Starting out on Unique BAM Paths: Two More Stories

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This month we are starting a blog series that will explore different pathways into BAM and different ways to be involved. We begin this month with the topic of getting involved in doing BAM yourself. In the coming months, we’ll explore more ideas for enabling, resourcing and connecting others to do BAM.

In Part 1 of this two part series, we shared two unique stories of how God led people to get involved with BAM.

Here are two more stories highlighting different ways to get involved. In the first, Danilo shares how he is has integrated BAM principles into an existing business. In the second, JC started working remotely for a BAM company in his first job out of college. We hope these will encourage you that there are many different paths into business as mission!

Danilo, CEO of Snowman Labs

Danilo, age 34, holds a degree in Computer Networks, and was born and raised in the south of Brazil in a Christian family. His father is a pastor, which deeply influenced Danilo’s upbringing. Danilo loves Jesus, his family, people, technology, and innovation. Those passions opened up the doors for starting Snowman Labs, a digital solution company helping clients navigate their digital transformation challenges. Danilo is currently the CEO of Snowman Labs, where their purpose is to let people experience the kindness and love of God through technology, innovation, and UX/UI design. 

What motivated you to get involved with business as mission?

Actually, it was God who led me to BAM after years of wrestling with my views on the sacred-secular divide in business. I used to see business and serving the Lord as polar opposites. But, through God’s grace, I now see BAM as a natural integration of my faith and professional life.

My journey began in early February 2018 during a service in Brazil, where I heard João Mordomo speak on 1 Peter 2:9. His message, that not all of us would have a call to full-time ministry, but we are all full-time ministers, profoundly changed my outlook. I sought João out for lunch to learn more about BAM, and he has since become a pivotal mentor in guiding me toward integrating these principles into Snowman Labs.

What is your role in Snowman Labs?

As CEO, my role is to steer Snowman Labs toward the vision God has imparted to us. This aligns perfectly with my strengths, especially since it involves overseeing sales, a domain I’m passionate about. My love for our vision and responsibility in sales creates a synergy that drives me daily.

You transitioned Snowman Labs to incorporate BAM principals. Did you run into any challenges or discouragements along the way?

Honestly, starting in BAM felt like a path God had prepared for me, so the initial steps were surprisingly smooth. The real challenges came later as I worked to weave BAM concepts into our company’s culture. Read more

Joining BAM: Stories of People Getting Involved in Business as Mission

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This month we are starting a blog series that will explore different pathways into BAM and different ways to be involved. We begin this month with the topic of getting involved in doing BAM yourself. In the coming months, we’ll explore more ideas for enabling, resourcing and connecting others to do BAM.

Over the past 15 years, there’s been an unprecedented rise in the global connectedness of people involved in business as mission (BAM). As the movement continues to grow, many more seek opportunities to join the movement — specifically by joining or starting BAM companies and resourcing organizations.

As engagement in business as mission grows, so do the range of opportunities. There are almost as many ways to get involved with BAM as there are people on their BAM journey and we’ve  been eager to hear more about the variety of ways to get involved.

We reached a handful of individuals who each had unique stories of how God led them to get involved with BAM. Here are two of their stories:

G, Team Member of a Business Incubator for Refugees in the UK

G works with a team based in the UK that helps local refugees relaunch the businesses they operated back in their home countries. She and the team are driven by BAM principals and hope to see real financial impact with refugees lifted out of poverty and released into economic prosperity for their families. They aim to impact social bottom lines by encouraging and deepening ties between locals and refugees, and to have spiritual impact by sharing Christ with groups who, before arriving in the UK, had limited exposure to the gospel.  

What motivated you to join the organization you’re working with?

I learned about social enterprise during my studies of global business issues at university. After my first exposure to these concepts, I wanted to learn more about businesses doing BAM in a practical and meaningful way.

I am from a very rural area and there didn’t seem to be many opportunities for the practical, hands-on experience I was looking for. During one of my summer breaks, a man from the UK (now G’s team leader) started to share about his community’s desire to serve refugees and start a social enterprise in his area. If anyone was interested in joining them for an internship, he said to connect with him after service.

What did you do to prepare for involvement in BAM? Can you tell us about the networking, research, learning, and formal or informal preparations you did?

