Tag Archive for: entrepreneur

Two More Stories from Asia: What Is It Really Like to Run a BAM Business?

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What is it really like to run a BAM company, especially in the kind of challenging contexts that business as mission practitioners often find themselves? In this mini-series, we are sharing three short stories from the frontlines—a behind the scenes look at BAM company leadership. Read Part 1 here.

Fitness Industry, Southeast Asia

 
What do you do and where?

I run a multi location gym business in Southeast Asia serving approximately 15,000 members and employing around 200 staff. The vast majority of our team is local, with only a few foreign employees. Our model centers on membership based fitness supported by personal training, group classes, and leadership development within our staff teams. We operate in multiple cities and focus on building strong local teams who understand the communities they serve. Beyond providing fitness services, we are committed to developing people, both our members and our staff, by creating structured systems, growth pathways, and a culture that promotes excellence, accountability, and long term opportunity.

Why do you do it?

At the core, I see this work as stewardship. In this season of life, that means stewarding relationships, capital, influence, and brand presence in the cities where we operate in a way that honors the Lord. That includes creating environments where people are cared for well, where staff can grow professionally and personally, and where members experience genuine community. Our focus is not merely physical fitness but holistic development. We aim to steward the business to create opportunities for truth to be shared, integrity, and long term flourishing, especially for our team members and their families.

What has it really been like to run your business?

It has been deeply seasonal. There are periods when I cannot imagine doing anything more aligned with how I am wired, leveraging gifts, building teams, and watching people grow. And there are seasons where the challenges feel relentless, where progress is unclear and pressure is high. The hardest parts have often involved leadership strain and navigating growth beyond our support systems. The unexpected joys have come from seeing staff rise into leadership and watching lives genuinely change. Over time, I have learned that clarity, humility, and dependence on the Lord are not optional. They are essential and even the intended main outcome of Joy in growing in knowledge of who the Lord is through these seasons.

Looking back, what are one or two things you wish you knew before you started?

One of the greatest blessings has been having a trusted, like minded business friend outside of my organization. I wish I had understood earlier just how critical that kind of relationship would be. Having someone who can provide accountability, perspective, and encouragement, without being entangled in the day to day operations, has been invaluable. Business leadership can feel isolating, and carrying weight alone is unnecessary and unwise. I have learned that long term sustainability depends as much on spiritual and relational support as it does on strategy and execution.

 

 

Hospitality and Food Manufacturing, South Asia

 
What do you do and where?

We are based in South Asia in the Himalayas. We run a coffee and bakery business where we focus on the employment of locals. We mentor them and equip them in the gospel. We develop them with job skills and so they can bring positive change to society in their professional sphere.

Why do you do it?

Our vision is to use business to reach places and frontiers in closed nations, where it’s vital for us to be able to live among people, and establish a church planting and discipleship movement. We are seeing the fruits of being embedded in our communities and how powerful business is to bring the gospel to places that haven’t yet heard it. It is encouraging how deeply we connect with locals and authorities due to our role in society! I am passionate about the connections between us, and for the region we are in.

What has it really been like to run your business?

This place in South Asia is hard due to its infrastructure, there is no electricity or water in the mountains and also it is difficult to find people to work for some seasons, winter is closed! So the lack of some key tools to run a business is the main problem, and then we need to adapt what we do. Sometimes going through despairing situations, we have wanted to give up! Many things were not done due to lack of resources in the city and it left us wondering how to move forward. It has caused us to improvise a lot, not knowing what each day would bring, But in all this, it has been a joy to learn and it really was the hard way!

Looking back, what are one or two things you wish you knew before you started?

I would have loved some advice on coffee bean quality, better barista training, and tips to organize our finances better! It has been a wild experience from bottom up, young people dreaming, pioneering and achieving their goals without proper guidance!

An unexpected joy to us is just how much access to remote communities we have due to the business of the coffee shop—we can build strongly on the relationships built there. The connections and friends we made through the business have made our life even easier in actually running it and has helped shape so much of our identity where we are.

 

>> Read Part 1 here

 

Read more BAM Stories on our Stories page here. Got a story to share? Contact us about it here.

 

 

 

Photo by Huỳnh Tiến on Unsplash

 

 

 

Engineering on the Frontlines: What Is It Really Like to Run a BAM Business?

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What is it really like to run a BAM company, especially in the kind of challenging contexts that business as mission practitioners often find themselves? In this mini-series, we are sharing three short stories from the frontlines—a behind the scenes look at BAM company leadership. 

 

Z Engineers – Construction Industry, South Asia

Z Engineers is one of the oldest BAM companies in the world, having been founded in the late 1960s by Christian expatriate engineers in a majority Muslim country in South Asia. Its current Managing Director, a national leader, has been in the position for 5 years. Here he shares some of his experiences and insights into what it is really like to run a BAM company.

What do you do and where?

Z Engineers serves the construction industry across a nation in South Asia, with a specific focus on remote rural areas where access to quality infrastructure is often a significant challenge. Our business model is built on providing comprehensive design, consultancy, and construction services with honesty and integrity. We take pride in our inclusive employment practices, hiring a diverse team of engineers, quantity surveyors, and architects from cross-cultural groups. Our work isn’t just about building structures; it’s about bringing high-quality standards to regions that have historically been underserved and have no hope.

Why do you do it?

Our foundational vision at Z Engineers is threefold: to build quality, build people, and build for God. This calling to the workplace is what sustains us. The strong focus and burden to introduce honest business practices and integrity to the construction sector, to provide job opportunities for the large unemployed segment keeps us moving forward. Beyond the construction side, my wife and I have also established E Services. This initiative is a direct response to the vulnerability of marginalized Christian groups. We focus on creating safe, dignified full-time and part-time employment for young women moving from rural areas to a major city, specifically to provide an alternative to the high risks of sexual exploitation they often face. Our BAM focus is to provide both physical infrastructure and social restoration

What has it really been like to run your business?

Running Z Engineers has been a journey of perseverance. The hardest challenge has been the financial strain of managing overheads during lean periods, coupled with the ethical struggle of the bidding process. We frequently face the reality of losing projects because we refuse to participate in the systemic corruption common in the industry. We are also navigating a significant ‘brain drain’ within the local Christian youth, as many seek to relocate abroad in search of financial prosperity. It is a constant challenge to offer tangible hope to these young people when the local environment provides so little to convince them to stay. Since taking over the company in 2021, these past five years have been a profound period of growth in the BAM space for me. The phrase ‘blood, sweat, and tears’ is no longer a metaphor; it describes the literal reality of my journey as I strive to stay faithful to the workplace.

On the other hand, there has been unexpected joy. We recently won a project in the Northern areas that has matured perfectly—a beautiful ‘repayment’ i.e. equivalent in terms of the value, for a previous project we lost because we refused to cut corners. We are also entering a ‘redemptive technology’ phase by pioneering non-fired bricks, which aligns our environmental stewardship with our construction goals. While our newer startup (E Services) is still in the foundational phase, we are learning to navigate the basics with hope and courage.

Looking back, what are one or two things you wish you knew before you started?

First, I wish I had understood the level of personal and familial sacrifice required. A BAM company operates differently than a secular business; the spiritual and ethical weight often falls heavily on the leadership, and navigating those challenges can place significant stress on family life and work-life balance.

Second, I wish I had been more prepared for the mental health toll. There is a constant, exhausting pressure to maintain a ‘successful’ outward image for clients and marketing purposes, even when the business is facing internal crises. Learning to manage that tension between professional optics and the reality of the struggle is something I am still learning to do.

 

Read two more short stories in next week’s post:

>> Read Part 2 here

 

A. has been the Managing Director for Z Engineers since 2021. He holds a Mechanical Engineering degree and has a history of working in Christian Institutions in his nation, in business management, Project Administration & development.

 

 

 

Photo by Jeriden Villegas on Unsplash

 

 

Good Research Approaches for Figuring Out Your BAM Business Model

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How do you know what kind of BAM business to pursue? That’s a question that we often get from those thinking about building a business as mission company. What’s more, what are some early indicators that a business is or isn’t working? We decided to ask three BAM mentors three questions about how they would go about deciding and evaluating their business model. This is Part 2, with our third question about research approaches.

Read Part 1 here.

 

What would be some good research approaches to figuring out good business models?

 

Mike Baer

A workable business model starts with one simple reality: you are meeting a real need that people are willing and able to pay for. That means the first step is not having a clever idea. The first step is identifying unmet or poorly met needs.

Ask basic questions: What problems exist in this community? What needs are not being met—or not being met well?   What solutions are inaccessible, unreliable, or unaffordable?

You can use AI tools as a starting point, but be careful. They are often misleadingly optimistic. A conversation with AI can help you think, but it should never replace firsthand learning.

So get out and look. Observe the market—and in many contexts, observe the bazaar. Watch what people buy, what they avoid, what they complain about, and what they improvise. Talk with neighbors and customers. Ask fellow believers—but with caution. Well-meaning people often affirm ideas they would never personally pay for.

Talk with other business owners. Talk with bankers. Talk with local officials. In-person conversations are gold. Online surveys can help too, especially when distributed through community-based social media groups, but don’t mistake opinions for behavior.

If your community has access to solid data—through a chamber of commerce or local development office—use it. And when you think you’ve identified a promising solution, test it cheaply and early. Share samples. Run pilots. Sell before you scale.

This is the value of an MVP approach—a minimum viable product. You will likely need several iterations. That’s not failure; that’s learning. Fail fast and forward: try, observe results, adjust, and try again—before you commit fully to a new enterprise.

 

Hannah Lau

A working business model is simply identifying a customer group’s problem/need, getting into their ‘world’ by delivering value, and doing it in a way that’s profitable for you. That’s basically it. So the best way to find a business model is to start by understanding your customer. That’s who it’s all about. The more you understand the customer and the ecosystem that surrounds their need, the better you’ll be able to create value for them and deliver it in a way that they will easily adopt.

Some ways to best understand your customer include:

  • Target segmentation
  • Ideal Customer Profiles/Personas
  • Competitive Analysis
  • Positioning and Customer Behaviour
  • Distribution realities for the category
  • Standards and expectations in the existing market

My personal philosophy—tried, tested, and witnessed across 350+ organisations: Lead with product and you’ll be out of the game before you launch. Lead with what your customer needs and you’ll be innovating forever. What I mean by this is that most people focus on the product because they start with an idea, which can easily become obsolete or boring. If we start with a group of people and their needs, and try to find creative solutions to solve those needs (one of them being a product), it will keep us proactive and not reactive in the market.

 

Grant Smith

When deciding on a business, my recommendation is find out what others are doing and understand their model. It could be that you can do it better. In any business model it is important to understand how your competitors are doing it and then you analysing if you can do it better or there is a gap in the market. There is a reason no company is selling ice to the North pole, so you may have a brilliant idea, but research the opportunity critically.

When deciding on a business model, understand the barriers to entry. If you are importing, what are the import duties and how do you navigate the duty process. If you are in construction, what approvals do you have to attain from the local government and what challenges may you face in achieving those approvals. If you are borrowing money, factor in unexpected delays and budget for additional finance which in theory you don’t think will be incurred. You should have cushions in your financial models to give you wriggle room.

 

With special thanks to our three mentors for sharing their wisdom in this series.

 

>> Read Part 1 here

 

 Mike Baer was one of the early leaders in the modern Business as Mission movement. He started his career as a pastor and church planter. After 15 years in the pastorate Mike was led into business where he gradually began to discover the potential for believers in business to bless their communities, evangelize the lost and spread the Kingdom of God, especially among the unreached. Today, Mike is the CEO of Third Path Initiative, an online BAM education resource, a strategic coach to companies in the staffing industry, a podcast host and YouTube content creator, a speaker at BAM conferences, and an author of 10 books. He and his wife Cindy live in the mountains of Western North Carolina (USA) and enjoy their 7 grandchildren.

 

Hannah Lau began her career in advertising when she moved to Asia as a marketplace missionary. In 2015, she began her journey as a redemptive entrepreneur, building and helping others build businesses that embody the gospel in every area of its operations. She is the co-creator of the Redemptive Business Canvas and the founder of Arukah Works, helping others live out their faith through entrepreneurship.

 

Grant Smith is a quantity surveyor who has worked with international construction companies and managed his own consultancy practice in the UK for over thirty years. In the year 2000, Grant recognised that construction work in Kenya had a response to poverty, commercially creating fairer pay and apprenticeship opportunities. He committed himself to finding sustainable solutions to  transform individuals and societies. Grant is now the CEO of Hand in Hand Group and a director of a Kenyan construction company. Grant is the chair of Hand in Hand Foundation. Grant has had the privilege of being married to Sue since 1985 and has three children he is very proud of. He is a workplace speaker with LICC and the author of The Accidental Social Entrepreneur.

 

 


Photo by UX Indonesia on Unsplash

 

 

Will It Work? How to Decide on a BAM Business Model

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How do you know what kind of BAM business to pursue? That’s a question that we often get from those thinking about building a business as mission company. What’s more, what are some early indicators that a business is or isn’t working? We decided to ask three BAM mentors three questions about how they would go about deciding and evaluating their business model.

