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

To celebrate the launch of a new BAM Global Consultation on BAM Practitioner Care and Well-being, we are reposting a resource blog from two years ago that first helped us identify the gap in this area. Read more on BAM Endurance here.

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.

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!)

• Launching & Landing Series – The BAM Review Blog
  If you are looking for a place in the blog archive to get started on this topic, a great starting point would be blogs categorised as ‘Launching & Landing‘. In particular we did a whole series on this back in January 2016 and have posted occasional articles on it since then.

• What Makes a BAMer? – Two Part Article Series by Peter Shaukat
  Want an even more specific starting blog post (or two)? Look no further than this great content from BAM leader Peter Shaukat on What Makes a BAMer? Identifying and Deploying the Right People for BAM Companies and The Right Ingredients: 10 Essential Characteristics of a BAMer.

• BAM Recruiting, Training and Deployment – BAM Global Think Tank Report
  For a deeper dive check out this Report from a BAM Global Think Tank working group on this topic. The Report covers the key character traits that are indicative of success for BAM practitioners, current training practices in the BAM movement, and success factors for BAM practitioners who have already been deployed and are serving in BAM enterprises, among other things.

Personal & Company Health: Enduring Well

What are the stressors common to business as mission that wear down a company’s chances of long-term survival? What causes practitioners to give up and go home? What causes BAM attrition, and conversely, what helps BAMers endure?

• Thriving vs Surviving: Building Skills and Support for BAMers – Article by Robert Andrews
  This article is a great place to start on this topic, with an overview of the skills that a BAMer will need to learn, hire, purchase, or borrow from others – plus some key advice on how to build a network of support for staying on track personally and in the business.

• BAM Endurance Series – The BAM Review Blog
  There is a whole series of blogs on this website covering the topic of BAM Endurance & Wellbeing, including physical, emotional, relational and spiritual health of BAM practitioners, as well as company health. We did a focused series on this topic in August and September 2016, as well as occasional posts since.

• BAM in Hostile Environments – BAM Global Think Tank Report
  This BAM Global Think Tank report on BAM in Hostile Environments takes a comprehensive approach to managing business and personal risk in the challenging environments that BAM is often established in.

Spiritual Life Resources for Professionals & Business People

• YouVersion Devotionals & Bible Reading Plans – numerous plans on Business and Work – or search for Plans in the App.
• Theology of Work Project – Bible commentaries, articles, devotionals and small group resources, all focused on the Theology of Work.
• Prayer & Spiritual Health Blogs – search through articles on prayer and spiritual health on this blog.
• London Institute for Contemporary Christianity – provide a yearly Lent Prayer Journey devotional series and have numerous other resources for workplace Christians
• Faith Driven Entrepreneur – many resources to encourage faith driven entrepreneurs and the opportunity to join a study/support group with other entrepreneurs.
• Praxis – resources on Redemptive Entrepreneurship, including a Rule of Life, online Playbooks, blogs and a videos & discussion series.

Member Care Resources Online from the Wider Mission Community

• Member Care Resources List – a master list of member care resources on all topics from around the world
• Member Care Associates – a global portal for good practice on member care, contains a library of links to organisations, resources, books etc.
• Member Care Media – numerous resources for cross-cultural workers
• Member Care Europe – Europe focused member care network and resources
• Barnabas International – Barnabas is dedicated to the care of global workers and has many resources on it’s site
• YWAM Member Care Resource Library – lists many resources and includes a list of websites for even more Member Care Resources
• Link Care – provides member care services and resources, including A Ministry Leader’s Handbook for Mental Health Emergencies & Social Services

Selected Books

These were books recommended to us by people in member care practice, many more are listed on the Member Care websites above. In no particular order:

Sojourners Workbook: A Guide to Thriving Cross-Culturally, Connie Befus

The Good and Beautiful God, James Bryan Smith

The Pastor and the Business Person, Michael Baer

Business as Mission, Michael Baer

The Cure, Bruce McNicol, Bill Thrall & John Lynch

Wooden on Leadership, John Wooden

How We Love, Mylan & Kay Yerkovich

Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen

Strike the Original Match, Charles R. Swindoll

Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Its Cure, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencione

Essentialism, Greg McKeown

Effortless, Greg McKeown

Road Trip, John Maurer & Tom Ziglar

Life Work, Darrow Mille

Workplace Grace, Bill Peel & Walt Larimore

Workship, Patrick Lai

The Accidental Executive, Albert Erisman

 

Have we missed a great resource? Use our Contact form to let us know.

Read more about the new Consultation here and give us input into this vital work by taking the preliminary survey:

Special thanks to Mike Baer for helping to compile the list of Member Care and Book resources for this post and to Larry Sharp for additional suggestions.

 Jo Plummer is the co-chair of BAM Global and the author and editor of many business as mission papers and articles, including the BAM Global Think Tank Report series. She is a Lausanne Catalyst for Business as Mission and the co-editor of the Lausanne Occasional Paper on Business as Mission. She has been developing resources for BAM since 2001 and currently serves as Editor of this Business as Mission website and blog.