As I said, I studied social enterprise in college. But to me, it felt more like most of my learning was “caught” not taught.

My mom is an entrepreneur herself, and I would say most of what I’ve learned has been from watching and helping my mom run her Mary Kay business. She’s always been intentional about networking and connecting to enrich the lives of women, not just to make a sale. She always made sure genuine care for people was never lost. During college, I followed in her footsteps and started my own Mary Kay side business. This taught me a lot about bouncing back from rejection, and how to not take it personally, which is hard!

Running my own business taught me how to talk to people even when I’m intimidated, giving me the confidence to boldly ask questions and follow up with people I’m interested in learning from. This gave me buoyancy to keep following up on this opportunity with the team in the UK, even after it had been repeatedly canceled and postponed due to Covid. Read more

Pathways into BAM: Resources for Your Journey

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by Jo Plummer

 

There are many different ways to get involved in business as mission and the BAM movement needs many types of people, skills, experiences and passions. If you are interested in engaging with BAM, there is a path and role for you!

The two broad pathways are:
1) Getting involved by doing business as mission yourself, in a BAM company context, or
2) Enabling, resourcing or connecting others involved in BAM — through activities such as mentoring, investing, praying, building networks, incubating, training, mobilising, and so on!

 

God has equipped each of us with various skill sets and backgrounds, leading each of us on unique paths. No matter how you’ve been equipped, what role you have in business as mission, or where you are on your journey, we hope you will find the resources on this website useful and encouraging.

This month we are starting a blog series that will explore different pathways into BAM and different ways to be involved. We begin this month with the topic of getting involved in doing BAM yourself. In the coming months, we’ll explore more ideas for enabling, resourcing and connecting others to do BAM. If option 2 is you, get ready… we’ll have blogs on resourcing others in BAM and building the BAM ecosystem coming soon.

Get Involved Doing BAM

If you are interested in getting involved in doing business as mission yourself, chances are you are thinking about one of the following options:

A: Starting up a BAM company
B: Joining a BAM company that someone else has started
C: Repurposing an existing company to integrate BAM principles into it

 

There is no right or wrong way to get involved in BAM, but here are some helpful ideas and a roundup of resources for whichever option you are exploring…

General Resources for Everyone

Whatever your approach or path, here are a few resources that will help you get a good foundation in BAM:

BAM Global Summit

Join us at our online BAM Global Summit on Thursday 9th May. With the tagline Accelerate… your journey, your business, the movement, together – the whole goal is to inspire, equip and connect you for your unique journey in BAM. Get a glimpse of what God is doing around the world in business as mission and discover how to be a part of it. Find out more here.

 

BAM Manifesto

The BAM Manifesto is our foundational document to frame business as mission; it shares in one page what BAM is all about. Read it here.

 

Read more

A Thread in a Tapestry Part 2: Tools to Understand Who I Am in the Context of My Community

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In last week’s blog, we discussed understanding ourselves as threads tightly woven by God into a tapestry of community and purpose. This week we’re passing along some great resources and practical steps to pair with part 1.

God gifted each of us with unique skill sets, talents, and abilities to speak into the lives of others. In celebration of that, we have chosen some resources that have helped others 1) identify the gifts and abilities God has given them, and 2) navigate how to use those skills in workplaces and communities.

Without further ado, let’s look at some resources. ‌

Understanding ourselves in BAM

First things first, a great way for someone to understand how their personal calling to business might play out in the context of what God is doing around the world is for them to attend a BAM conference. The BAM Global Summit (online) is coming up this week and provides excellent opportunities for people to discover opportunities to contribute their skills and experiences and hear how God is using others with similar callings to fulfill His Kingdom’s purposes.

BAM Global conferences are community-driven and centered on connection. People all over the world come together to share stories and exchange experiences. As we listen and share we begin to develop a greater understanding of the grand tapestry God is weaving around the world through BAM. For some of us, we may begin to better understand the ways God has been preparing us and what He is calling us to do. Having this sacred time to sit with God and hear from the global church body practicing business for His kingdom is a great opportunity to reflect or launch into something new. We leave with fresh ideas, strategies, and a better understanding of how we fit and how we can impact others. Read more

3 Different Routes into Business as Mission: How They Got Started

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Read this classic blog from our Archives, first published on The BAM Review blog in January 2016 and republished for the Summer Series 2022.

