Tag Archive for: food and beverage

Streams in the Desert: Sowing Seeds for Transformation

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Sami is a man with a dream for a nation. It is a dream that took root in the dry and dusty ground of an Islamic country in the early 90s and that has grown up over nearly 20 years through both success and adversity. His vision is to raise up servant-leaders in the marketplace, a group of national business and community leaders that are following God’s ways and shaping a nation from the inside-out. The dream is for nothing less than transformation – of people and values, of communities, and ultimately of a nation. This is a nation that we will call “Gongori” – an impoverished state that is crippled by corrupt leadership.

This is not a dream for the short-term. When Sami and his team first started their business in 2007, it was within the context of a 30 year long strategy to disciple Gongori leaders in Godly principles and with years of preparation and planning behind them.

However, for all the long-term planning, tough lessons can bring about necessary adaptation! Lately, Sami has been thinking a lot about the Biblical account of Joseph and how he was able to bring influence from the ‘inside’ in a nation because he had an ‘Egyptian face’. The unique challenges of working in a country like Gongori have paid a heavy price and Sami is now embarking on revised strategy based on what he is calling the ‘Joseph Approach’. Read more

Business and the Body: Burgers, Burma and Keeping Connected

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AND THE AWARD GOES TO...

Our goal is to provide the BAM Community with the best content and resources available. As we wrap up a great year we are highlighting various articles and resources which have stood out above the rest. Below is the “Staff Pick” for the fall of 2015.

Please enjoy and thanks for following!

From the rooftops you can see it. The personality of the land shifts as the row of buildings stretches towards the river shore. There is a gap there, the space for the river that marks the border, and on the opposite shore the skyline is again lifted by buildings. The buildings on either side of the border hide secrets behind their darkened windows and signs. These are the real stories behind the international headlines about war and human trafficking, about refugees fleeing persecution. The stories are reflected on faces around town – the people that have ended their journey at this border town where the river divides Burma from Thailand.

Set into the curve of the river on the Thai side is a small city, unremarkable by Asian standards. Bustling with local Thais, NGO and aid workers, adventure-seeking tourists, and the quieter but prominent refugee community; the unspoken undercurrent is ‘we’re all here, hoping for the best, and doing the best we can.’ It’s a promising setting, ready to receive the incoming ‘Friendship Highway’, which is said will unify these Asian countries with trade partnerships and tourism. New buildings and malls dotting the cityscape are the first evidence of a hoped-for economic boom. The new road is not all good news. It will also provide a thoroughfare for the darker trade of humans, vulnerable to poverty and traffickers. Read more

Business and the Body: Burgers, Burma and Keeping Connected

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From the rooftops you can see it. The personality of the land shifts as the row of buildings stretches towards the river shore. There is a gap there, the space for the river that marks the border, and on the opposite shore the skyline is again lifted by buildings. The buildings on either side of the border hide secrets behind their darkened windows and signs. These are the real stories behind the international headlines about war and human trafficking, about refugees fleeing persecution. The stories are reflected on faces around town – the people that have ended their journey at this border town where the river divides Burma from Thailand.

Set into the curve of the river on the Thai side is a small city, unremarkable by Asian standards. Bustling with local Thais, NGO and aid workers, adventure-seeking tourists, and the quieter but prominent refugee community; the unspoken undercurrent is ‘we’re all here, hoping for the best, and doing the best we can.’ It’s a promising setting, ready to receive the incoming ‘Friendship Highway’, which is said will unify these Asian countries with trade partnerships and tourism. New buildings and malls dotting the cityscape are the first evidence of a hoped-for economic boom. The new road is not all good news. It will also provide a thoroughfare for the darker trade of humans, vulnerable to poverty and traffickers. Read more

Lessons from the Edge: Inspired by Quality Coffee

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Insights from a BAM Practitioner

‘Ben’ has spent a decade and more of his life in the specialty coffee industry. He has an unwavering passion for quality in coffee that has grown into a pursuit of quality in all aspects of his life – in business, in mission, and in relationships.

The quality of relationships in the company matter as much as the quality of the product.
In a sense, the quality of care for one another in the company is an equally desired product of the business. Let reconciliation have a major role in the company culture. Concepts we teach, like forgiveness, kindness and so on, become real and implanted in a persons character, in the context of relationships. This is where the real meaning of those company values comes alive.

Intentionally embody the mission in all aspects of the business.
I have realized that my mission is not to bring people into the church, but to help them to see Jesus. When Jesus’ values are synonymous with the company values, corporate life together becomes a training ground for life in the gospel. Business is a place where the values that Jesus embodies are taught and lived out through daily business life together.

Do business with excellence and ask God to show you all that he has intended for it. 
It is important to take business seriously and see it as something to be honored and stewarded as a gift from God, to be used for his purposes. It is important to invest my utmost into it and hope for the most from it. God designed business to create wealth and so I need to have a healthy view of money and wealth. To hope for success and growth is good!

Making Ice Cream, Making Disciples in Central Asia

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James admits, almost as a confession, that he does enjoy a bit of number crunching… “I love taking an idea and turning it into reality,” he says, “I really enjoy the whole process of researching a business idea, doing feasibility studies, analysing the data, crunching the numbers and really trying to figure out whether a business will work!”.

James is the co-owner of an Ice Cream Manufacturing Business in a large city in “Byghistan”, a country in Central Asia. Although James grew up in a family that owned businesses, he didn’t see himself as a business person until recently and has discovered this innate passion for business as he has gone along.

Beginnings

James and his family moved to Byghistan in 2006, with a desire to work for the Gospel amongst an ethnic group indigenous to that particular city. Initially they focused on language learning and becoming established in the country. As their 2 years as language students came to an end, James and his wife began looking for opportunities that would enable them to stay longer. At first they saw running a business primarily as a way to get a longer-term visa and stay in the country, however right from the start they knew the business must be credible. Read more