Explore Resources for
Missionary Seekers

If you are you are a mission worker exploring the idea that business could be a way to fulfil your ministry goals—welcome, we are glad you are exploring BAM.

The Bible is clear that business is God’s idea, an institution that He designed for human flourishing. Businesses combine creativity, work, and stewardship in order to drive forward innovation and they provide dignified jobs with sustainable incomes. Businesses can bring new products and services to communities that need them, and are built on a network of trusted relationships. In short, businesses have the potential to do good and glorify God—and can be very intentionally leveraged to fulfill His missional purposes in the world.

Mission agencies are vital partners in the business as mission ecosystem. Whether you a mission leader integrating BAM into your agency strategy, or a missionary hoping to join or start a BAM company—you will find practical guidance here!

Scroll down to explore the ideas and resources in this toolbox.

Next Steps for

Missionary Seekers

CONNECT

1. Join the BGlobal Community

Network and learn from others already engaged with BAM! Share your questions on the Live Feed and explore the Jobs Board. Browse the Members Map and filter by Industry and Region to find like-minded people on a similar journey to you. Request access to this secure BAM networking portal.

2. Find a BAM Network in Your Region

Browse our Partner Network page to discover networking groups affiliated to BAM global. Discover more issue-focused and regionally-based organisations and networks in the Resource Library or Ecosystem Map.

3. Attend an Event

There is no better way to connect than to gather together with others on the same path. We warmly invite you to join us at one of our two online BAM events each year. At our events, we have dedicated breakout sessions for those new to BAM and lots of opportunities to ask questions. Browse more upcoming in-person and online events in the Resource Library.

4. Sign Up for Our Content

Get creative ideas and best practices and hear about more opportunities to connect direct to your inbox each month. Subscribe to our monthly BAM Global News and/or The BAM Review resource round up email twice a month.

LEARN

1. Build Strong Biblical Foundations for BAM

Dallas Willard once said, “Business is a primary moving force of the love of God in human history”—however, Christians often don’t think about business that way. Whether our thinking about business has been moulded by secular ideas, or from our church heritage, it’s good to make an honest evaluation and intentionally develop a biblical worldview of work, business and the economic sphere. We recommend reading blogs on Biblical Foundations and Breaking the Sacred-Secular Divide, the white paper Biblical Foundations for Business as Mission, and the book Business for the Glory of God.

2. Learn More About the BAM Concept

Although business and mission have been integrated from the time of the early church, the contemporary BAM movement has been coming together and growing since the late 1990s, with early pioneers in the decades before that. That means we have a generation of business as mission practice to learn from and build on. We recommend knowing your BAM A-Z, exploring blogs on BAM101: Introduction and Integration & Impact topics, and diving deeper into BAM Think Tank papers that interest you. Stories help bring the concept of BAM to life. Explore Stories on the Blog and Books containing case studies. Attend a BAM-related event where case studies will be shared. A must read for mission leaders / workers coming into business as mission is the BAM Global Report on BAM and Mission Agencies.

3. Prepare for Business Excellence

In BAM the mission and business are fully integrated; without a credible, sustainable company there no credible, sustainable witness in the long-term. That means that in BAM we cannot neglect sound business practices that apply to any enterprise. Business startups have a high failure rate in general, and BAM startups face a whole range of additional challenges which should be comprehensively understood. Often missionaries who are interested in BAM have some family or vocational background in business, but some don’t. It is essential to add the business know-how needed to understand your industry, business model and business context—crunch the numbers, do the financial planning, conduct market research, manage risk and so on. If you don’t have the experience and expertise needed, access it by building a team, developing partnerships, taking a course, finding a consultant or mentor, engaging a board of advisors, hiring a lawyer and so on. Be committed to do business with excellence! There are loads of good business resources out there. You will find free plenty of resources via AI/internet search or at your local chamber of commerce or business advice bureau. On this site, we recommend practical blog topics in the Business & Entrepreneurship section. Need more input? Explore the Ecosystem Map or check out our directory of Organisations for Training or Coaching & Mentoring.

4. Discover Your Best Fit for BAM

Explore other parts of the BAM Pathways pages to discover how you might get further engaged. Are you helping others do BAM? Explore the Helpers Pathway pages. Intending to do BAM yourself? Explore the Do-ers pages. Browse the Ecosystem Map or check out our directory of Organisations and Networks for more resources and ways to get engaged.

PRAY

1. Start Praying (With Others)

If you are starting to explore the idea of engaging with BAM, a great idea is to begin to talk to God regularly about it. From there, one of the most powerful things you can do is find a group of like-minded people and start praying on a regular basis with them.

2. Join the Monthly BAM Global Prayer Call

We meet regularly to pray for the BAM community, business globally and BAM Global initiatives, usually on the first Wednesday of the month at 13:00 UTC on Google Meet. Subscribe to the Prayer Calendar and monthly Prayer Updates to get notifications about upcoming meetings. Submit a prayer request here.

3. Join the Prayer WhatsApp Group

Subscribe to monthly Prayer Updates to receive the invitation link to the BAM Intercessory WhatsApp Group.

4. Explore Prayer Ideas

Get creative ideas for integrating prayer into your BAM practices with our blog articles on Prayer in the Business.

CONNECT LEARN PRAY

1. Join the BGlobal Community

2. Find a BAM Network in Your Region or Interest Area

3. Attend an Event

There is no better way to connect than to gather together with others on the same path! We warmly invite you to join us at our two online BAM events each year. At our events, we have dedicated breakout sessions for those new to BAM and lots of opportunities to ask questions. Browse more upcoming in-person and online events in the Resource Library.

4. Sign Up for Our Content

Join BGlobal Find Networks Explore Library Browse Map Attend Event Subscribe

Learn →

1. Build Strong Biblical Foundations for BAM

Dallas Willard once said, “Business is a primary moving force of the love of God in human history”—however, Christians often don’t think about business that way. Whether our thinking about business has been moulded by secular ideas, or from our church heritage, it’s good to make an honest evaluation and intentionally develop a biblical worldview of work, business and the economic sphere. We recommend reading the white paper Biblical Foundations for Business as Mission, blogs on Biblical Foundations and Breaking the Sacred-Secular Divide, and the book Business for the Glory of God.