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6 Ways BAM Can and Should Make a Difference to Refugees and Migrants

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by Jo Plummer

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

One of the goals of our global BAM network is to be part of the solution to the world’s most pressing issues. Undoubtedly the issue of migration, and in particular the rapid increase in refugees, presents one of the most pressing challenges of our day.

The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR estimates that there are an unprecedented 65.3 million people around the world who have been forced from their homes. Among them are nearly 21.3 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18. There are also 10 million stateless people who have been denied a nationality and access to basic rights such as education, healthcare, employment and freedom of movement.

We live a world where nearly 34,000 people a day are forcibly displaced as a result of conflict or persecution. Many more choose to migrate because of poverty, unemployment and the ‘pull’ of better economic prospects elsewhere. The UN estimates that in total there are 244 million migrants globally.

How do BAMers engage? Why should they engage? Read more

Where is Further Research Needed and Who Else Should We Be Listening To?

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The business as mission community is contributing to a wider ‘listening process’ in the global evangelical mission community as part of our connection the Lausanne Movement. Lausanne also asked us:

Where is further research needed? To whom else should we be listening?

We received input from 25 global leaders on theses question especially as it relates to business as mission.

Where is further research needed?

In answer to areas for further research, three broad areas stood out:

1. Mission Strategy
  • Effective church planting and how best to reach unreached peoples today
  • Polycentric mission, mobilising near- or same-culture workers
  • Integral mission strategies, especially enterprise-related
  • Cross-cultural understanding
  • Utilising technology in mission

There are abundant Kingdom resources scattered around the globe, for example, global south billionaires to Christian diaspora communities in least reached nations. These need to be better mapped so we can identify how to capitalize on these resources and where to find additionally needed resources.
HE

With respect to unreached people groups there is much practical research needed to locate Christians and identify those among them who are entrepreneurial. Furthermore, in this context, there is a need to identify the existence of trade and its potential for growth in the short, medium and long terms.
RSH

An area where we need research would be in best practices of utilizing technology and social media as instruments of fulfilling the Great Commission. 
SV

The mapping of those least reached, especially those hidden in plain sight among larger groupings, will certainly help business planners assess how to integrate business necessities such as market size, labour pools, supply chains and resources with missional objectives to reach the unreached.
CS 

The church should follow and further growing research on how corporate culture is formed and functions, and the possible role of corporate culture in evangelism. St. Francis was attributed as saying, “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” Business culture with its daily opportunities for values-based decisions may become a fruitful foundation upon which to disciple all nations, paving the way for the preaching and receiving of the gospel. Research would help us know with more certainty to what extent this is true and the means by which this might occur to best further the Great Commission.
RN 

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In What Areas is Greater Collaboration Most Critical?

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The business as mission community is contributing to a wider ‘listening process’ in the global evangelical mission community as part of our connection the Lausanne Movement. Lausanne also asked us:

In what areas is greater collaboration most critical in order to see the fulfillment of the Great Commission?

We received input from 25 global leaders on this question especially as it relates to business as mission. Four themes emerged as follows, illuminated by some direct quotes from leaders:

1. Collaboration between clergy and laity; between the business sphere and the church, mission agencies, and theological institutions.

2. Collaboration and openness by Evangelicals with other church traditions; overcoming barriers to hearing and learning from other perspectives, both political and theological.

3. Collaboration between geographical regions; working against nationalism and communicating and partnering with cultural humility.

4. Collaboration between organisations, and especially different parts of the BAM ecosystem; reducing redundancy, resource wastage and destructive competition.

 

1. Collaboration between clergy and laity; between the business sphere and the church, mission agencies, and theological institutions

I commend the Wealth Creation Manifesto as a foundation for cooperation between the BAM movement and mission organisations. There is great suspicion of business among mission organisations, much of it based on observation of the unethical (Babylonian) way in which so much business occurs.
RSH

The institutional church needs to recognize that itself alone would never be enough to see the fulfilment of the Great Commission. We need missional leaders from all walks of life: the marketplace, the media, the government, etc. to share the vision together and to collaborate.
FKT

There needs to be a much greater collaboration between the business as mission movement and the institutional church. Most pastors do not understand the God of Business, and many perpetuate the dichotomy between “sacred” and “secular.” Many BAM ministries find the church difficult to move in and through, so this work is done in NGOs outside of the church. But once a denomination does commit to this idea, so many pastors are happy to receive this news, because it is a win-win-win-win. It is a win for the business owner, the business itself, the church, and the community. This is powerful.  There is no downside.
RRT  Read more

BAM as an Effective Strategy in Urban Asia: Reaching a Tipping Point

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by Francis Tsui

>> Read Part 1, How Business has Transformed Nations and Lifted People Out of Poverty in China and East Asia

Continuing from Part 1, this article explores BAM as an effective mission strategy for missional impact in urban Asia, especially as we aim to reach a tipping point for macro impact through BAM companies.