From Dream to Island Reality: Samantha

At the tender age of nine, rather than dreaming of make-believe castles and glass slippers, Samantha dreamed about living her life on a certain archipelago in Asia. After college Samantha spent a year in China teaching English then returned to the States to get her Master’s degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Upon graduating, she taught English for several years at high school level. Then one day God began stirring that dream from her childhood of living in Asia. After months of seeking wise counsel and pushing on doors, a plan began to take shape. True to His word, God did “more than she could ask or imagine”, doors opened for her to join an organisation that fit her youthfulness and passion. She raised long-term support, and took a survey trip. Within a short time Samantha had moved and begun studying the local language on a main island of the archipelago. She was open to God’s provision, setting no expectations on how long she would remain long-term in the country.

Three months into her language studies Samantha received a phone call from a certain small business ministering out in the islands asking if she would join them in their endeavor. Samantha had connected with this business months prior during her survey trip, hoping that God would open the door for her to join their business since their vision was the same as hers for the islands. With her teaching skills and a passion for the Islands, she immediately said, “Yes!” – believing she could do anything God called her to, including small business. Read more

5 Risk Factors Guaranteed to Doom a BAM Business

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by Larry Sharp

Read this classic blog from our Archives, first published on The BAM Review blog in January 2016 and republished for the Summer Series 2022.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Stories from the Frontline

Last year I was leading a seminar in a conference in Arizona, when a local business owner asked the question, “Are there no failed BAM businesses?” While I readily agreed there were, I began to think about the question in a more profound way. What is the “good, the bad and the ugly” of real life BAM business experiences – those that demonstrate that there are BAM failures along with the successes?

Over the past 10 years, I have observed risk factors for BAM enterprises which should stimulate every stakeholder in the BAM community towards better recruitment, better preparation, better deployment and better accountability. Many a sports leader, military hero, or young entrepreneur has demonstrated the oft-quoted statement of Benjamin Franklin, “Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.” And that is true in the Kingdom business endeavors of today.

So what are these factors and where are the stories which help us understand basic principles for launching and landing well in a cross-cultural business? How do we best start companies designed to work out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission? How can we improve so that there will be fewer failures and a greater chance of successful transformational businesses in the areas of the world that need them the most? If these five risk factors don’t actually doom your BAM company, not paying attention to them will seriously endanger it… at the very least!  Read more

9 Keys for Successful BAM Deployment

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Read this classic blog from our Archives, first published on The BAM Review blog in February 2016 and republished for the Summer Series 2022.

Here are 9 Keys for Successful BAM Deployment that have been themes shared over and over by experienced BAM practitioners and mentors. These are principles and practices observed over years of listening to BAM pioneers, writing BAM stories and collecting information about how to do BAM. Many of these Keys have been shared by BAMers and BAM leaders over the last few weeks as we have explored the topic ‘Launching Out and Landing Well’ – they come out in the stories, snippets, and teaching we’ve shared, as well as in the BAM Think Tank research we’ve been drawing on.

1. Walk with God

Abide in Christ. It’s essential to be connected to the Vine, a growing disciple of Jesus, if we are to bear fruit! That means spending time listening and talking to God in prayer and being attentive to His calling and direction for your life. It means growing in Godly character as you are rooted in His word, and opening up to spiritual input from others. Prayer is mentioned over and over by BAMers as a foundation stone for BAM in practice, at all stages: preparation, launch and continued growth. Having a sense of call and leading from God is another often cited core driver for BAMers. Spiritual formation through discipleship and teaching is a life-long pursuit – whether through books, sermons, devotional materials, courses, retreats or intentional relationships. Making yourself accountable to peers or elders that will challenge you to grow in Christ-like character is another way to keep soft and open to the refining work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Read more

Helping BAM Practitioners Start Well and Endure for the Long-Term

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by Jo Plummer

Recently I received a question about training resources and spiritual courses from a BAM practitioner who reads our blog. There already are lots of great resources on this site and elsewhere for helping BAMers start well and endure for the long-term. This post is designed to introduce some resources that BAM practitioners may find helpful for both preparing to launch into BAM and enduring long.

