking for was in the Bible. It was the fruit of the Spirit."
From that point on Joe knew that his future lay in helping businessmen know God. Several years later he joined Campus für Christus, and after a two-year internship in New York City, began discipling young professionals in Berlin.
One man whom Joe coached, Bert Salz, had been on the verge of leaving his wife. Through Joe's coaching (or discipleship), Bert began putting God first in his life and rebuilt his marriage. "Now the issue is how I can reach out to others," says Bert. "I have a burning desire to show people what God can do for them."
Partnerships with similar ministries in London and Houston, USA, help give the young ministry a bit of marketplace advantage. "These partnerships show we are a global network of young professionals who want to integrate faith and work," says Joe. "This draws people, and it positions you as somebody who can match up well with the global business world."
Joe and Sibylle know that in the international business community of today, men and women who live out their faith in the marketplace can make a difference. "I can see one man, inspired by God, influencing his whole company," he says. "I can see one man reaching his neighbourhood.
"That's why I reach out to influencers-because they can reach many more people." 