Increasingly Asia has been transformed right before our eyes, and people’s lot has greatly improved over the last century. From a missiological perspective, urban East Asia has transformed into a totally different mission field compared to just decades ago. The fast transforming Asia powering into the twenty-first century certainly needs a new missiology and a new missional paradigm to raise up leaders to keep mission relevant and effective.

It is against this backdrop that the global church – with its mission leaders and workers, including those from Asia – has to contemplate and reassess their understanding, approaches, and strategies for the new Asian harvest fields. The gospel message remains the same, yet the church needs to search the heart of God to ask how the missio Dei is relevant in such a changing time and to a transforming continent.

Affluent and Open

The mission fields in Asia are no longer just remote, isolated, exotic destinations. In the last two centuries, in many Asian countries, the church has survived and the mission work has thrived through poverty and persecution. Yet, many are now asking how the harvest fields in Asia will survive affluence and openness.

Throughout Asia, people are nearer to each other, not only physically but virtually. Whether it is in the urban or the rural areas, technology has brought people closer. It was only in August 1991, almost exactly thirty years ago, when the World Wide Web became publicly available. In just about two decades, the advent and then proliferation of the internet have brought people together in ways no one could have imagined before. One could easily surmise the easy access of online experience in the cities. Yet, even before the introduction of smartphones, when it was still at the 2G technology level, China and India had already started to equip their mobile communication network and empower their rural population to get connected to the internet.

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How Business Transformed Nations and Lifted People Out of Poverty in China & East Asia

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by Francis Tsui

 

How have businesses, especially SMEs, transformed nations and lifted people out of poverty in China and East Asia? What were critical and contributing factors?

More than 1.5 billion people, about 38% of the population of Asia or 22% of the world population, live in geographic East Asia. The region is one of the world’s most densely inhabited places, with 133 inhabitants per square kilometer (340 per square miles), being about three times the world average of 45 per square kilometer (120 per square mile).

In recent decades, at least up till the Covid pandemic, East Asian economies are increasingly one of the key global growth engines with a sustained high single to double digit economic growth and development, and are fast emerging as a manufacturing and information technology hub of the world. One of key characteristics of the East Asia region is the presence and contribution of a large small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) sector comprising the majority of enterprises in all the region’s economies, and especially in the region’s urban scenes.

A New Consumer Culture

The rise of the East Asian urbanization phenomenon has one distinct characteristic. While urbanization in North America for the most part goes horizontal as cities sprawl, urbanization in East Asia goes vertical, with buildings scaling tall. It is now very common to see residential apartment buildings in excess of fifty stories tall or higher in places like Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, or even Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh. The result of such a mode of urbanization is that a huge number of people are packed into a rather small catchment area. People’s proximity to each other has become closer. Never before have we seen higher density of people within shouting or maybe even whispering distance with each other, which is very conducive to accelerated entrepreneurial economic activities.

The urbanization and modernization of some of the largest cities in East Asia ushers in new lifestyles. The birth of an urban middle class among the baby boomer and Gen X generations breeds for the first time a leisure class or a leisure lifestyle. Roaming about on the streets or in shopping malls, exercising in gyms, attending concerts or cultural events, or hanging out at coffee shops are activities unheard of possibly just two generations ago for anyone in Asia. Nowadays, these have become common pastimes. A new consumer culture has emerged out of over half a century of a mostly peaceful political environment, without major wars, and significant economic progress for many developing economies. The gradual rise of disposable income level among East Asians means that most people and families have more to spend. Indeed, East Asia is at a historic moment of major wealth creation and generational transfer. All of these exciting developments have created fertile soil and opportunities in multiple dimensions, including the emergence and maturation of SMEs. It has also brought about new possibilities for mission.

A Lift Out of Poverty

The emerging role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is also an indicator of the economic prosperity that helps to lift people out of poverty. And, the SMEs in East Asia and China have indeed scored spectacular success. In the last 30 years, according to the World Bank, East Asia accounts for two-fifths of global growth, and, during the same period, the number of extremely poor people living in East Asia fell by almost a billion. This is also the same period we saw SME businesses grow in leaps and bounds in East Asia and China.

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Let’s Make Business as Mission Both Global and Local

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As part of our continuing series on ‘BAM: A Global Glimpse’ we revisit this article by Joseph Vijayam.

In 2013 I was on a business trip in Jakarta. One afternoon my host asked if I would join him for a gathering of believers in his office building. To my surprise, this was not a small gathering of believers; it was a full-fledged worship service with songs, intercession, testimonies, and a short sermon with over 100 people in attendance. During the time of testimonies, people were sharing about their needs, including those at work, home, and in their communities. One of the business owners in the room shared that he sees himself as a pastor to his co-workers. At that moment, I realized that here in one of the megacities of Asia, weekly church service had taken a new form. The venue was a business conference room, the people in attendance came as individuals rather than families, significant time was spent in sharing of testimonies by new believers, and the time of their meeting was on a busy weekday. Every aspect of the event perfectly fit the needs of first-generation believers working in high rise offices in Jakarta. 

Though the purpose and function of the Body of Christ have remained the same, its local form has changed from age to age and from one culture to another. What I experienced in Jakarta was a unique expression of the local church that is ideal to the city of Jakarta for this generation. If the gathering of believers can take different forms, can our approach to bringing people into the Church be just as creative and specific to their situation? Not only do I believe that it can, I think it is essential.  Read more

Resources & Prayer Requests from Our Global Network

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One of our goals here at The BAM Review, and in all our work, is ‘to put more global into BAM Global‘. We want to strengthen and invigorate the BAM movement in all parts of the world, creating greater depth and breadth globally.

To continue our ‘BAM: A Global Glimpse‘ series of blogs, we asked nine of our BAM Global Ambassadors to share what resources were available from their network, their plans for the future, and how we can pray for them.

 

What are the plans and activities in your region or issue network for the next 12 months? What resources do you have to share with people? How do people connect with you?

 

ROMANIA

We are planning a BAM event on 16th October, in Bucharest, where the youth from the BAM Incubator program will be able to pitch their business in front of potential angel investors.

I visited and connected with those who are doing Business as Mission in Romania and I wrote down their story on the BAM Romania website. We also want to translate and create some video resources for the BAM Romania website and social media. We are planning to find and visit people who are doing BAM in Romania and write up their story or create a short video with their story.

Connect with us through the BAM Romania website and social media pages:

BAM Romania Website

Facebook

YouTube

Adrian Buhai, BAM Romania

BRAZIL

Our main activity is to organize resources for social media, spread the vision, seek partnerships with other institutions, raise funds, and build a team. I also direct people interested in BAM to find courses, lectures, and partners in the BAM ecosystem operating in Brazil. Plans for the next 12 months include the registration of BAM Brasil as an organisation, developing the website, and the creation of a framework that will allow BAM Brasil to generate resources so that it can grow. We continue to establish as the main BAM network in Brazil, offering events, and training for entrepreneurs, churches, universities and missionary agencies. We’ve been mapping and strengthening the ecosystem for BAM in Brazil and work by partnering with other groups, involving them in our events. Today our partners in the BAM ecosystem include: Mission Agencies, e.g. Crossover, YWAM; Theological seminaries, e.g. FATEV, FABAPAR; International Networks, e.g. Tent Brasil, Open Brasil; Incubators and Investors, e.g. Bluefields, Lightup, Goldstreet Venture Capital; Companies, e.g. Snowman Labs and Asaweb, and many others.

Our main channels are:

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

Telegram

People can connect directly with us via Instagram. Look out for our new website coming soon, along with our new team email address and contact form.

Samara Bramen, BAM Brasil

SOUTH ASIA

For the BAM South Asia region, we are organizing webinars every two months on helpful topics. Our next regional conference will be in February 2022, Lord willing.  All the major marketplace ministries in the region are now a part of the BAM South Asia Network: ICCC, FCCI, CBMC, BLG, BMFI, Partners Worldwide, etc.

Find out more at the BAM South Asia website. The webinars are listed on that site and people can connect with us via:

Facebook

Email

We also have WhatsApp groups and a mailing list, people can join by invitation through the other channels and marketplace networks mentioned above. Read more

BAM Global Ambassadors: Congress Take Aways

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As part of our ‘BAM: A Global Glimpse‘ series of blogs, we asked nine BAM Global Ambassadors to share what they took away from the recent BAM Global Congress.

 

What are your take aways from the BAM Global Congress, including the lead-in webinars, the April main event and follow-up webinars? What have you learned? What has encouraged you?

 

For me, getting to know new people who are doing business as mission around the world and learning from them is the most important take away from the BAM Global Congress. I am not so good in attending online meetings, I have a kind of attention disorder when I am in them, but I really enjoyed meeting new people and listening to their stories, like Hakan from Itzinya, Marian from Turbocam and others.
Adrian Buhai, BAM Romania

 

I took away lessons from real BAM business experiences. It also reinforced that business as mission is one of the ways God uses to bring complete economic, social, environmental, and spiritual transformation, bringing dignity and life to people. It motivates me and encourages me to continue to work for this vision!
Samara Bramen, BAM Brasil

 

It was encouraging to see that the concept of business as mission has taken root across many regions of the world. It was also exciting to see a significant number of new entrepreneurs and those who are thinking of starting businesses learning about BAM through the Congress. The program was well designed with something new and valuable for everyone. The session on “Dealing with Corruption” seemed helpful to many from the Global South. I was encouraged to see that there are a growing number of BAMers from non-western countries, which I applaud.
Joseph Vijayam, BAM South Asia

 

The Congress was really a great event! I was excited about how it was organised. I think that the Congress, with the longer time frame of the pre- and post-congress meetings, plus the possibility to connect in groups or one-on-one gave even more opportunities than an in-person three day Congress would have done. For me to see how all these things were organised is the most important part of the Congress. Of course there were a lot of interesting speakers but I can hardly choose amongst them.
Mikhail Dubrovskiy, BAM Russia

 

From the lead-in pre-Congress webinars, I had been aware of BAM Global but this gave me the opportunity to connect and learn more about the global movement. From the main April Congress, it was so inspiring to get a snapshot of the impact of business for the Great Commission. It was also very motivating to see the immense need for BAM to gain a strong traction in Africa and to make connections with a wide variety of people who would benefit the new BAM Southern Africa network through their experience and expertise. From the post-Congress series, it was excellent to be able to follow up with people and good for networking.
Derick Slabbert, BAM Southern Africa

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BAM: A Global Glimpse

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One of our goals here at The BAM Review, and in all our work, is ‘to put more global into BAM Global‘. We want to strengthen and invigorate the BAM movement in all parts of the world, creating greater depth and breadth globally.

To that end, BAM Global has started to identify leaders around the world who are working to facilitate the BAM network in their region or around a particular topic. These leaders coordinate, engage others and help raise up future leaders, building capacity in their network and for the movement at large. We call them BAM Global Ambassadors, or “BAMbassadors” for fun!

We would like to introduce nine out of our current 20 BAM Global Ambassadors to you. To begin with, we asked them to share what is happening in their network and also what got them started in BAM.

 

You are the BAM Global Ambassador for… What has been most encouraging or exciting in your region or issue network? What has happened so far in terms of growth, initiatives, or moving the needle?

 

I am the BAM Global Ambassador for Romania. We started a BAM Incubator in Romania and so far we have eight youth that want to start a business as mission enterprise through this program. We organised a BAM Webinar in June and more than 50 people participated in that meeting. We now have a team of three people dedicated to do and promote BAM in Romania including me.
Adrian Buhai

 

As a BAM Global Ambassador in Brazil since 2019, I have seen the BAM network here grow in an amazing way through the initiatives that we’ve had to spread this concept, especially being a constant presence on social media. This has reached and awakened many people beyond what we could have imagined, in a relatively short time. Today, in Brazil our team consists of João Mordomo, myself, and other two people who are operationally helping the team. Many people have come to BAM Brazil to be part of the movement and for training and partner initiatives have gained strength and visibility after BAM Brazil began to spread the vision. I have received a lot of positive feedback from people who have now understood BAM as a calling and the movement has grown and become stronger in the churches. Many institutions such as churches, theological seminaries, and missionary agencies, NGOs, and business groups have sought out BAM Brazil to give lectures, BAM classes, speak at events and provide training.
Samara Bramen

 

I am the BAM Global Ambassador for South Asia.  We had a regional conference in February 2020 and are planning for the next conference for February 2022. There is a core team that meets monthly and we are organizing webinars on helpful topics every two months which are well attended. We have become a network of networks, other marketplace ministries are now a part of BAM South Asia.
Joseph Vijayam

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Let’s Get Local: Developing Both the Localization and Globalization of BAM

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by Joseph Vijayam

In 2013 I was on a business trip in Jakarta. One afternoon my host asked if I would join him for a gathering of believers in his office building. To my surprise, this was not a small gathering of believers; it was a full-fledged worship service with songs, intercession, testimonies, and a short sermon with over 100 people in attendance. During the time of testimonies, people were sharing about their needs, including those at work, home, and in their communities. One of the business owners in the room shared that he sees himself as a pastor to his co-workers. At that moment, I realized that here in one of the megacities of Asia, weekly church service had taken a new form. The venue was a business conference room, the people in attendance came as individuals rather than families, significant time was spent in sharing of testimonies by new believers, and the time of their meeting was on a busy weekday. Every aspect of the event perfectly fit the needs of first-generation believers working in high rise offices in Jakarta. 

Though the purpose and function of the Body of Christ have remained the same, its local form has changed from age to age and from one culture to another. What I experienced in Jakarta was a unique expression of the local church that is ideal to the city of Jakarta for this generation. If the gathering of believers can take different forms, can our approach to bringing people into the Church be just as creative and specific to their situation? Not only do I believe that it can, I think it is essential.  Read more

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