 

If you were deciding on a business model, what questions would you ask yourself?

 

Grant Smith

Primarily I  would suggest, you understand what you are good at. Yesterday is a training ground for tomorrow. That doesn’t mean that you never try new things, but understand your skill set. I have been in construction all my life, I have a degree in construction, I have worked in several sectors and I understand construction. When I attempted farming, I was way out of my comfort zone. When you take a brick and coat it in cement, and you take another brick and coat it in cement, every time you do it, you get a house. Farming is not as predictable, that’s not a reason not to do it, but it is a reason to have an agricultural partner or advisor who can warn you what is coming.

Mike Baer

I would ask some core questions.

First, what real need exists that I can meet better than current solutions? “Better” might mean cheaper, faster, more trustworthy, more accessible, or more relational—but it must be meaningful.

Second, who else is already meeting this need? How many competitors are there? What do they do well? Where do they struggle? Ignoring competitors is not faith; it’s denial.

Third, do I (and my team) have—or can we realistically acquire—the capability to do this well? That includes skills, funding, technology, operational capacity, and support networks. Calling does not eliminate constraints.

Fourth, can this business become sustainable and scalable? Sustainable means it can run without constant cash infusions. Scalable means it can grow its impact—jobs, customer value, community blessing—without breaking the model.

Fifth, can I envision—and eventually measure—Kingdom impact? Profit matters, but so do disciple-making, ethical employment, local blessing, and care for creation. If impact is always vague or postponed, it will likely disappear.

Sixth, will this work give me joy and hope? Not constant happiness—but a sense that the effort is life-giving rather than soul-draining.

Not every question will have a crystal-clear answer at the start. That’s normal. But if you get a strong, definitive “No” to any of them, that’s a signal to stop and seriously reconsider. If the lights are mostly green—even with different levels of brightness—then it may be time to move forward, trusting God to guide your steps and work through the business for His glory.

Hannah Lau

I would ask myself:

  1. What does my (prospective) customer need?
  2. What can they accept/tolerate/be willing to change?
  3. How can I best address that need in a way that is profitable for me?
  4. How do I make it as easy as possible for them to adopt/buy/join?

These four questions are basically four slices of a pie, and you’re trying to figure out the sweet spot, balancing the size of each slice so that all the questions can be answered to a reasonably satisfactory level. If you can’t make it work, then you probably don’t have a workable business model.

 

How do you know if a business model is working/not working? What are some signs and symptoms?

 

Hannah Lau

When a business is working, customers or clients will adopt your product or service with little resistance, recognise value, and have no problem paying for it. Conversely, when a business is not working, cashflow is tight on a regular basis and selling is hard and takes convincing your customers. It’s not working when you put too much effort in that only results in minimal customer satisfaction or profitability. In other words, if the business struggles and requires a ton of effort in just to keep five customers happy or just break even, the model isn’t working.

Mike Baer

Every time I’ve launched a new business, I’ve asked two related questions: How will I know if this is working? and How long should I give it? If you can ask—and answer—those honestly and courageously, you’ll save yourself a lot of wasted time, money, and emotional energy.

The simple answer is this: a business model is working if people are buying your product or service at a margin that can produce profit over time. More specifically, are people continuing to buy it, and is that customer base growing? Repeat customers—and more of them—are the foundation of any real business. One-time sales can flatter you; repeat sales tell you the truth.

Closely tied to this is cash flow. Whether your original projections are perfectly accurate is secondary. What matters is whether money is flowing into the business in a measurable and increasing way. If customers are the foundation, cash flow is the lifeblood. A business can survive bad forecasts, but it cannot survive chronic cash starvation.

Then there is your energy. Startups are hard—that’s a given. But chaos is exhausting in a different way. Separate normal moments (or even days) of discouragement from the deeper question: Do I still experience some measure of excitement, curiosity, or hope as I pursue growth and progress? If everything feels like grinding uphill with no traction, pay attention.

Finally—and this matters deeply in BAM—can you remain faithful to your Gospel commitments? Are honesty, compassion, fair dealing, and relationship-building sustainable in this model? If survival consistently requires cutting ethical corners or hollowing out your witness, something is wrong. The Good News should be revealed naturally over time, not sacrificed for short-term survival.

Grant Smith

How do you know if your business model is working? Well, you have to clearly define what you want to achieve, too many business’s when they start out are over ambitious. I had a friend who took on a coffee franchise, wanted to employ ex offenders, and generate money for his ministry. Running business is hard work, and you may need to focus on one priority at a time. If your focus is employing ex offenders, let that be your measurable, making a profit and a social impact. If you crack that, then you can move to providing finance for ministry.

A recommendation would be, if you are starting a business, appoint a voluntary board of strong people who will challenge you. Each person you appoint to your board needs to bring a skill, whether in finance, or your field of operation or HR or legal or… But the most important quality in a board member is that they share your vision of what you want to achieve. Then make yourself accountable to them. If your ambition is to pay people fairer than the market determines, make that your clear measurable focus. The danger is that you start making money, which you need to do to continue, but you enjoy the profits so much that you may lose the fair employment focus. Your board should keep you to account.

 

Coming up in Part 2, our three BAM mentors answer our third question:

What would be some good research approaches to figuring out good models?

 

 

 Mike Baer was one of the early leaders in the modern Business as Mission movement. He started his career as a pastor and church planter. After 15 years in the pastorate Mike was led into business where he gradually began to discover the potential for believers in business to bless their communities, evangelize the lost and spread the Kingdom of God, especially among the unreached. Today, Mike is the CEO of Third Path Initiative, an online BAM education resource, a strategic coach to companies in the staffing industry, a podcast host and YouTube content creator, a speaker at BAM conferences, and an author of 10 books. He and his wife Cindy live in the mountains of Western North Carolina (USA) and enjoy their 7 grandchildren.

 

Hannah Lau began her career in advertising when she moved to Asia as a marketplace missionary. In 2015, she began her journey as a redemptive entrepreneur, building and helping others build businesses that embody the gospel in every area of its operations. She is the co-creator of the Redemptive Business Canvas and the founder of Arukah Works, helping others live out their faith through entrepreneurship.

 

Grant Smith is a quantity surveyor who has worked with international construction companies and managed his own consultancy practice in the UK for over thirty years. In the year 2000, Grant recognised that construction work in Kenya had a response to poverty, commercially creating fairer pay and apprenticeship opportunities. He committed himself to finding sustainable solutions to  transform individuals and societies. Grant is now the CEO of Hand in Hand Group and a director of a Kenyan construction company. Grant is the chair of Hand in Hand Foundation. Grant has had the privilege of being married to Sue since 1985 and has three children he is very proud of. He is a workplace speaker with LICC and the author of The Accidental Social Entrepreneur.

 

 


Photo by Aditama on Unsplash

 

 

Business as Mission versus the Prosperity “Gospel”

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by Mike Baer

Why BAM Is Not the Same as Prosperity Teaching

A Story That Reveals a Bigger Problem

About twenty years ago, while teaching on business as mission at a church conference in Orlando, I noticed a woman looking distressed—confused, even hurt. During the break, I went straight to her and asked what was troubling her.

With tears in her eyes she said, “I don’t think God wants me to be wealthy.”

Her struggle came from taking a true idea and passing it through a faulty filter. I had been teaching that business is an institution created by God—like family or government—and that its God-given purpose is to create wealth. She heard something different: “God wants me personally to be rich.”

As we talked, she began to see the fuller picture:

  • Wealth is not only an individual matter.
  • It is a social good—fuel for families, communities, and nations to flourish.
  • Without wealth creation, societies don’t grow; they simply survive, shrink, or collapse.

This misunderstanding is surprisingly common.

 

Profit Is Not the Enemy—Misuse Is

Some people assume wealth creation is an individual pursuit and therefore un-Christian. But Scripture shows that business creates value for the many, not the few. A healthy business makes a profit, and profit generates wealth. The key questions are:

  • Why do we create it?
  • How do we use it?

When wealth becomes a tool to honor God and bless others, it fulfills its purpose.

 

What BAM Is Not: The Prosperity Gospel

The Prosperity Gospel—the “name it, claim it, frame it” message—teaches that God wants you healthy, you wealthy, and you successful as proof of His approval.

It is false.

It is dangerous.

And it twists Scripture to serve greed.

Unfortunately, as BAM grows, some people misunderstand its teaching on profit and wealth. A few even hijack BAM language to promote their own ego, platform, or bank account. That’s not BAM—that’s opportunism.

 

The Equal and Opposite Error: The Poverty Gospel

When some see the misuse of wealth, they run to the other extreme. They treat profit as suspicious and wealth creation as a necessary evil—something to be “cleansed” by giving it to ministry.

This viewpoint misquotes Scripture (“money is the root of all evil”) and ignores what Paul actually said:

“The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil.” – 1 Timothy 6:10

The problem is not money.

The problem is the heart.

Both extremes miss God’s design:

  • Prosperity Gospel: “God wants you rich.”
  • Poverty Gospel: “God wants you poor.”

Neither is true.

Neither is good news.

 

What BAM Really Teaches

Every institution God created has a purpose. The purpose of business is to help build flourishing communities where people can:

  • Build homes
  • Feed their families
  • Educate their children
  • Innovate and improve
  • Fulfill the Creation Mandate (Genesis 1:26–31)

This requires wealth creation—and when done with a godly heart, it is good, necessary, and blessed.

BAM is not Prosperity Gospel.

BAM is not Poverty Gospel.

BAM is God’s design for business lived out for the good of people and the glory of God.

 

Further Reading

For deeper thinking on this topic, explore the Wealth Creation Manifesto and BAM Global Resources on Wealth Creation, by Mats Tunehag and others.

 

 Mike Baer was one of the early leaders in the modern Business as Mission movement. He started his career as a pastor and church planter. After 15 years in the pastorate Mike was led into business where he gradually began to discover the potential for believers in business to bless their communities, evangelize the lost and spread the Kingdom of God, especially among the unreached. Today, Mike is the CEO of Third Path Initiative, an online BAM education resource, a strategic coach to companies in the staffing industry, a podcast host and YouTube content creator, a speaker at BAM conferences, and an author of 10 books. He and his wife Cindy live in the mountains of Western North Carolina (USA) and enjoy their 7 grandchildren.

 

 

Business as Mission: Reflecting the Heart of God

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by Grace Kim

 

In a world marked by brokenness, injustice, and spiritual emptiness, the heart of God longs to restore what sin has fractured. He is not distant from the struggles of daily life—economic hardship, oppression, exploitation, and hopelessness. Instead, He enters into the mess with a vision of wholeness, and one of the surprising ways He brings that about is through business.

Business: God’s Original Design

From the beginning, work and creativity were part of God’s good design. In Genesis, God created and called it “very good.” He gave humanity a mandate: to steward the earth, cultivate it, and bring fruitfulness from it. Business is one expression of that mandate. When we create value, serve others, and meet real needs through business, we are participating in God’s character — a Provider, a Creator, a Sustainer.

Work was never meant to be a curse; it was meant to be worship. Business, when surrendered to God, becomes holy.

BAM: More Than Economics

Business as Mission (BAM) reflects the heart of God because it brings together the spiritual and the practical. In many parts of the world, traditional missionary models are no longer welcome. But business is. Through real, sustainable, and ethically run businesses, Christians are building relationships, meeting needs, and sharing Christ in places that might never hear the gospel otherwise.

But BAM is not just about access—it’s about impact. God cares not only about souls but about systems: systems of injustice, poverty, and exploitation. Through BAM, believers are creating jobs that restore dignity, paying fair wages, discipling employees, and standing against corruption. They are being salt and light in boardrooms, marketplaces, and factory floors.

The Heart of God on Display

At its deepest level, BAM reflects the compassion, justice, and redemptive love of God:

  • God is a Provider – BAM meets real needs.
  • God is a Redeemer – BAM restores broken systems and broken people.
  • God is on mission – and business becomes a vehicle for that mission.

This isn’t about using business as a cover for ministry. It’s about doing business as ministry — with integrity, love, and purpose, because Jesus is Lord over every square inch of life, including the economy.

A Call to Join Him

God is raising up entrepreneurs, investors, and workers who don’t separate their faith from their work, but see business as an act of worship and mission. Whether you’re running a coffee shop, designing software, or managing a farm, your work can reflect the heart of God when Christ is at the center.

In a world desperate for hope, truth, and restoration, BAM is a powerful reminder that God uses everyday work to bring eternal change. Business is not just a tool for income—it’s a tool for the Kingdom.

Business is not separate from God’s heart. It is deeply aligned with it when it reflects His love, justice, and purpose in the world.

 

This article was first published in the SfK Newsletter and is reposted here with kind permission.

 

Grace Kim is the Editor of the SfK Newsletter. Synergy for the Kingdom is a global network of for-profit or non-profit enterprises and people, aiming to produce holistic transformation in the lives of people in Asia and Africa by seeking Synergy for the Kingdom of God.