However, having asked advice from a few other business as mission leaders, we identified that there are relatively few dedicated, BAM-related resources for what the mission community calls ‘member care – that is helping ensure the personal, physical, relational and spiritual well-being of BAM practitioners. There are, however, many general member care and spiritual life resources that we can glean from in the wider Christian community, and a selection of these are also listed below.

Please get in touch if you would be interested in being part of a future task force on the specific topic of ‘Member Care for BAM Practitioners’.

Training & Preparation: Launching Well

How do people get from BAM vision to BAM reality? What training resources are there out there for BAM practitioners? What factors help launch BAMers out into stable, successful business as mission enterprises? What are the skills and characteristics that BAM companies are looking for as they recruit? How do potential BAMers best develop themselves and prepare for doing business as mission?

Here are some places to start:

  • Courses & Training Page – BAM Resource Library
    Looking for some BAM-related training? Start with the Courses & Training page in the Resource Library here on the BAM website for a list of training organisations and course providers related to BAM. Follow that up by browsing the Video & Audio Page which links to many Podcasts and Video Series which have great content and are all totally free to access. (And of course we have great Books and Papers listed too, as well as over 550 Blogs to read – see Blog Categories listed on this page!)

Read more

9 Keys for Successful BAM Deployment

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As we count down to the BAM Global Congress in April 2020, we revisit some of the key issues that we want to address when we gather together. These 9 keys are all themes, workshops and practical steps that we are intentionally focusing on at the Congress 2020 and we invite you to join us!

Here are 9 Keys for Successful BAM Deployment that have been themes shared over and over by experienced BAM practitioners and mentors. These are principles and practices observed over years of listening to BAM pioneers, writing BAM stories and collecting information about how to do BAM. Many of these Keys have been shared by BAMers and BAM leaders over the last few weeks as we have explored the topic ‘Launching Out and Landing Well’ – they come out in the stories, snippets, and teaching we’ve shared, as well as in the BAM Think Tank research we’ve been drawing on.

1. Walk with God

Abide in Christ. It’s essential to be connected to the Vine, a growing disciple of Jesus, if we are to bear fruit! That means spending time listening and talking to God in prayer and being attentive to His calling and direction for your life. It means growing in Godly character as you are rooted in His word, and opening up to spiritual input from others. Prayer is mentioned over and over by BAMers as a foundation stone for BAM in practice, at all stages: preparation, launch and continued growth. Having a sense of call and leading from God is another often cited core driver for BAMers. Spiritual formation through discipleship and teaching is a life-long pursuit – whether through books, sermons, devotional materials, courses, retreats or intentional relationships. Making yourself accountable to peers or elders that will challenge you to grow in Christ-like character is another way to keep soft and open to the refining work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Read more

Transforming the Church, One Engaged Business Person at a Time

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by Larry Sharp

Over the years I have had various business owners and executives travel with me as I’ve coached and supported companies around the world. On one particular trip, the VP of a Fortune 500 company came with me and some others to a former Soviet Republic country. He had gone on many mission trips, built churches, passed out tracts, and tutored English – all good things! But in Kazakhstan he helped Kazakh believers and expats with business mentoring on topics like making financial projections, contract law, and international marketing. On the trip home he told me that he finally saw how his skills can be used to build the kingdom of God. “Where are we going next?” he asked, after a short time of reflection at home.

I have had many experiences like this, witnessing firsthand the moment business people have felt affirmed and become engaged in using their skills and experience in business as mission. They go from seeing their contribution as limited to PRAY or PAY, and start to realise they can be actively involved – i.e. PLAY! And there are multiple ways for people to get engaged.

For the first time she saw that her business ability and position was a God-given asset.

A young fellow about 30 years old heard me speak in a large mega-church in Pennsylvania. He asked to meet with me and said, “All this is new to me and I don’t think my wife will want to move outside the state, what can I do?” After finding out he was the owner of an SEO company with 14 employees, I said absolutely – and you don’t even have to leave your computer. He has been a wonderful contributor to business startups in unreached areas of the world.

On another occasion, I spoke in a church in the Philadelphia area one Sunday morning. The pastor seemed open to all I spoke about that morning but the real encouragement was talking to several business people afterwards. One woman was a chemical engineer, a former Proctor and Gamble manager who supervised the development of Pampers. She joined our team and helped us with our “product development” when we were just getting going as a BAM consulting group.  Read more