In 1980, Bob Varney was doing what many driven entrepreneurs do when they’re restless.
He pivoted.
Tired of his tech company, hungry for something bigger, he made a bold move—the kind that feels visionary… until it doesn’t. Bob bought 10 acres of land and built office condos in the middle of a brutal economic reality. Prime interest rates hit 20%. Mortgages at 18%. The math didn’t work. The pressure mounted. A bankruptcy attorney entered the picture.
And then came a moment that changed everything.
Bob was sitting in traffic, staring at the buildings that symbolized both his ambition and his potential failure, when he heard a question—one he had never heard before in his life as a believer.
“Bob, did you ask Me before you started this project?”
It stopped him cold.
He had been a Christian for 10 years. Faith was real. Church was real. Bible studies were real.
But this—this was business. Deals. Risk. Strategy.
Why would God care about that?
That single question exposed a divide many Christian leaders quietly live with every day: faith on Sunday, work on Monday.
The Unspoken Crisis in the Church and the Marketplace
As Bob began to reflect, another question emerged—one that reshaped his calling:
What does every person between the ages of 25 and 75 have in common?
The answer is simple.
They work.
Men and women. Blue collar and executives. Entrepreneurs and employees.
Work is the great shared reality of adult life.
And yet, research reveals something staggering: only about 10% of Christians understand how to integrate their faith into their work.
That means 90% of the Body of Christ spends most of their waking hours disconnected from their spiritual purpose.
This isn’t a small problem.
It’s a mobilization failure.
From Personal Wake-Up Call to Global Vision
What began as a near-bankruptcy became a divine redirection.
Bob realized that discipleship couldn’t be limited to church programs or weekend gatherings. The workplace itself had to become the primary mission field. Not as a place for sermons—but as a place for integrity, leadership, service, and redemptive influence.
That conviction became the foundation of Cities Project Global, a movement now more than a decade in the making.
Its mission is clear and countercultural:
Awaken, equip, and unleash leaders back into the workplaces they came from—for the wellbeing of their cities.
Not extraction.
Not escape.
But incarnation—faith lived out where decisions are made, jobs are created, and cultures are shaped.
A Scalable Kingdom Strategy for Cities
Cities Project Global didn’t grow by accident.
It was built with intention:
- A structured leadership journey
- Trained facilitators, not celebrity teachers
- A reproducible curriculum designed to multiply, not bottleneck
Today, that vision is alive in 40 cities, translated into Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian—with eyes set on 700 cities around the world.
Why cities?
Because cities shape economies.
Cities shape culture.
Cities shape the future.
And when Christian leaders are formed to live out their faith at work, the ripple effect reaches far beyond church walls.
Why This Matters to Business Leaders Today
For entrepreneurs, executives, founders, and professionals, this story hits close to home.
We’re taught to:
- Move fast
- Take risks
- Trust our instincts
- Separate “personal faith” from “professional decisions”
But Bob Varney’s story reminds us of a deeper truth:
Calling doesn’t stop at the church door—and God doesn’t check out when spreadsheets come out.
The question isn’t whether your work matters to God.
The question is whether you’ve invited Him into it.
The Invitation
Cities Project Global exists for leaders who sense there’s more—
More meaning in their work.
More alignment between faith and influence.
More impact that lasts beyond quarterly results.
What started with one uncomfortable question in a traffic jam has become a global movement—awakening leaders to live whole, integrated lives for the sake of their cities.
And maybe, just maybe, the question Bob heard in 1980 is one worth asking ourselves today:
“Did I ask God before I built this?”