 

 

Photo by Fadi Xd on Unsplash

 

 

 

 

God’s Story, His Glory: Business as Mission Philippines

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Sponsored Post by BAM Philippines

 

Business as Mission (BAM) Philippines was recently commissioned by the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC) on June 10, 2025, during the 36th PCEC National Assembly, held under the theme “Discipleship Revolution.” In this context, it is fitting that BAM Philippines has been recognized as a key player in discipling the nation through its influence and impact in the marketplace.

The Beginnings

BAM Philippines is led by Richard and Cathy Tan. Their journey of discipleship began long before they were called to lead the BAM movement in the Philippines. In Brother Richard’s words:

“Our family faced its own share of challenges as business owners. Yet through every trial, the Lord deeply impressed upon us a fundamental truth: this company is His, and we are merely stewards, managing it by His grace. This wasn’t just a nice thought; it became our anchor. We quickly discovered that numerous business owners yearned to walk rightly with God and desired a godly purpose for their ventures.”

Through a divine appointment in 2020, they met a BAM speaker in Singapore. Richard and Cathy knew in their hearts that this was no ordinary meeting. As Richard shares:

“Cathy and I immediately recognized a profound alignment in our hearts and minds regarding the unique calling of Christian business owners.”

This encounter sparked a series of online gatherings that eventually led to in-person fellowships hosted at their “CRT” building. The Lord impressed upon their hearts to name it CRT, standing for Christ our Redeemer, we Trust. Today, the CRT building serves as the headquarters of BAM Philippines—a hub that connects entrepreneurs, church leaders, and like-minded individuals to advance God’s kingdom both locally and globally.

BAM Philippines Vision, Mission and Values

Vision

To witness Christian business owners faithfully fulfilling the Great Commission and impacting the nation for God’s glory, as Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:18–20: “Go and make disciples of all nations.”

Mission

To unite, love, encourage, strengthen, and serve one another as fellow Christian business owners on the journey of godly stewardship. Inspired by Matthew 22:36–40: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. … Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Core Values

The core values of BAM Philippines use BAM as an acrostic and form the foundation of disciple-making in the marketplace:

1. Biblical – The Bible is the sole authority and ultimate guide for all practices, principles, decisions, and actions—done for the glory of God (2 Timothy 3:16–17; 1 Corinthians 10:31).

2. Authentic – BAM encourages walking the talk by modeling Christlikeness and integrity in the workplace and marketplace, seeking renewal and living in a manner worthy of the Lord (Ephesians 4:22–24; Colossians 1:10; 3:17).

3. Missional – BAM affirms the call of business to care for God’s creation and love all people, proclaiming the Gospel through Christ-centered practices in business, evangelism, and intentional discipleship.

Marketplace Discipleship

Discipleship in business is expressed through business as mission’s 4P’s Framework:

  • Profit – Business must remain sustainable, but profits are not the ultimate goal.
  • Purpose – The heart of business aligns with God’s redemptive and missional purpose.
  • People – BAM honors God’s command to love our neighbors by valuing employees, clients, and communities.
  • Planet – BAM upholds stewardship of God’s creation.

These four P’s amplify discipleship at its core. BAM Philippines encourages Christian business owners to operate with integrity—doing business God’s way. They consider the eternal significance of their work, serve their customers with love, disciple fellow entrepreneurs, and create opportunities to influence others toward godly service.

By modeling Christ, BAM Philippines focuses on the internal transformation of Christian business leaders, reflecting God’s love through missional approaches—one business owner at a time.

BAM in Action: Living Out the Great Commission

How does BAM Philippines live out the Great Commission on both macro and micro levels?

• Macro level: Through its regional members, BAM Philippines holds conferences and fellowships in key cities such as Quezon City, Manila, Davao, and Cebu, as well as in neighboring Asian countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. These gatherings inspire Christian entrepreneurs to expand their Kingdom influence through resource-sharing, practical teachings, and challenging messages. Accountability relationships are also fostered through partnerships with local pastors and mentors.

• Micro level: On a day-to-day basis, BAM Philippines encourages Christian business owners to meet regularly for encouragement, spiritual growth, and accountability. Learnings are applied through small group meetings, group chats, and guided discussions using the BAM Workbook and its case studies. A BAM group in Quezon City—comprised of young entrepreneurs—gathers consistently for prayer, authentic fellowship, and mutual encouragement. In this supportive community, they openly share their struggles while staying committed to “letting their light shine before others” (Matthew 5:16).

Living out the Great Commission in the marketplace also includes practical acts of obedience and integrity: conducting Bible studies in the office, paying livable wages to employees, filing the right taxes, and complying with authorities. These seemingly simple actions become powerful testimonies of Christ in the business world, reflecting the values of the Kingdom and leading others to glorify God.

This year, God opened a new door for BAM Philippines to reach a broader audience. BAM Philippines’ influence now extends to the airwaves through its weekly radio program Entre-Pinoy on 702 DZAS, airing every Monday from 11 a.m. to 12 noon. In this program, Christian business stewards share their testimonies and insights from the BAM Workbook.

Additionally, the Philippines will host the BAM Asia Conference for the third year in a row. This year’s event, which also marks the 5th anniversary of BAM Philippines, will take place on October 17–18 at Shangri-La The Fort in Bonifacio Global City. The conference will welcome both local and international participants and anyone interested can find out more here.

Final Word

BAM Philippines is committed to equipping Christian business stewards to embrace their calling as faithful disciples of Christ and stewards of God’s business. They advocate what the Bible teaches: that business has a higher purpose than profit alone. Work is worship! Business is a harvest field where Christ is proclaimed, and disciples are made.

If BAM Philippines fulfills its mandate, we can change a nation from darkness to light. We can make a real difference in the lives of Filipinos—and our country will prosper and truly exemplify a Christian nation that honors God. This is possible if business owners heed the Lord’s calling through the BAM ministry.

As God continues to lead, BAM Philippines remains open to the Spirit’s prompting, prayerfully anticipating the movement’s expansion across Philippine cities and beyond—fulfilling the mandate to do business God’s way: Biblical, Authentic, Missional.

 

Be part of something bigger at the BAM Philippines October Conference 2025

Chosen for God’s Purpose: Built to Last – October 17–18, 2025 Shangri-La The Fort, Taguig City

Let’s rediscover the eternal purpose behind our work. Let’s build businesses that honor Christ. Register today.

 


Photo by BAM Philippines

 

Why We Keep Doing This: 4 Timely Reminders

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by Mike Baer

 

I’m sitting in yet another airport lounge—the “9 zillionth time.” My body’s tired. My family’s back home. The fall colors in the Carolina mountains are blazing without me. And then, in the middle of my self-pity, the Lord whispered: “Why are you doing this?”

I knew the answer. But then I sensed Him nudging me: “Why don’t you share the answer with the rest of the BAM community?”

So here it is. Not just my answer. Our answer. Because I know many of you feel the same way.

1. We Do It Because We’re Called

This isn’t a hobby. It’s a calling.

Business is not second-class. It’s not less than “real ministry.” It’s equal in value to every other calling from God. Any call from Him is holy—period.

For me, this call has been clear for over 35 years. It’s not about feelings, perks, or applause. It’s the Spirit of God saying, “This is the work I set you apart for” (Acts 13:1-4).

That’s why we keep going.

2. We Do It Because It Unleashes Kingdom Resources

Here’s the problem: too few are doing the work of too many. The “80-20 rule” is alive and well. A handful are carrying the load while millions sit in the stands. Why? Because the “system” taught them that “ministry” is only for “ministers.”

But ministry simply means service. A minister is just a servant. Every follower of Jesus is both.

That means the field is wide open for us all. BAM is a powerful way to show the world that work is worship, business is mission, and the marketplace is a pulpit. As I tell audiences: “Get out of the stadium and onto the field.”

We all get to play (Matthew 28:18–20).

3. We Do It Because Jesus Invited Us

This isn’t our idea. BAM wasn’t cooked up by clever people in a boardroom. It’s woven into creation itself (Genesis 1:25–31). Work, trade, stewardship—it’s God’s design.

And here’s the miracle: the One who loved us and gave Himself for us says, “Let’s do this together.”

Business as mission isn’t just about running companies. It’s about joining Jesus in His changeless purpose—to reconcile the world to Himself.

What could be better than that?

4. We Do It Because the World Still Needs Hope

The world is still broken. Whole communities are chained by poverty, corruption, unemployment, and exploitation. Nations remain unreached with the gospel. Creation itself is groaning for redemption.

And here’s the truth: real transformation comes when the Body of Christ shows up in every part of life. Not just in pulpits. Not just in pews. But in shops, factories, offices, farms, and markets.

That’s where the people are. That’s where disciples are made.

So Why Do We Do This?

Yes, sometimes we miss family, home, and rest. But when we remember why, everything changes.

We do this because of the love of God, the call of God, the mission of God, and the Kingdom of God.

And honestly? Doing BAM with God is not just important. It’s a joy. It’s an adventure. It’s downright fun.

 

 

 Mike Baer was one of the early leaders in the modern Business as Mission movement. He started his career as a pastor and church planter. After 15 years in the pastorate Mike was led into business where he gradually began to discover the potential for believers in business to bless their communities, evangelize the lost and spread the Kingdom of God, especially among the unreached. Today, Mike is the CEO of Third Path Initiative, an online BAM education resource, a strategic coach to companies in the staffing industry, a podcast host and YouTube content creator, a speaker at BAM conferences, and an author of 10 books. He and his wife Cindy live in the mountains of Western North Carolina (USA) and enjoy their 7 grandchildren.

 


Photo by Dastan khdir on Unsplash

 

A BAM Story: Witness, Generosity and Transformation in Puerto Rico [Video]

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by Merari Peña


Merari Peña shared some of her story at the Fourth Lausanne Congress Workplace Track in September 2024.

 

 

Transcript:

Good afternoon, everyone.

My name is Merari Pena, and I am the founder of Forever Crystals, a business that started on the small island of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. It’s such an honor to stand before you today and share a bit about my journey.

When I was 23, I had a life-changing encounter with Jesus. This profound experience allowed me to forgive my father, who had left our family when I was just 3 years old. That forgiveness filled me with a new love for my father and a desire to serve him. At that time, what he needed most was financial support to pursue his missionary work in Cuba.

That same year, in 2007, I started a business in my garage with a simple desire—to support my father’s missionary work. Little did I know how much it would grow and how God would use it to touch so many lives and build His Kingdom.

From the beginning, our main goal was to fund missions. But everything changed in 2010 when I had the incredible opportunity to attend the Lausanne Congress in South Africa. There, I learned about the concept of business as mission, and it completely transformed the way I saw our work. This new understanding of the theology of work reshaped everything we did.

One of the biggest changes in our business was understanding our divine design and realizing that we are missionaries in the marketplace. We already had influence, a voice, and the attention of everyday people. The question then became: how are we going to use it? Our business is a fashion jewelry retail store, and we have focused on designs that inspire others and reflect stories and principles of the Bible. Our most popular pieces are a birthstone collection that celebrates the life of each woman and reflects a fruit of the Spirit. The pieces we create tell a story of biblical virtues and the strength of people in the Bible who overcame difficult times. This approach not only beautifies our customers but also spreads the message of hope and faith through creative designs that add sparkle to their everyday lives.

God’s Faithfulness in our Business Journey

God has been our guide and strength through every challenge we’ve faced. During Hurricane Maria, where our island was without electricity and water for months, our first focus was to be the hands of God, providing for our employees by distributing water and first aid kits to those in need. Our business philosophy is grounded in serving others, reflecting Jesus’ love in practical ways. When the pandemic hit, our priority remained the same—to maintain their jobs. We pivoted our business knowledge to create new ventures, ensuring our team had food on the table.

Through it all, we’ve poured into the lives of our employees, making them our first line of ministry. Our business isn’t just about products or profits; it’s about people and purpose. For 17 years, we’ve walked alongside our employees in their personal journeys, providing not just jobs, but a supportive family. We employ over 50 dedicated young women who share our vision and values, and some of them have been with us the entire 17 years we have been in business. We’ve shared life’s highs and lows together—welcoming new babies, facing cancer diagnoses, supporting through life’s losses, and celebrating marriages. We’re a community grounded in Bible principles, always there for one another.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. – Colossians 3:23-24

What we have gained we have surrendered it to God. We’ve used the influence gained through our business to start a non-profit movement called Oasis Empresarial, uniting local businesswomen to learn biblical principles for healthy, purpose-driven entrepreneurship. Through Oasis, we preach Christ to non-believers, support missionary marketplace endeavors, and minister to entrepreneurial women about Christian values, fostering spiritually and emotionally healthy entrepreneurs.

In closing, I want to leave you with this thought: In business, as in life, our “why” is the most powerful driving force. For us, our “why” has always been to serve God and others, to create a business that is a beacon of hope and love. As it says in Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

As workplace Christians, we are God’s provision to the church for Kingdom building. The resources we generate through our daily work have enabled us to go out into the world or send others to do God’s work. We’ve seen firsthand how planting, supporting, and maintaining local churches in Cuba has furthered our resilience in business and the Kingdom of God, and it’s been an incredible blessing to be a part of that journey.

