by Larry Sharp

 

The word ‘missionary’ is relatively new in the history of the English language. It has its origin with the Jesuits who sent certain members on a mission to establish Roman Catholic churches where there were none. The term is derived from Latin missionem nom., missio), meaning ‘act of sending’ or mittere, meaning ‘to send’.

Today Protestant missionaries have a strong history but with mixed understandings of what is meant by the term. Common definitions are not unlike one on Wikipedia, “a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people.”

Nondenominational protestant missionary agencies as we know them today date back to the late 1700s with the likes of the Basel Mission in Switzerland, The Baptist Missionary Society and London Missionary Society in England and the ABCFM in the United States (1810). Today in the United States, the Missio Nexus agency networking group claims 376 organization members demonstrating the rapid increase of agencies in the past half century.

So, what does this have to do with Business as Mission?

Business as mission (BAM) as we define it today is only about 30 years old. Of course, we know that missional laborers in the marketplace have existed since New Testament times but as a movement contextualized to modern modalities, BAM is very young.

Commonalities and Distinctives of BAM and Traditional Mission Agency Focus

Some key assumptions for this conversation which are common to both missionary work and business as mission:

1. Both the missionary movement and the BAM movement have kingdom of God missional purposes which involve the transformation of individuals and communities.

2. Both the missionary movement and the BAM movement often work in cross cultural environments.

3. Both movements tend to focus on the underserved, i.e. the least reached or the most impoverished, underprivileged and victimized peoples.

Some key assumptions of differences between the two:

1. Mission agency workers are typically full-time religious workers and, if working overseas, seek a religious workers visa for the countries where they work. BAM workers are full-time missional professional businesspeople with business visas, if needed. In terms of mission history, think of medical missionaries and education missionaries as the corollary of business missionaries.

2. Mission agencies often prioritize evangelism and church planting as their modus operandi and report progress to home entities in terms of disciples and churches. BAM workers tend to use the Quadruple Bottom Line as a metric (profitability and sustainability; job creation and social outcomes; spiritual transformation; and creation care.) BAM is hence more eclectic.

3. Many mission agencies would cite the Great Commission as first and foremost priority while BAM workers understand and operationalize the Great Commandment of Jesus to love our fellow humans, along with the Great Commission.

4. Missionaries have a robust mission agency history to depend on for training, support and networking. BAM workers have very little of these and what does exist is relatively immature.

While the above assumptions have many nuances and some may charge that they are oversimplified and superficial, it is the fourth point which is interesting and important as the driving focus of this article.

One BAM practitioner I interviewed, whilst leading robust business operations in Asia, insisted that kingdom businesses need mission agencies, meaning that the agencies have a lot to offer to the BAM operators and the movement. Having served in executive leadership in a mid-sized agency myself for 20 years and nearly as long immersed in the BAM movement, I wholeheartedly concur.

What can the mature agency movement offer to the BAM movement?

Many of the following areas of expertise apply more readily to those BAM practitioners working across cultures, or in near culture situations. I believe all practitioners could benefit from at least some of them.

Training in how to live and serve in another culture

Missionaries are known to stay long term and learn languages and new cultures; they become acculturated to their new homes. They understand the importance of relating to people with their heart language and minimizing cultural mistakes. I well remember how embarrassing it was when we went to a Brazilian birthday party at the time listed on the invitation, which was really 90 minutes or so too early! Learning how to fit in to, another culture is also a concept for ‘doing business’ cross culturally and kingdom business operators can take advantage of systems and trainings developed within the mission community. Even those working primarily in their own culture may have a multi-cultural team or customer base and can learn from agency expertise in this area.

Access to member care

Most mission agencies either provide member care services or outsource to organizations that provide it. It is important that BAM workers flourish personally and professionally. That requires an organized prayer support team, regular communication channels, a godly mentor and resilient team members. Missionaries expect good friends and mentors to ask hard questions. I remember when I supervised missionaries in Brazil, I would visit every year. I did not want to disappoint Dave on the field who, upon my arrival, always asked questions like, “what good books have your read lately?” or “what is God teaching you recently?” When there are specialized needs, agencies have access to counselors, trauma debriefers, pastoral help and reentry coaches etc. It is good to know that BAM Global is currently promoting studies in how to develop support and care for BAM business leaders.

Disciple-making training

This is priority for both missionaries and BAMers, but the agency trains its members to do it, often cross culturally, and holds them accountable. This type of training can be contextualised to host cultures. Methodologies have been developed which can prepare individuals focusing on helping people come to follow Jesus. Recently, while reading the Gospel of Mark, I was reminded of how Jesus’ method of teaching is much like most of the world day. For example, when I teach in American colleges, I teach a principle and give an example to illustrate, but many cultures expect to hear a story first (think parables of Jesus) followed by a principle. It is important that BAM operatives learn cultural expectations.

Resources for being a family overseas

Most agencies have developed broad guidelines to assist families in their decisions relative to how to provide for kids’ education, friendships in the host culture, navigating the idea of being a ‘Third Culture Kid,’ marital life abroad, family transitions, peer counseling etc.. My oldest daughter works for Barnabas International, and she focuses on helping missionary children do transitions well—going overseas initially, reentry to parents’ homeland, going to college. Such resources should be known and available to BAM workers where they are needed.

Contingency planning and crisis management

Because God calls missionaries often into situations which are high risk, agencies train missionaries in assessing risk and developing mitigation strategies. This greatly helps create higher levels of safety, but trauma and accidents do occur. When I served as manager for critical incidents, I headed up a team focused on getting a missionary released from a jail in Asia (it took six months); arranged for trauma relief after an earthquake in Haiti; hired a leer jet in Moscow to rescue an injured child in the Ukraine, among other critical services which international workers need from time to time. Certainly, some BAM workers need this same expertise available to them.

Strategic planning and accountability

Missionaries are sent by individuals and churches which rightly expect diligence, faithfulness and strategic work. This means that teams are trained and held accountable for certain activities while depending on the work of the Holy Spirit. It is rare that a missionary today works as a lone ranger, doing his own thing. I dream of the day, and indeed work toward it, when every BAM entrepreneur and operator has a team working together toward strategic ends for all the four quadruple bottom lines, being accountable to an advisory board.

Logistics details

There are so many little but important details which personnel encounter if they are going abroad to live. How do I meet local government expectations? Who is my employer? How do I get and maintain a visa? What is the best way to travel? How do I find a place to live? How will I get banking services and transfer money? What is the best way to communicate and travel—get internet service, best air, bus and taxi service? Where can the kids go to school? What if I need to see a physician? What about my medical insurance; will it work there? What are legal issues I need to know about? And much more. As an operational guy serving missionaries overseas, I was fulfilled and got great joy in helping personnel be at peace with the logistics of overseas work. BAM workers likewise need access to logistic answers, whether overseas or in a near culture situation.

 

In conclusion, mission agencies have intellectual property and management experience which is valuable to BAM workers. Our goal should be to access some of it or replicate it in ways that best serve our BAM teams. The BAM movement is not a traditional missionary movement but the spiritual ends of both are the same, which means we can often learn from a more mature entity – the mission agency.

 

If you are interested in this topic, I recommend the comprehensive BAM Global Report on BAM and Mission Agencies which probes the relationship between the agency and BAM.

 

 

 

 

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Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash