Three Things the State of the BAM Movement Report Tells Us About BAM

by James Waters & Jo Plummer

As part of the lead-in to the BAM Global Congress last year, BAM Global, in partnership with Eido Research, conducted the State of the BAM Movement Survey to get a snapshot of the global business as mission movement. Watch James’ Video Introduction here.

In response to the Survey, Eido Research have produced a State of the BAM Movement Report. Here are three things it tells us:

1. The BAM Movement is Still Young, but Truly Global

Enough people responded to make a representative sample of our global list, and it revealed that it is still quite a young movement. The majority of companies are less than ten years old, and a good additional number (12% of surveyed) looking to start a business soon. However, the BAM Movement is truly global! Although there are a handful of countries where there is a concentration of BAM businesses, there is a diverse global spread.

 

The global map above shows the distribution of active BAM businesses,
according to their turnover. Each dot represents a country, the size of the
dot represents the number of businesses in that country, and the colour represents the average turnover.

 

As João Mordomo writes for the Foreword for Neal Johnson’s new book on BAM, “Business as mission is not a new concept. It has, however, taken on new meaning for the church and her mission in the 21st Century. The modern BAM Movement started about 25 years ago and, like other great movements of God — being God-ordained, God-ignited, God-led, and God-blessed — it began to take shape simultaneously in different places around the global by way of different and diverse groups of people.”

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The State of the BAM Movement Report Overview [Video]

Video Presentation by James Waters

 

 James Waters of Eido Research shares some preliminary findings from the results of the State of the BAM Movement Survey – recorded at the BAM Global Congress in April 2021.

>>Download State of the Movement Report Here

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Pray More and Pray More Intentionally

by Dave Kahle

 

How do I Integrate my Christian faith with day-to-day business practices?

This is a question almost every Christian professional and businessperson considers regularly. The answer isn’t simple, and it varies from time to time and place to place.

The Christian life is a journey and we focus one step at a time. It’s like walking through a forest at night, with just a small flashlight to light your way. You can’t see more than a few feet ahead, and the light illuminates only the next few steps.

That analogy provides us a perspective on the question. The answer to the question today may be different than it will be just a bit down the road. Because our circumstances vary, the opportunities and relationships that we have today will be different than what we encounter further down the path. What’s important is that you keep asking the question. Today’s answer is just today’s answer, and not necessarily a lifetime prescription.

Having said that, there is a body of knowledge about some principles and practices that extend beyond the specific details of our current situation. These are principles and practices that apply regardless of the circumstances.

In this post, we’re going to drill deeper into one such principle: Pray more and pray more intentionally. In other words, intentionally add depth and breadth to your prayer practices.

First, let’s establish some Biblical principles upon which this practice is based:

1. We are commanded to pray for everything

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the Peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6  

Does “everything” include our careers and businesses and the multitude of decisions we must make, the relationships which occupy us, and the never-ending list of tasks to be accomplished? Of course. “Everything” means just that.

There is a horribly debilitating idea that is, unfortunately, quite commonly held; that God doesn’t want us to pray for our careers and businesses. This mistaken mindset reserves our prayers for our families and sanctioned “church work.” It is okay to pray for a missionary your church supports, for example, but a bit gauche to pray for that big sale on which you are working. You can pray that you find a new youth pastor, but not that you find a new administrative assistant.

Those ideas must be some of Satan’s greatest lies. By getting Christian businesspeople to believe them, he has successfully removed a major sphere of activity from being God-influenced. He must congratulate himself every time he sees someone who could be praying about a business issue and doesn’t. Read more

Prayer is Central to BAM: We are the Branches!

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. – John 15: 5-8

It doesn’t get much straightforward than John 15 does it?

Abiding = fruitfulness / Not abiding = withering

It’s hard to admit it sometimes, but we are the branches. Jesus is the vine. We are not going to be fruitful without that connection, that relationship, that remaining in Him.

Prayer is both a place of abiding, and also a promised fruit of that relationship. We connect with the true vine in the place of prayer, but Jesus also says that answered prayer is an outcome of abiding:

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” – John 15: 7 (emphasis mine)

BAM CEO and mentor Peter Shaukat writes, “In establishing an authentic, impactful BAM enterprise, we are establishing a point of light – a city on a hill, if you like – in a spiritually darkened place. We are working with BAM companies that are both viable commercial entities, and intentionally missional and transformational. Where transformation is needed or is a goal of the company, that cannot be achieved without the gifts of the Spirit. We can do nothing apart from Him.”

A BAM practitioner of 16 years shares the following truth, “Sometimes we have tough business decisions to make or difficult situations – and that is where having clear purpose and values, along with specific goals is helpful. Plus it’s good to have things like operational policies and contracts and so on. All of these things are good and essential practice, sort of ‘Business 101’. However, lives being transformed is what we want people to see. This is ‘Fruits of the Spirit 101’, without which the Kingdom culture will never shine through. Can we show the Kingdom in the tough times every day in business? What shows up when the heat is on? I do want to be known as a good business man, however I want to be known more as a businessman who has been transformed by God from the inside.”

Transformation is what we long to see in the people and nations around us. But transformation must surely begin with us, and from a place of prayer. For God first reconciled us to himself through Christ, and then entrusted to us the message of reconciliation as His ambassadors (2 Cor. 5: 18-20). He is transforming us, making us His new creation, and that comes from His Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18, 5:17) 

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