Thank you for allowing me to share our story. May God bless you all in your endeavors and may you find joy and purpose in serving others through what God has placed in your hands.

Thank you.

 

Read a longer story about Forever Crystals published 10 years ago on The BAM Review.

Access more videos, transcripts and study materials from the Lausanne Congress Workplace Track here.



Merari Pena, founder of Forever Crystals, holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and studied jewelry design at Alchimia in Florence. With over 25 years of retail experience, she launched her fashion jewelry business in her garage at 23. Forever Crystals has grown into a thriving enterprise with an online shop and stores in the Caribbean. Merari also leads Oasis Empresarial, a non-profit empowering businesswoman with biblical principles. Committed to Servant Leadership, she integrates faith and business to support communities and missionaries, spreading hope and purpose.

 

 

Photo by Forever Crystals

 

 

 

 

Business as Mission: Shining God’s Light in a World of Shadows

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by Grace Kim

 

In our rapidly changing world, businesses play an influential role in shaping societies. With economic instability, social injustice, and environmental crises intensifying, we need leaders who will build companies that reflect God’s goodness rather than chase shifting cultural trends.

The words of James 1:17 speak clearly into this moment:

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (NIV)

This verse reminds us that God is the source of every true and lasting good. While the marketplace is often driven by fluctuating values—where ethics are sacrificed for profit and people are treated as means to an end—God calls business leaders to reflect His consistent character: goodness, generosity, and integrity.

The Reality of the World Today

If we look around honestly, it’s clear the business world is struggling with some deep issues:

  • Economic Instability: Huge portions of the world’s population still face poverty, unemployment, and financial injustice, while wealth often remains concentrated in the hands of a few.
  • Social Injustice: Workplaces sometimes mirror the divisions we see in society—whether through discrimination, lack of opportunity, or unfair treatment of marginalized communities.
  • Environmental Crisis: Many businesses ignore the long-term health of our planet in pursuit of short-term gains, harming creation and leaving others to deal with the fallout.
  • Moral Compromise: Too often, we see businesses prioritizing profit over people, cutting ethical corners, and losing sight of their higher purpose.

What Does It Look Like to Reflect God’s Goodness in Business?

It doesn’t mean running a religious company. It means running a good company—one that values people, creates meaningful work, and operates with integrity.

Imagine businesses where leaders genuinely care for their employees’ well-being, where decisions are made not just for shareholder gain but for community flourishing, and where environmental impact is thoughtfully considered because we are stewards of God’s creation.

It’s about bringing generosity into the workplace culture, making room for compassion in leadership, and recognizing that our ability to create and lead businesses is a gift meant to bless others.

The Steadiness of God in a Shifting Marketplace

Markets shift. Economies fluctuate. What was a winning business model yesterday might be obsolete tomorrow. But God’s goodness doesn’t change. He is still the “Father of the heavenly lights”—steadfast, faithful, and true.

As business leaders, professionals, and entrepreneurs, we are called to reflect that same steadiness in how we work and lead.

  • Be generous when the world says to hoard.
  • Be honest when the world says to cut corners.
  • Care for people when the world says they’re just resources.
  • Build for the long-term when the world chases short-term gains.

A Light in the Shadows

The business world is full of shifting shadows—trends that fade, crises that shake confidence, and values that change with the headlines. But through it all, we have an opportunity to point to something better.

When our work reflects the goodness of God, business becomes more than profit. It becomes purpose.

And in a world desperate for hope and integrity, that is a gift worth offering.

 

This article was first published in the SfK Newsletter and is reposted here with kind permission.

 

Grace Kim is the Editor of the SfK Newsletter. Synergy for the Kingdom is a global network of for-profit or non-profit enterprises and people, aiming to produce holistic transformation in the lives of people in Asia and Africa by seeking Synergy for the Kingdom of God.

 

 

Photo by Evgeni Tcherkasski on Unsplash

 

 

 

AI Answers: What is Business as Mission?

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The BAM Global team is taking a break during early August, so we had AI do some work for us to produce this lighter summer post (or winter post, if you are in the Southern hemisphere!)

Here’s how AI summarized “What is Business as Mission?”:

Business as Mission (BAM) is the integration of business and Christian mission, where businesses are intentionally used to address spiritual, social, environmental, and economic needs, while also pursuing financial sustainability.

It’s a movement where entrepreneurs and business professionals use their skills and resources to create profitable and sustainable businesses that contribute to the holistic transformation of individuals and communities, with a focus on the poor and unreached.

Key aspects of Business as Mission:

Integration of Business and Mission:
BAM businesses are not simply businesses with a “religious” component; rather, the business itself is the mission, intentionally designed to achieve both business and spiritual objectives.

Holistic Transformation:
BAM seeks to address the multifaceted needs of individuals and communities, encompassing spiritual, economic, social, and environmental aspects.

Focus on the Marginalized:
BAM often targets vulnerable populations and those who have not yet heard the Gospel, aiming to bring positive change to their lives.

Sustainability and Profitability:
BAM businesses are designed to be financially viable and sustainable, ensuring long-term impact and reducing dependence on external funding.

Kingdom of God Values:
BAM businesses are guided by Kingdom values, seeking to reflect God’s purposes in their operations and interactions.

Multiple Bottom Lines:
BAM businesses consider not just financial profit, but also social, environmental, and spiritual outcomes as measures of success.

Why is Business as Mission important?

Addressing Global Needs:
BAM offers a unique approach to tackling critical global issues like poverty, human trafficking, and lack of access to the Gospel through business solutions.

Reaching Unreached People:
BAM provides a way to engage with people and communities where traditional missionary work may be restricted or challenging.

Empowering Business Professionals:
BAM recognizes and affirms the potential of business leaders and professionals to be agents of transformation in the world.

Fulfilling the Great Commission:
BAM aligns with the Great Commission of making disciples by integrating evangelism and discipleship into the context of business.

Since AI pulls from existing internet content, we’re encouraged by the accuracy of what it’s finding and regurgitating back at us. It spurs us on to keep producing useful and inspiring original content for AI platforms to draw from.

 

What about you? What would you add to this? Do you think this AI summary could be improved? Email us at info@bamglobal.org with your ideas!

The BAM Global Team

 

 

Photo by Hitesh Choudhary on Unsplash

Leveraging the God-given Power of Business [Video]

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by João Mordomo


João Mordomo introduces the concept of business as mission at the Fourth Lausanne Congress Workplace Track in September 2024.

 

 

Transcript:

Good afternoon to everybody or good morning or good evening depending on what your body clock is telling you. I’m glad to be here with you this afternoon. That’s what my body clock is almost telling me now.

I’m João Mordomo and I’m the [Lausanne] Catalyst for Business as Mission together with my colleague Jo Plummer who’s around here somewhere. And I’ve been asked to talk to you about business as mission.

Dallas Willard once said that, “Business is a primary moving force for the love of God in human history.” Business when it’s done well is glorifying to God and has enormous potential to do good in society.

Business has an innate God-given power to create dignified jobs, to multiply resources, to provide for families and communities, to spur innovation and development, and to solve pressing human problems. In the global marketplace today, we have a huge opportunity to leverage this God-given power of business to address some of the world’s most pressing spiritual and social and economic and environmental issues.

We call this BAM. It’s business as mission.

It’s a movement of business professionals called to use their gifts, their expertise in entrepreneurship and good management to bring creative long-term sustainable solutions to challenges such as the evils of human trafficking or the task of reaching the world’s remaining unreached people groups with the gospel or the problems of societal injustice, environmental degradation, dire poverty, just to name a few.

When we’re thinking about the mission of the church, we need to remember what Michael Oh said on the opening night [of this Congress] that even if we equip every believer in the workplace to be an effective witness for Christ, we still won’t reach the world with the holistic gospel. Because 86% of the world’s Muslims and Buddhists and Hindus, not to mention atheists, do not have access to the gospel—they don’t know a Christian.

And, we still won’t have the solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. Business provides these solutions.

Business as mission is a distinct category different from tent making, different from workplace ministry. Business as mission is the strategic use of authentic business activities that create authentic ministry opportunities that bring spiritual and social and economic and environmental transformation to marginalized people and unreached peoples.

In other words, BAM simultaneously fulfills the great mandate to steward creation well, the great commandment to love God and love our neighbors, and the great commission to make disciples of all nations.

Enter the Lausanne Business as Mission Issue Network. Together with an organization called BAM Global, we exist to invigorate the global BAM movement by building intellectual and social capital for the global BAM ecosystem. We produce global BAM reports. We facilitate global BAM consultations and events. And we nurture regional, activity-based, and industry-based partner networks. There are over 45 networks all around the world and growing.

Business as mission is the strategic use of authentic business activities that create authentic ministry opportunities that bring spiritual and social and economic and environmental transformation to marginalized people and unreached peoples.

We got our start—Joseph mentioned this earlier and I will say something about it—we got our start in the lead up to the 2004 Lausanne Forum that took place in Thailand exactly 20 years ago to this week. Over 70 of us from all around the world worked together for over a year addressing issues related to God’s purposes for work and business and the role of business people in church and missions and the needs of the world and the potential response from business. Most of us came from business backgrounds but there were also people from church and mission. There were educators, theologians, economists, lawyers, researchers. The collaboration process included 60 papers, 25 case studies, several national and regional BAM consultations and email-based discussions culminating in a week of face-to-face dialogue and a whole lot of work. Somebody asked me when I got back, “What was Thailand like?” I said, “I have no idea. I never left the hotel. We worked non-stop for a week.” The result was the groundbreaking 85 page Lausanne Occasional paper on Business as Mission and the accompanying one-page BAM Manifesto.

That Manifesto includes affirmations and recommendations and here are several of them:

  • We believe that God has created all men and women in his image with the ability to create good things for themselves and others and that includes business.
  • We believe in emulating Jesus who constantly met the needs of people he encountered daily, including in their workplaces.
  • We believe that the Holy Spirit empowers all members of the body of Christ to meet the spiritual and physical needs of others, including through business.
  • We believe that God has called and equipped business people and entrepreneurs to cause holistic gospel transformation of individuals and communities and societies and nations and peoples in and through their businesses.
  • We recognize the fact that poverty and unemployment are often rampant in areas where the name of Jesus is rarely or never heard or understood.
  • We recognize that there is a need for job creation and for multiplication of businesses all over the world focused on the four-fold bottom line of spiritual, economic, social, and environmental transformation.
  • We recognize the fact that the church has a huge and largely untapped resource in the Christian business community to bring global glory to God by way of business.

Therefore, number one:

We call upon the church worldwide to identify, affirm, pray for, commission, and release business people and entrepreneurs to exercise their gifts and callings as business people in the world among our peoples to the ends of the earth.

And number two:

We call upon business people globally to receive this affirmation and to prayerfully consider how their gifts and expertise and experience might be used to help create solutions for the world’s most pressing spiritual and physical needs through business as mission.

Is God calling you to join us? Is God calling you to join in this movement of business people and entrepreneurs who are serving God in and through the workplace and intentionally shaping their business for God’s glory, the work of the gospel, and the global common good?

I hope so. And if so, check out lausanne.org, bamglobal.org, and businessmission.com to start the journey with us.

Thank you.

 

Access more videos, transcripts and study materials from the Lausanne Congress Workplace Track here.

 

Dr. João Mordomo loves to help start and lead anything — mission agencies, churches, businesses, networks — that helps fulfill the Great Commission. He is a founding board member and Executive Director of BAM Global, and Catalyst for Business as Mission at the Lausanne Movement. João serves variously as owner, managing director and board member of several BAM companies, and designs and teaches BAM and other courses at several universities.

 

 

Photo by Josh Olalde on Unsplash

 

 

 

 

Business is a Gift from God to Transform the World [Video]

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by Mats Tunehag


Mats Tunehag teaches on what the Bible says about Wealth Creation and Business at the Fourth Lausanne Congress Workplace Track in September 2024.

 

 

Transcript:

I grew up in Sweden, the land of the Vikings. We used to do tough business and we drank out of the skulls of our enemies. Now we sell furniture in flat boxes, through IKEA, and you’re welcome! But that is a proof that people, businesses, and nations can be transformed. And that’s what we’re going to talk about now.

Business—that is a gift from God to transform the world. So I have a question for you. In our lifetime, in our generation, has global poverty increased, stayed the same, or decreased? What do you think?

It has decreased dramatically, from three out of 10 to one out of 10 in the world in a few decades. The biggest lift in the history of mankind out of poverty has happened in our generation, not through aid but through trade. Today this is good news, most people on the planet are better off in terms of longevity health, housing, and food than a generation ago and the essential contributing factor to this transformation is business.

Businesses have an enormous capacity to create different kinds of wealth. The Lausanne and BAM Global Wealth Creation Manifesto says, “Wealth creation through business has proven power to lift people and nations out of poverty.”

But what is wealth what do we mean by wealth?

There are different kinds of wealth. You can be financially rich and wealthy, but socially poor, you have no friends. You can be financially poor but spiritually rich because you know Jesus.

The Bible talks about wealth in three ways, one bad two good. The bad one is hoarding—more for me, myself, and more. The second one, which is good, is the sharing of wealth. To be generous, to give, that is commended in the Bible. But, there is never, ever any wealth of any kind to be shared unless it has been created. Wealth creation (the third one) is both a godly gift and a godly command.

When the people of Israel were about to enter into the promised land, God gave them instructions and it told them get engaged in business (see Deut 8). Two industries are mentioned, agricultural and mining, and [the scripture] says when you get involved in those kinds of businesses, different kinds of wealth will be created—but do not become proud or selfish because, He said, “I am the God who gives you the ability to create wealth.” (Deut 8:18)

And God is the ultimate owner of everything and we are to create and share different kinds of wealth through business to bless all peoples and nations. This is not a “health and wealth gospel”, this is not prosperity teaching, this is about stewardship of talents and resources. And, as the Bible says, to seek the welfare—the shalom, the wholeness, the flourishing—of the city (Jer 29:7). This is about provision and witness.

And this is not a capitalist idea, this is not a Lausanne thing, this has deep Judeo-Christian roots and is part of an ongoing tradition.

Worship is not sanctified entertainment. Work is worship! Avoda—the Hebrew word and the Jewish concept means “work is worship” as we serve God and people; life is an integrated whole to work, worship, and serve. Avoda!

In Judaism, our roots, the highest form of charity is not handouts but creating jobs. There’s another Jewish concept called tikkun olam, which means to co-create with God, to bridge the gap from what is to what it should be—from unemployment to employment, from misery to flourishing.

Tikkun olam means to repair a broken world, bring healing, and the Lord’s prayer is a tikkun olam prayer. May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven—it is a God invasion of the marketplace towards human flourishing. Tikkun olam!

This is theology, anthropology, and vocation. It is about who God is, the Creator, it is about who we are, created in his image to be creative, create good products and services. And our calling to preach, demonstrate, and extend the kingdom of God as we do business and we influence all spheres of society, among all peoples.

The Wealth Creation Manifesto again, quote, “We are created in God’s image to co-create with him and for him to create products and services for the common good. Wealth creation is a holy calling and a God-given gift which is commanded in the Bible.”

Our views on wealth, wealth creation, and wealth creators are important and they make a difference. This is not a theoretical discussion, this is not just a theological exercise, it has real life implications and consequences.

Compare the health and the wealth of nations like South and North Korea, same culture same language same geography; or West Germany and East Germany. We have witnessed how Zimbabwe went from being the “bread basket of southern Africa to become a basket case” [see here, for example]. Or the oil-rich Venezuela is another tragic example of how disregard for basic wealth creation principles has destroyed a country.

Wealth creation is about flipping the script. We are not asking how can we fight poverty, no! We are rather asking how can we create different kinds of wealth—financial, social, cultural, intellectual, and spiritual—as we do business. Because business is the way that wealth is being created and that’s by God’s design.

So why should we do wealth creation? Why?

God wants it. The world needs it. And we are called to it!

And we are not the first ones to pick up this calling. God called and equipped John Cadbury to just that thing 200 years ago when he started the chocolate factory in Birmingham, England which had a holistic impact on many stakeholders for several generations. Chocolate for Jesus!

Also 200 years ago God called and equipped Hans Nielsen Hauge in Norway. He was instrumental in creating both a church revival movement and an entrepreneurship movement and that transformed the nation of Norway and his legacy is still alive to this day.

So through business, God calls us and equips us to find business solutions to human trafficking, business solutions to growing youth unemployment, business solutions to environmental challenges, business solutions to be able to serve unreached peoples. But, we are never to impose Jesus but rather propose him. Faith is not an imposition, it is a proposition and so is wealth creation through business.

Jesus should be an integral part of our value proposition, alongside our products and services—and the market actually is asking for spiritual health. A global survey done by McKinsey shows clearly that the vast majority of all people around the globe—regardless of faith, culture, ethnicity, age, and socioeconomic status—they consider spiritual health as important as physical mental and social health, the market wants it. That’s why we are, and we should be, engaged in wealth creation.

We believe that businesses can and should address a variety of human needs, with a special concern for the least the lost, and the lowliest.

And this is not about techniques, at the end of the day it is about love. Creating wealth, doing business as mission, honoring God, and seeking the common good is about love. Business as mission (BAM) is about being a channel, a conduit, of God’s love to the world.

As St Augustine says, “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.”

So remember Christianity is not a self-help program, Christ is for the world! So growing businesses that’s not for our glory, it’s for the glory of God and that can change the world.

St Irenaeus, the great second century theologian, expressed the essence of Christianity as, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.”

Human flourishing requires wealth creation of all types and wealth creation requires business.

May God bless you!

 

Access more videos, transcripts and study materials from the Lausanne Congress Workplace Track here.



Mats Tunehag is the Chairman of BAM Global, and he is a global thought leader on Business as Mission, BAM. Since the 1990’s he has created numerous networks of leaders from business, church, missions and academia from all continents. He has served as an advisor to groups involved in business, investment, freedom businesses, research and partnership development. He is the chief architect of the ‘Business as Mission Manifesto’ and the ‘Wealth Creation Manifesto’, which is a conceptual framework for the global BAM movement. See: matstunehag.com/about/ for more about Mats.

 

 

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

 

 

 

3 Ways Businesses Integrate Faith

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by Min-Dong Paul Lee, Hannah J. Stolze and Denise Daniels

 

Can a for-profit business demonstrate faith? For years, the answer seemed obvious: companies exist to make money, not to practice religion. However, with the rise of business as mission as well as the faith and work movement, more and more Christian entrepreneurs today believe they can integrate faith with their business and work. Then, how does faith manifest in businesses?

At Wheaton College’s Center for Faith and Innovation, we engaged in a multi-year research project to explore this question. With remarkable openness, five Christian entrepreneurs invited us to scrutinize their companies, asking for thorough, unbiased feedback. Our research, encompassing interviews, focus groups, surveys, and site visits, focused on identifying the presence and impact of faith within their organizations. Workplace leaders and employees were asked to describe the ways that they observed or experienced faith expressions in the workplace.

We were initially surprised that workers saw expressions of faith in many different forms. We identified three ways faith comes to life in these workplaces through a systematic qualitative and quantitative analysis. The three dimensions of faith expressions are distinct in terms of how readily observable they are as well as how explicitly they are connected with faith.

 

 

1. Embodied Faith

The first dimension required little to no thought for most respondents to identify—this category included such things as the presence of a cross or the practice of corporate prayers. These symbols and practices are easily observable, and their meaning is explicit in that most people would interpret them as faith-based. We call this kind of expression “embodied faith” because it gives tangible and visible form to faith.

For example, one firm displayed a mission statement that included “glorify God” on the wall. Another had a prayer chapel and crosses at headquarters. Embodied faith is also expressed through practice. Prayers, especially, stood out. A sales team member shared, “Whenever we have meetings, sales team or any of the meetings, we start with a prayer.” At another company, spontaneous prayers were routine: “We stop every now and then, get on the floor, and pray with each other. We know each of us has problems at home… We talk about it and pray with one another.”

These symbols and rituals aren’t subtle. They’re what anthropologist Clifford Geertz called concrete embodiments of belief—easily spotted and clearly tied to faith. But employees warned that crosses and prayers alone don’t cut it. As one put it, faith “can’t be hypocritical!” Embodied faith is just the surface; it needs deeper roots.

Read more

Easter: The Anchor for BAM’s Vision

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by Grace Kim

 

As Easter draws near, we find ourselves invited once again into the mystery and beauty of the resurrection story. For many, this season brings familiar traditions—quiet reflection, the retelling of the cross and the empty tomb, songs of hope and victory. We gather in churches and homes to remember that, against all odds, life has overcome death, light broke through the darkness, and love has had the final word.

But in the midst of this sacred story, there’s also a question that lingers: What does resurrection really look like in the world we live in today? A world that’s still full of broken systems, unjust economies, displacement, and despair. A world where businesses can often be sources of exploitation rather than restoration.

This is where the vision of business as mission (BAM) becomes deeply relevant—not as a niche idea, but as a prophetic and practical way to live out the resurrection story in real time.

At the heart of business as mission lies a theological foundation rooted in the message of Easter—a story not just of death and resurrection, but of restoration, transformation, and a renewed purpose for all of creation. Easter is more than a religious holiday; it’s the cornerstone of Christian hope, the decisive turning point in history, and a lens through which BAM practitioners interpret their calling in the marketplace.

Business as mission is not a niche idea, but a prophetic and practical way to live out the resurrection story in real time.

Redemption is Holistic

Easter is God’s declaration that nothing is beyond His power to redeem—not hearts, not relationships, not communities, and certainly not systems like business and economics. The resurrection doesn’t just promise life after death; it offers a pattern of renewal for everything that is broken. In the context of BAM, this holistic view of redemption means: Read more

Raising Up the Next Generation of BAM Leaders

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by Mike Baer

 

We’ve had quite a ride. For over 40 years, the Business as Mission (BAM) movement has been breaking ground (even before it was called that)—taking the Gospel to the marketplace and planting it right in the middle of real life. This idea—that business isn’t second-tier, but rather a high calling from God—has flipped a lot of thinking upside down. From scattered dreamers and explorers in the 1980s to a global movement with countless books, companies, conferences, podcasts, YouTube channels, degrees, and investment funds, BAM has gone from fringe to full-on force. But here’s the big question: is this just the beginning… or the end of a chapter?

It’s possible that we’re at a crossroads. Ronald Reagan once said that freedom is never more than a generation from extinction. I think BAM is the same. If we don’t pass it on with intention and heart, it won’t last. But Paul’s words to Timothy (in 2 Tim. 2:2) give us more hope and a better plan—train up faithful people who will teach others. That’s the long game. That’s how movements survive.

Put those two thoughts together, and you get a bit of a wake-up call. We need to raise up the next generation of BAM leaders—not just to keep the movement alive, but to take it somewhere we’ve never even imagined. This is about legacy, and legacy means people.

Now, I’m not saying we’re old… but let’s be honest, many of us are turning into “OGs.” In hip-hop, that stands for “Original Gangster”—someone who’s been around from the start. In BAM, that’s a bunch of us. We’ve pioneered. We’ve fought the early battles. And now it’s time to pass the baton to the NGs—the New Gangsters. The next wave. The future of BAM.

From where I sit—with my Boomer perspective—I’m actually pretty hopeful. (And I want to call out the Gen Xers and Millennials too, we all need to think about building from generation to generation, no matter our age or stage.) Gen Z (Zoomers) are full of fire. They’re purpose-driven, passionate, and looking for a cause that’s worth their lives. Reminds me a bit of my generation—we protested war, launched campaigns against hunger, reshaped politics, and kicked off the Jesus Movement. There’s power in this next crew. But here’s the issue: most of them don’t know what “missions” even means. They’re globally connected but often spiritually short-sighted. They don’t know the need, the urgency. Most haven’t yet discovered the next step beyond TikTok activism. That’s the first challenge—help them fall in love with Jesus and His mission.

Then comes the second challenge. Once they’re on fire for Jesus, they still face a stale set of choices: either be a good little layperson in the marketplace, or go “pro” and join the ministry as a pastor or missionary. Two tracks. Black and white. But we know better. BAM throws out the old two-track map. We don’t accept the sacred and the secular divide. We preach Jesus as Lord of all, and business is one of His tools to heal and bless this broken world. So let’s show this new generation that there are more than two doors.

Before they choose, we’ve got to reach them. And here are a few ways to start: Read more

God is at Work: How the BAM Movement Has Grown Over 25 Years

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by Mats Tunehag


By God’s grace we have seen an exponential growth of the global business as mission movement in the last 25 years. A movement, per definition, consists of many organizations and initiatives, which are independent but choose to be interdependent. They share mission and values, and they communicate and collaborate.

The nature of a movement means that no-one but God has the exact figures of the growth, but BAM Global has been tracking the direction of growth over the years. The trends are clear, and even the approximate numbers are astonishing.

Please allow us to paint a picture of this encouraging growth—looking at ten variables—and how they have changed in the last 25 years:

1. 25 years ago, we talked about BAM businesses in the dozens, often micro to small size businesses. Today there are thousands, mainly in the SME sector, but also large companies.

2. 25 years ago, churches and denominations had not embraced BAM. Today there are all kinds of churches and whole denominations like in Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Brazil, USA, Russia, and many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which are engaged in BAM.

3. 25 years ago, a handful of mission organizations had started to include BAM in their strategies. Today most of the oldest and major Evangelical mission agencies in the world are involved in BAM.

4. 25 years ago, BAM was not a topic in academic institutions. Today many universities and MBA programs teach BAM, and there are dozens of PhD’s and a lot more Master theses on BAM from all over the world.

5. 25 years ago, we talked about investments in BAM companies in thousands of dollars, today in millions of dollars.

6. 25 years ago, there were no BAM incubators or accelerators, but today they exist in about 20 countries.

7. 25 years ago, there were no BAM networks. Today there are 30+ BAM networks—national, regional and international. Most are related to a country or a region, and others are focusing on an issue, industry or constituency.

8. 25 years ago, the conversations about BAM were in English. Today there is BAM material, conversations and work in over 20 languages.

9. 25 years ago, BAM was not a part of the Lausanne Movement, but it was introduced 2002, which was the start of the first global think tank on business as mission culminating at the Lausanne Forum in Thailand in 2004 and the Lausanne Occasional Paper on BAM. Since then, around 40 global consultations on business as mission topics have been convened, resulting in over 30 white papers on BAM. At the Fourth Lausanne Congress in Korea, September 2024, where 5000 people from about 200 countries participated, around half the attendees had indicated on the registration form that they were interested in faith at work, including business as mission.

10. 25 years ago, we approximate that there were about a dozen BAM resources. Today there are almost 1000 BAM Resource Library entries and Blogs here on the BAM Resource Centre at businessasmission.com alone—articles, papers, videos, books, organizations, and more.

God is good, and he is at work. There is a significant kairos moment in our generation, manifesting itself on all continents. We are in anticipation for what He will continue to do in the next generation.

AMDG—Ad Maoirem Dei Gloriam—for the greater glory of God!

 

Mats Tunehag is the Chairman of BAM Global, and he is a global thought leader on Business as Mission, BAM. Since the 1990’s he has created numerous networks of leaders from business, church, missions and academia from all continents. He has served as an advisor to groups involved in business, investment, freedom businesses, research and partnership development. He is the chief architect of the ‘Business as Mission Manifesto’ and the ‘Wealth Creation Manifesto’, which is a conceptual framework for the global BAM movement. See: matstunehag.com/about/ for more about Mats.

Together, Towards, Tomorrow
Building from Generation to Generation

That’s the theme of the BAM Global Summit this year. Join us and discover what God is doing through business as mission.

 

Discover More About the Summit & Register

 


 

Photo by Imagine Buddy on Unsplash

 

 

BAM: A Game Changer in a World of Trade Wars and Political Chaos

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by Grace Kim


The world feels like it’s on edge. Tariff wars are shaking up global trade, the U.S. is more divided than ever, and businesses everywhere are scrambling to keep up. In times like these, Business as Mission (BAM) isn’t just a nice idea—it’s a necessity. BAM isn’t about just making money; it’s about using business to create real, lasting change—economically, socially, and even spiritually. And right now, that mission is more important than ever.

BAM vs. the Global Trade Wars

Let’s face it—trade wars are messy. The U.S. and China have been locked in a battle of tariffs, leaving businesses caught in the crossfire. Supply chains are disrupted, costs are rising, and small businesses are struggling. BAM, however, offers a different way forward. Instead of relying on fragile international trade deals, BAM businesses focus on local economies, fair trade, and sustainability.

Think about it: when businesses invest in local suppliers and ethical sourcing, they build economic resilience. BAM-driven companies aren’t just chasing the cheapest deal; they’re creating jobs and opportunities where they’re needed most, reducing dependence on unstable global markets. This isn’t just smart business, it’s a way to fight poverty and promote fairness in an unpredictable world.

BAM in the Middle of U.S. Political Turmoil

Meanwhile, in the U.S., things are far from stable. Political unrest, social division, economic uncertainty—businesses are navigating a minefield. But BAM can be a force for unity and stability. Instead of adding to the chaos, BAM businesses focus on ethical leadership, employee care, and community impact.

At a time when people are losing trust in big corporations and political leaders, BAM companies stand out by doing business with integrity and purpose. They create jobs in struggling communities, invest in social entrepreneurship, and promote values that bring people together, not tear them apart. In a polarized world, BAM is proof that business can be a bridge, not a battleground. Read more

Virtue is priceless: For Everything Else, There’s Excellence

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by Phil Hanson & Terry Young

 

As authors, and with a nod to Mastercard (see below), we have been looking at businesses through a kingdom lens. In Part 1, we explored what it might look like for Christian business owners to pursue both excellence and virtue. But what does pursuing virtue mean? What specific virtues are we talking about? And how might we assess how well we are doing in that pursuit? That’s the topic of this post, Part 2.

In our booklet How to Merge Kingdom and Business: The Most Excellent Way we used the template of the Christian virtues of faith, hope and love. This obviously isn’t the only possible template, but it is one that has been used by theologians throughout history. Each of St Paul’s three themes can be unpacked as practical ways of working, albeit with some overlap between them.

What becomes evident is that many things going on in business can be mapped back to the faith, hope and love template, even if they were not morally motivated at the start. Business leaders have striven to do what they believe to be the right thing, without necessarily grounding their actions in a Christian context, or that of another faith. This is indicated by the column showing ‘Secular Motivation and Application’ below—i.e. actions in business that could be mapped back to the virtues of faith, hope or love, but without an intentional faith-driven motivation.

One indicator of what is happening is what businesses say about themselves in their advertising straplines, as the table below illustrates.

 

Virtue
Christian Motivation and Application
Secular Motivation and Application
Company Taglines
Faith
  • Hunger for perfection
  • Depends on God
  • Metamorphosis
  • Supernatural process
  • Wanting to do the right thing
  • Getting the best from people
  • Re-engineering
  • Rational process
Pursuit of Excellence (IBM)
Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hands (M&M)
Does Exactly What It Says on the Tin® (Ronseal)
Hope
  • Hunger for (God’s) glory
  • Constant over time
  • Mysteriously satisfying
  • Eternal
  • Joyful in hope
  • Energising vision
  • Varies with circumstances
  • Always chasing satisfaction
  • The long game
  • Fun & fulfilment
A Diamond is Forever (De Beers)
Think Different. (Apple)
Believe in Better (Sky Group)
Love
  • Hunger for (God’s) heart
  • The greatest… is love
  • Unconditional love
  • Perfectly, wonderfully made
  • Relationships essential
  • All stakeholders matter
  • Subject to performance
  • Respect for the individual
Have it your way (Burger King)
Fly with friends (Austrian Airlines)
Succeed Together (LEGO)

 

While the taglines of companies give us clues about motivation, they are not exhaustive. To dig deeper into the underlying motivations, we bulleted some characteristics of what companies want and then mapped them back to corresponding Christian virtues. In trying to match them up we, surprisingly, noticed some parallels and some differences between the Christian and secular thinking.

For example, in the faith row above, both sides aspire to goodness: on the Christian side, to perfection and on the business side, to doing the right thing. But by the final pair of bullets, we recognise that one side is supernatural and the other, highly rational.  One side demands rebirth, the other re-engineering; one side depends on God, the other on getting the best from people. We have tried to bridge these similarities and differences with the idea of resilient reliability, which the taglines pick up.

In the hope line we connect a hunger for God’s glory on one side with the need for an energising vision in business—a nice alignment. There’s also a sense of joy, fun and fulfilment that matches across the columns. However, the constancy of Christian hope clashes with the way the human hope swivels in the choppy waters of the market, and while Christian hope is mysteriously satisfied in the glory of God, human hopes are always chasing something they can’t quite catch. Meanwhile, ‘the long game’ is the closest we can get in business to the eternal. We’ve tried to bridge this with the idea of realising renewal, wrapping creativity and innovation into that, and mapping it to strategy and purpose.

In the love row, there is obvious alignment around the centrality of relationships, but God takes an unconditional approach to each soul, whereas business must draw the line somewhere and part company with unsuitable partners, employees or customers. Respect can only go so far versus unconditional love.  However, the two sides can shake hands over the idea of rewarding relationships.

People, Purpose & Process

As authors, we gravitated early on in our exploration of ethics and the workplace to the idea that businesses tend to talk faith-ish and hope-ish and love-ish, whatever their starting motivation, as we have seen above. We set out, therefore, to look for operational virtues in commerce, manufacturing and service provision, that might twin with faith, hope and love in some way, but using more familiar business language.

We concluded that love could be expressed as ‘people’, since business doesn’t work without people. Hope could be expressed as ‘purpose’, and an alternative word for faith is ‘process’.

Diagram 1: Mapping Theological Virtues to Business Values and the 3 RRs

 

It wasn’t difficult to persuade ourselves that the two globally recognised business excellence frameworks we referenced in Part 1 (Baldrige and EFQM) could be condensed nicely under the themes of purpose, people and process. For more details on this, read How to Merge Kingdom and Business: the most excellent way (2024).

Love could be expressed as ‘people’, since business doesn’t work without people. Hope could be expressed as ‘purpose’, and an alternative word for faith is ‘process’.


Pathways Towards Kingdom Business

The table above suggests that there are good ethical intentions in many organisations. However, this observation doesn’t help us to establish how big a gap there is between such an organisation and a ‘kingdom business’—i.e. an enterprise motivated primarily by kingdom of God purposes—and what the pathway might be to get there.

We have previously described the journey towards becoming a kingdom business as having two axes: one axis of improving excellence of practice and performance and the other axis of ever-improving virtue.

Diagram 2: A virtue and excellence matrix

 

These two paths have some parallel with the ideas of faith and works. And as such, both faith (virtue) and works (excellence) are required for a kingdom business. All virtue and no excellence manifests itself in worthy but unsustainable, likely uncompetitive, business; all excellence and no virtue may deliver a booming business but without a moral compass, much less able to make the world a better place.

Another principle for moving towards virtue and excellence together is Voltaire’s idea of perfect versus good. He famously argued that perfect is the enemy of good. Striving for perfection will inhibit important small steps of improvement. Our kingdom businesses must strive for virtue without compromising the day-to-day practical improvement in how the operation performs.

All excellence and no virtue may deliver a booming business but without a moral compass, much less able to make the world a better place.

For almost 30 years, now, Mastercard has been running its Priceless advertisements. They start with emotive scenes: families reuniting in an arrivals lounge for Christmas; or a Mom going in search of her Irish roots. The cost of the arrangements—flights, trains, drinks, etc.— float across the scene. At some point the voiceover explains that the experience you are witnessing is priceless, adding, ‘There are some things money can’t buy; for everything else, there’s Mastercard.’

So what is our framework all about?  Well, to paraphrase, this seminal slogan, ‘Virtue is priceless; for everything else, there’s excellence.’

Application

As authors, we hope that the RR3 Framework that we introduce here and in more detail in our book—that connects the theological virtues of faith, hope and love, to the business-oriented triplet of process, purpose and people—may help to ground discussions around Christian or kingdom business more directly to biblical principles.

In our observation, a lot of what is published is good news stories, i.e. we did this and that and then these good things happened! There is nothing wrong with sharing such stories, but having a framework forces us to ask how good the good things really were and to test for virtue and excellence in all three of our themes.

Even if you aren’t the CEO or company owner, you may still use the RR3 Framework to find a voice in your organisation. You might find managers willing to have a conversation that starts something like this, ‘From our advertising, we want to offer the following. As a Christian, that looks a bit like faith (or love or hope). I was wondering whether you’d be interested in getting your practice closer to your tagline….’

Think about it and then find a way to talk about it.

 

For more on these topics, see our booklet, How to Merge Kingdom and Business: The Most Excellent Way, available from Grove books or on Amazon.  

 

Phil Hanson is a senior chartered engineer with a track record in industry and Christian service. He grew IBM’s Manufacturing Consulting Practice to $50M pa and his contribution was recognized with visiting positions at Newcastle and Cambridge. He has an MBA, a couple of Masters in theology and was ordained in retirement in the Church of England.

 


Terry Young is a missionary kid and active church member who went into R&D and became a professor before founding Datchet Consulting. He has published patents, 100+ academic articles, and books on Bible study and leadership. With a PhD in lasers, he is a member of The Operational Research Society and a Fellow of the British Computer Society.

 

 

Photo by Celpax on Unsplash

Kingdom Business: The Intentional Pursuit of Virtue and Excellence

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by Phil Hanson & Terry Young


When a business offers breakfast to children heading to school on an empty stomach, we applaud. In some parts of the world, we can point to examples all around us of companies making a local difference in ways like this.

However, what is their motivation? It’s worth thinking about the mix of possible motives, from genuine altruism to exploitation for marketing advantage. Adam Smith thought that business had a way of cleansing people’s ethical outlook: no matter how selfish the goals of business leaders, the resultant wealth brought good to the whole society. That’s an idea we explore in our booklet, How to Merge Kingdom and Business: The Most Excellent Way.

A neutral observer today might be inclined to conclude the opposite to Adam Smith, that self-interest is one of the prime reasons that business can do harm.

Diagram 1: Some consider self-interest to be wholly in conflict with doing good

Can a Christian business leader simply trust in Adam’s Smith’s misguided attempt to combine virtue and practice, and the idea that all will necessarily come good? Or do we need to be more intentional?

Combining doing well with doing good is worth deeper consideration. It’s a path that some Christian entrepreneurs have chosen, so how reasonable are their hopes of succeeding?

The Staircase

To help understand this, we created a simple matrix that deals separately with business ethics and business practice. This is a key factor in the discussion: the workplace itself cannot bind virtue and excellence together nor does it automatically set them in opposition to one another.

Diagram 2: A virtue and excellence matrix

 

This staircase model frees us to address ethical virtue and the excellences of business practice separately. (One can walk along a corridor next to the stairs without rising: to get to the next level, you must decide to take the stairs.) However, in doing so, we are not claiming that virtue and excellence are disconnected from each other. Each axis shapes how customers and others view the company and affects the viability of the business. Shoddy products might undermine a strong ethical brand, while dodgy behaviour weakens confidence in a strong bottom line.

A key message from the staircase diagram is that one must be as intentional in the pursuit of virtue as one is in pursuing excellence.

As we note in our book, ethics at work largely come from the people at the top. Even the much-acclaimed Victorian philanthropists had their blind spots, caring passionately for their local employees but not attending to slavery and oppression in their overseas supply chains.

Most businesses are likely to be doing both good and bad at the same time, however well run they are. Products and services that have a noble purpose may weigh on the positive side of the scales while unkind employee relations may tip the balance in the opposite direction. Critically, all business leaders are tipping the scales one way or another, both through action and through neglect—reflecting the theological categories of commission and omission.

A key message from the staircase diagram is that one must be as intentional in the pursuit of virtue as one is in pursuing excellence, if a credible business is to flourish under a business as mission-type banner. For some in the BAM fold, this may mean more attention to the ethical nervous system, to others it may require a sharper focus on business protocols, procedures and practices.

Intentional Excellence

The excellence axis of the diagram is well understood now that a few decades of measurement and dialogue have shaped our understanding of what works in business. Business gurus and prominent leaders still write their books, but an evidence-based consensus has emerged over how to manage, how to set up HR systems, how to run logistics, production lines, and so forth. We cite the Baldrige Excellence Framework and the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) as leading international organisations that gather such knowledge and produce benchmarking tools for businesses.

As authors, we are familiar with best business practice and the maturity models and other tools used to assess performance, but it is not clear how deeply embedded this mindset is in Christian entrepreneurial circles. We shall return to this topic in our second blog in this series, when we address approaches that may be helpful in assessing how well we are doing.

Intentional Virtue

There are various ways in which organisations can set their sails in the market’s prevailing wind. Regardless of its ethical stance, every business is affected by 3 R’s: regulation, representation and renewal. To continue the sailing metaphor, each offers ethical opportunities and challenges, depending on how the leadership tacks:

Regulation sets standards and provides tools to assess compliance, so that achieving compliance may be heralded as a business virtue.

Representation is a way to spread accountability for business decisions and practices. The result, however, may simply be determined by the strongest voice(s). It is no guarantee of ethical behaviour.

Renewal provides another potentially positive influence when new ways of working are driven by waves of technology, for example. Enlightened ways of working do emerge but not everyone benefits.

None of these three approaches can ensure lasting and deeply rooted change to the scales of business virtue.

Christian bosses may be marked out by their integrity, their good example, their personal witness and a track record of compassionate execution of necessary business changes. They have, however, an opportunity to do much more than simply being good role models. They can do things in their businesses that have a ‘multiplier’ impact so that their business can begin to make the world a better place. This might be described as accelerating God’s kingdom rather than simply advancing it.

Kingdom Business

Management consultants love to explain things using the two-by-two matrix and this emerging idea of ‘kingdom business’ can be explained this way too. There are, for any business, two directions of travel, as shown in our earlier staircase diagram.

The first of these directions is the pursuit of business excellence, the adoption of industry best practice and benchmarking against market leaders and others. The journey is one of continuous and shared improvements with occasional step functions of discontinuous change. It is by this means that customer expectations are exceeded, market share is improved, and financial results maximised.

The second direction of travel is that of increasing virtue. It is when the good the business does in the world exceeds the bad. It too is a journey of both large and small steps.

Business leaders can do things in their businesses that have a “multiplier” impact so that their business can begin to make the world a better place.

This picture of a kingdom business is one in which both directions of travel are taken equally seriously. It is like a flight of stairs, onwards and upwards. It is where, perhaps, the balanced scorecard treats ethical results with the same emphasis as commercial results. God’s kingdom is not an extra to be achieved in good times when the business can afford it or the poor relation of creating shareholder wealth.  Instead, God’s kingdom purposes become the ultimate purpose of the business.

Up and to the Right?

There are different trajectories for businesses in this picture. It is not all about starting in the bottom left and systematically marching up the stairs.

There are many businesses which survive with ad-hoc business processes because they are operating in some sort of protected market. At some point that protection will disappear and they will be forced along the excellence axis. An ad-hoc business isn’t a great foundation for making a kingdom difference.

Then there are well performing businesses that are commercially sound but who have paid little attention to the opportunities they have to make the world a better place and for whom the journey is up the virtue axis.

Some enterprises start out with a significant noble purpose which is unambiguously their reason for existence. Many charities start this way. They typically have two challenges. The first is the professionalisation of everything they do (advancing on the horizontal axis). The second is avoiding mission drift and maintaining their position on the virtue axis against a pressure for creeping secularisation of their purpose.

Whilst there are numerous well-established templates for measuring business excellence, measuring where any business is on the virtue axis is less well understood. We will address the issue of how a business can begin to measure kingdom progress in the next post in this two part series.

These ideas are explained in more detail in the Grove booklet, How to Merge Kingdom and Business: The Most Excellent Way, available from Grove books or on Amazon.

Read Part 2

 

Phil Hanson is a senior chartered engineer with a track record in industry and Christian service. He grew IBM’s Manufacturing Consulting Practice to $50M pa and his contribution was recognized with visiting positions at Newcastle and Cambridge. He has an MBA, a couple of Masters in theology and was ordained in retirement in the Church of England.

 


Terry Young is a missionary kid and active church member who went into R&D and became a professor before founding Datchet Consulting. He has published patents, 100+ academic articles, and books on Bible study and leadership. With a PhD in lasers, he is a member of The Operational Research Society and a Fellow of the British Computer Society.

 

 

Photo by Mohammad Bagher Adib Behrooz on Unsplash

Nationals or Expatriates? The Key to Lasting Impact in BAM

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by Mike Baer


As the global Business as Mission (BAM) movement has evolved into a truly global (all nations) effort, a strategic question surfaces more and more often—should we focus on sending more expatriates to lead BAM initiatives in other countries, or is the greater impact found in equipping and supporting local nationals to build BAM businesses in their own regions?

And, as we explore this question, let’s go back to the foundational principles of the modern BAM movement (and, indeed, BAM through the ages). First, business, like all of life, is created by God for His glory and the good of humanity. That means God is has used it and is using it and calling many into it. Second, God’s heart is for the nations, the ethnoi, the people groups of the entire earth. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) and its companion verse in Acts (Acts 1:8) make it clear that all peoples and, especially, the unreached peoples should remain at the center of today’s BAM efforts. If we use these two principles as harbor lights, we can arrive at a strategic and biblical answer to the question.

At first glance, the straight forward answer is “both.” Indeed, God is calling His whole church to reach all peoples: Acts 1:8 tells us that the power of the Holy Spirit was given so that we, God’s people, can be His “witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Many communities around the world have no local believers, no way of knowing who Jesus is. For the Good News to reach those people, cultural and geographical boundaries will likely need to be crossed. I want to say right at the start, if God has been clearly stirring you for BAM in a particular place, to reach a particular underserved people, the intention here is not to discourage you. We need more, not less, individuals willing to plant businesses cross-culturally, or in near cultures. There are plenty of resources here on the BAM Blog and in the Resource Library to help you do that effectively—and the principles below on partnering with those who know the cultural context well will stand you in good stead.

Yet, as we dig deeper and zoom out to consider our strategic focus as a movement, I believe the scales begin to tip. If the goal is lasting transformation—socially, spiritually, environmentally, and economically—the weight rests on empowering nationals. This isn’t to dismiss the critical role of expatriates, but to recognize that the future of BAM depends on a strategic shift toward greater mobilization and equipping of those already embedded in the culture and context.

So, what does this look like in practice? Let’s unpack the rationale, the roles, and the blueprint for moving forward.

The Biblical Case for Multiplication through Locals

The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) sets the tone. Jesus didn’t stay in one place to oversee the growth of the early Church—He raised up local leaders. Paul followed the same model, planting churches but quickly transitioning leadership to local believers (Titus 1:5). The principle is simple: outsiders may initiate, but insiders multiply.

In the same way, expatriates can spark the BAM movement in new regions, but true cultural transformation takes root when nationals catch the vision, take ownership, and drive it forward.

Why the focus on nationals? I see four key reasons:

1. Cultural Fluency and Trust

Nationals possess an innate understanding of the language, customs, and social dynamics of their regions. These factors are essential in building relationships, establishing trust, and leading businesses that are culturally relevant.

Expatriates may take years to develop a basic level of insight—if they ever do. In contrast, nationals already hold many of these keys, allowing them to navigate business and discipleship opportunities with greater ease and fluidity. Read more

What Kind of Entrepreneur was Paul the Apostle?

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by Min-Dong Paul Lee and Dave Pederson, Wheaton College

Read Part 1  |  Read Part 2

On the road to Damascus, Paul’s life was transformed from a self-promoter to a steward of the gospel to the gentiles. A curious fact is that Paul never quit his job as a tentmaker. Why did Paul remain a leather-worker artisan throughout his missionary career? Could it be that this daily business was an integral part of his ministry? We use the lens of a modern entrepreneurship theory called entrepreneurial effectuation theory to unlock Paul’s combining of business and ministry.

Effectuation theory offers a unique perspective explaining the entrepreneurial process. Most entrepreneurship theory assumes that entrepreneurs start with a goal (i.e., creating products or enterprise) in mind and mobilize resources to achieve the end. Effectuation theory offers a very different perspective. It argues that entrepreneurs begin with assessing their available resources and determining the next best step given the resources, allowing them to adapt their goals and strategies as circumstances change. This approach emphasizes flexibility and improvisation over rigid planning, creating a more dynamic model for understanding the entrepreneurial process.

While some may distill effectuation theory into ‘going with the flow,’ there is a clear strategic emphasis that entrepreneurs exercise, especially when following a goal that is impressed upon them rather than manufactured by themselves. As a steward of God’s mission, Paul had a specific goal that was given to him. Yet, he seems to adapt his methods at nearly every turn to find the best approach to launching and building churches. Paul combined his tentmaking work with ministry to find and create opportunities and solve problems. Let us use the lens of four principles of effectuation theory to examine Paul’s unique ministry.

Bird-in-Hand Principle (Start with What You Have)

The Bird-in-Hand principle asserts that successful entrepreneurs create solutions with immediately available resources, such as their skills, knowledge, and networks.

When Christ confronted Paul on the Damascus road, he sent him on a mission to the gentiles. Paul immediately had to make a resourcing decision. According to a Roman Stoic philosopher, Musonius Rufus, an itinerant teacher like Paul could provide for themselves in four ways: (1) Paul could find a wealthy gentile patron; (2) he could collect tuition from his students; (3) he could beg for a living; (4) he could work with his hands. Paul learned leather-working skills from his youth. So, he chose to apply his skills in supplying for his needs and worked in the trade throughout his life. In fact, even when he was under house arrest in Rome at the end of his life, he worked to pay for the rent (Acts 28:30). Read more

The Mindset of a BAMer: Lessons from Paul the Apostle

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by Min-Dong Paul Lee and Dave Pederson, Wheaton College

Read Part 1

 

BAMers have two integrated identities: Missional and entrepreneurial identities. We know that our missional identity is grounded in our conviction as stewards of God’s mission. Then, what is part of our entrepreneurial identity? What distinguishes entrepreneurs from everyone else?

In their influential study, The Entrepreneurial Mindset, McGrath and MacMillan define five critical characteristics of entrepreneurs as (1) opportunity-seeking, (2) disciplined, (3) focused, (4) adaptive, and (5) collaborative. Are these characteristics relevant for BAM entrepreneurs? Through examples from the work and life of Apostle Paul, we show Paul’s entrepreneurial mindset, firmly anchored in stewardship identity, was an essential driving force for his mission.

Opportunity-Seeking

The first characteristic of an entrepreneurial mindset is opportunity-seeking. Like good chess players, entrepreneurs are not just focused on what is happening on the board. Instead, their mind is racing ahead to predict the moves ahead. Entrepreneurs stay alert and constantly scan the environment to look for new opportunities.

The Book of Acts paints a fascinating portrait of the Apostle Paul, a man whose defining characteristic was his relentless pursuit of opportunity. While he sought opportunities to advance his career and crush the nascent Christian movement before the Damascus experience, after conversion, his opportunity-seeking mindset was redirected towards spreading the Gospel in Damascus and Jerusalem. Yet, Paul’s initial zeal did not always yield positive results. His attempt to preach to the Hellenistic Jews in Jerusalem backfired, forcing him to retreat to his hometown of Tarsus (Acts 9:28-30).

This experience may have been another critical turning point for Paul. What he thought was an opportunity was only a distraction when it was not God’s timing. Nonetheless, Paul had the humility to listen to others and went back home to Tarsus and the surrounding regions.

When God’s timing arrived, in contrast to his earlier self-directed pursuit of opportunity, Paul sought opportunities in God’s will and timing. This shift led him to unexpected and fruitful places. For instance, in the Philippi prison, Paul shared the gospel with the jailer’s family. His commitment to spreading the gospel extended even to encounters with powerful rulers. When engaging with King Agrippa, Paul’s passionate proclamation left a lasting impression. Agrippa, taken aback, remarked, “In a short time, would you persuade me to be a Christian?” (Acts 26:28). Paul’s reliance on divine guidance allowed him to discover opportunities he did not anticipate.

The Spirit-guided insight for spotting fruitful opportunities is an essential quality of a BAMer.

Discipline and Focus

Discipline and focus are intricately connected like the two sides of the same coin. Once entrepreneurs spot opportunities, they pursue them with enormous discipline and focus. They have a bias toward action and are disciplined to turn ideas into products and services that meet real needs. Focus demands an unrelenting prioritization of the best opportunity. The entrepreneurs first select the most fertile battleground – the industry or arena with the most promise. Then, within this chosen domain, they focus on the most attractive opportunity. This inevitably necessitates trade-offs. Other potentially alluring opportunities are cast aside. They understand they must give up something to focus on the best possible opportunity. Read more

The Apostle Paul: An Entrepreneurial Steward

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by Min-Dong Paul Lee and Dave Pederson, Wheaton College

The Apostle Paul is one of the most extensively studied biblical characters. However, much of the research focused on his theology, leaving Paul’s human side – his behaviors and motivations – underexplored. With the advancement of modern behavioral sciences, new conceptual tools are available to analyze his ministry from fresh perspectives. For example, what would we learn if we examined Paul’s ministry through the lens of modern entrepreneurial research?

Paul: The Accidental Theologian and Natural Entrepreneur

Paul was a theologian by accident. He didn’t see himself as a writer of long treatises. Rather, he saw himself as God’s servant and practitioner carrying out the pastoral and missionary work of the emerging movement of Jesus’ followers. If we focus on his actions and decisions, we see a unique figure that was highly proactive and entrepreneurial. He planted over a dozen churches, coached many leaders, wrote almost half of the New Testament books, and engaged in trades in multiple cities.

Paul’s life is an apt example of what modern organizational scholars describe as an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs have the uncanny ability to see the unmet needs in the market. They are willing to take the risk to create something that exploits the opportunity to add value to society. Modern entrepreneurship research suggests that entrepreneurs possess a distinct mindset characterized by five key features:

1. Opportunity-Seeking: They stay alert and actively scan the environment for new opportunities

2. Disciplined: They are determined and persistent in pursuing their goals

3. Focused: They prioritize specific goals and are willing to make strategic tradeoffs

4. Adaptable: They adjust their strategies to the changing environment

5. Collaborative: They recognize the power of working together with others

Interestingly, Paul had all the marks of an entrepreneur even before his conversion. Paul was a Hellenistic Jew from Tarsus in the province of Cilicia. Yet, he moved to Jerusalem to become a student of Gamaliel, a leading figure among the Pharisees in Jerusalem, eager to climb the religious ladder. When the Jesus sect emerged, Paul saw it as a heretical threat and began to persecute them with discipline and focus. He often adapted his strategies of persecution, growing ever more violent. He was willing to collaborate with even the Sadducees to achieve his objective. Paul was an ambitious entrepreneur driven by his religious zeal and personal success.

Transformation as an Entrepreneurial Steward

Everything changes on the road to Damascus. The encounter with the risen Christ shook Paul to the core and fundamentally transformed his identity, purpose, and practice. It is not that he lost his entrepreneurial edge. Instead, God redirected his natural disposition toward a whole new mission (Acts 9:15). Paul continued applying an entrepreneurial mindset in his missionary work. However, instead of being self-driven and opportunistic, he submitted himself entirely to the leading of his master and committed to the new mission. To describe this unique blend of entrepreneurial mindset with a servant’s heart, we introduce the term entrepreneurial steward. Entrepreneurial stewards are people whose identity is firmly anchored in the stewardship commitment to serve their master’s interest while leveraging their entrepreneurial talents. Read more

Starting Lean: Soft Launches Help Avoid Hard Landings

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by Mike Baer

Adapted from material developed for a Third Path Initiative training module.

A very common story among highly excited entrepreneurs goes something like this: get a great idea, build the product, go whole hog to market, wait and lose a lot of money. It’s equivalent to the leadership anti-mantra “ready, fire, aim.” I call this the “emotional/entrepreneur syndrome” where any action is preferred to analysis and patience.

Contrast that with a less common but much wiser approach. Get an idea, test the idea, check out the landscape, build a sufficient product to try out, go lightly to market, listen, and adjust. Boring? Not at all…unless you just get off on failure.

This approach has been called many things over the years. It’s not new. Soft opening. Soft launch. Lean startup. Trial and error. Jesus put it this way:

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him… – Luke 14:28-29, ESV

Out of context, I admit but true nonetheless. Take your time and do it right.

Here are the steps I’d use if I was doing another startup. After my initial ideation, testing the market, and market research, I’d:

Develop a Minimal Viable Product

This is a concept not created but made popular by Eric Ries in The Lean Startup. A “minimal viable product” or MVP is defined as:

…that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.” – Wikipedia

… a development technique in which a new product or website is developed with sufficient features to satisfy early adopters. The final, complete set of features is only designed and developed after considering feedback from the product’s initial users. – Techopedia

In other words, don’t try to create the perfect website, application, food, widget. Instead, build just enough, barely enough, the minimum to actually go to market. You will improve and update and complete your product later but for now I just want my car on the track.  Read more

Helping Entrepreneurs Thrive: The Power of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

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If you have been in the entrepreneurial world for very long, you have likely heard the words “Entrepreneurial Ecosystems” pop up more and more in the last few years. And for good reason! Ecosystem theory has begun to change the way we think about entrepreneurship in general with the Kauffman Foundation, CoStarters, InBia, and others leading the way in the US. Ecosystem thinking is also transforming the way we do BAM, in that the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems is understood more and more as a powerful way to foster local business ownership, impact economic development, and expand the influence of the Kingdom in the marketplace of local communities around the world.

So, what is an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem?

Generally an ecosystem is an interconnected, interdependent network of elements, living and nonliving, that make up a supportive environment for a particular type of creature or entity. The word “ecosystem” is a biological term, originally used to describe the environment of a type of animal (or group of animals) that enables it to thrive. So a prairie could be an ecosystem for foxes because it provides other foxes, prey like mice, food for the prey like seeds, water, predators that inspire defensive behaviors, a favorable temperature, sunlight, a place to live, etc..

Outside of biology, the word ecosystem has been very fluid in its meaning. It can apply to a lot of different kinds of networks, such as networks of similar organizations, political environments, or ministry connections. Even the term “entrepreneurial ecosystems” is sometimes used to describe global networks across particular industries, networks of BAM practitioners, or networks of entrepreneurs in a local context.

For our purposes, and the purposes of this discussion, we will use the term “entrepreneurial ecosystem” to refer to the local networks of entrepreneurs, business leaders, local investors, and mentors in a single community or local area. For most entrepreneurs, most of the emotional support, resources, and customers come from such a local environment. It is the elements in that local environment that, when interconnected and supportive of entrepreneurs, allow entrepreneurs to thrive. Elements of that ecosystem can include resources like knowledge capital, other entrepreneurs, established businesses, places to operate like co-working spaces, markets, and even cultural attitudes.

“Building” an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

So if entrepreneurial ecosystems are our focus, we may rightly ask how one “builds” an ecosystem? In reality, ecosystems are never really created. Every community has some kind of environment or “ecosystem” for entrepreneurs, just not always one that is conducive for thriving. Debilitating competition from big business, resistance from banks and other lenders to lend, lack of knowledge resources on how to start a business, and a culture against risk-taking or profit-making can all conspire to make entrepreneurship difficult. As a result, a potential entrepreneur, even if he/she had a great idea, may never attempt to start a business, not because they lack ideas, but because they don’t know how, don’t know how to find resources, and (perhaps worst of all) feel all alone. When conditions fail to support entrepreneurs in an area, great ideas die untried, and solvable problems remain unsolved.  Read more

Business Response Plan: From Intensive Care to Recovery

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In Part 1 of this blog, we identified four stages you can take to proactively lead your organization through the uncertainty and down the road to recovery.

Once you have taken care of the most urgent tasks in the “Emergency Room” phase, it is time to start treating your business to lead it towards longer term stabilization, recovery and repositioning.

2. Moving through Intensive Care

Main Priority: Address the unhealthy areas in your organization and enlist the larger organization in your response.

Establish stakeholder communication plan

During times of uncertainty, increased communication is vital.

•Who are your key stakeholders?

•How often should you be in contact?

•What is the best media and approach?

Implement employee care & development plan

During times of crisis, more care and attention is needed, and development challenges are available.

•What current needs are your employees facing?

•Who can you give development challenges to?

•How can you build your culture during this time?  Read more

Practicing Jubilee Through Entrepreneurship

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by Stu Minshew

Last week, I shared how Michael Rhodes and Robby Holt’s new book, Practicing the King’s Economy: Honoring Jesus in How We Work, Earn, Spend, Save, and Give, challenges readers to consider ways to provide employment opportunities for those on the margins of society. Throughout the world, we are surrounded by those in need. Many individuals, and even entire groups of people, live on the margins of our society, including racial or ethnic minorities, low-income communities, single moms, the elderly, and those who have served time in jail.

As Christians in business, we are called to provide opportunities for those on the margins to build equity and take part in Christ’s abundant provision for His people.

My last post discussed shifting from a soup kitchen mentality to a potluck mentality, equipping us to more effectively walk alongside those on the margins.

Today, I want to explore another concept from Practicing the King’s Economy, unpacking what the Bible says about equity and the concept of Jubilee. As Christians in business, we are called to provide opportunities for those on the margins to build equity and take part in Christ’s abundant provision for His people. I’ll also discuss specific ways that entrepreneurship can create pathways to equity for those on the margins.

Jubilee and Restoration

To show God’s plan for everyone to have an equity stake in His economy, Rhodes and Holt go to the Book of Exodus. When the Israelites disobey and are sent to wander the desert for forty years, God uses this time, not only to discipline them, but also to show them what His economy should look like. As He provides manna, God shows them that He is a God of abundance and provides enough for everyone. At the same time, those who try to store up more than they need find it rotten and full of maggots the following day.  Read more

7 Prayer Habits of Highly Effective People

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We asked 15 business people leading Kingdom-building companies around the world what prayer habits, practices or experiences they have found helpful in their business life. We identified 7 reoccurring themes: Prayer habits for effective business people!

1. Weave prayer throughout company life

Prayer is something to be ‘threaded’ through the fabric of the business, not compartmentalised or sidelined.

We try and avoid only “book end prayer” – at the beginning and end of an activity – or “pear shape prayers” – praying only when things have gone wrong or “pear shaped”. We seek to integrate prayer as a natural part of our activity, whenever we are interacting with staff, clients, stockholders, supporters etc. – Liam, Australia

2. Commit to pray regularly with others

Having a regular time for prayer with a particular group of people has been helpful for many, keeping them on track with prayer over long seasons of business life.

Every week for the past 11 years, an employee and I have prayed together for our company, our leadership and our individual needs. We have seen conversions, kingdom outcomes. healings, etc. and a very large company ($3.2 billion turnover) moving into alignment with God’s purposes. – Mike, USA Read more

The Marketing Value Proposition: The ‘Golden Rule’ in Action

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by Bill Westwood

Ever since I left school in 1974 and joined the marketing department of a major (unfortunately now defunct) motor manufacturer, I have loved marketing. It was the genesis of a lifelong passion for the business world and happened to broadly coincide with the start of my faith journey too. Not that faith and business are separate journeys; it’s a partnership made in heaven. Unfortunately the business and ecclesiastical worlds that we inhabit today all too often collide in conflict and misunderstanding. For that, they are both the poorer.

I will never know whether or not I would have been a force to be reckoned with in marketing (although I suspect not) because somewhere along the way I got lost and became an accountant instead! But finance did teach me how companies worked, and when I finally got to manage a business, it was a big help having a ‘numbers’ background because it’s the numbers that tell the story of the value that a business delivers to its clients. Value fascinates me, and if you are in a frontline commercial function one of the things you learn pretty quickly is that ‘everyone understands cost, but not many understand value’. I believe that value is not only at the heart of business; I shall show how it’s also at the heart of the fundamental biblical narratives of creation and redemption too. In fact it’s at the heart of life itself. Read more

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