Tag Archive for: mission agency

Why All BAM Practitioners Can Benefit from Mission Agencies

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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.

 

Larry Sharp is the Founder and current BAM Support Specialist of a Business for Transformation (BAM, B4t) consulting firm, International Business and Education Consultants (www.ibecventures.com). Larry served 21 years in Brazil and then 20 years as Crossworld VP of Operations and as Vice President of Business Partnerships. He is currently a VP Emeritus and consultant with Crossworld. Since 2007 he has devoted energies toward Business as Mission (BAM) and currently is a consultant on BAM and education themes. Larry travels within North America speaking and teaching in conferences, colleges and churches on themes related to Business As Mission (BAM, B4t) and missions.  His travels abroad relate to BAM, crisis preparation and management, and team building. 

 

 

 

Get Larry’s Book: Missions Disrupted

Available at all good book stores online!

 

 


Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

 

Quadruple Bottom Line Impact: Doing Spiritual, Economic, Social and Environmental Good

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In BAM we often talk about four intentional areas of impact for companies to consider: spiritual, financial, social and environmental, an idea known as the ‘Quadruple Bottom Line’. This excerpt from a longer paper briefly introduces this idea.

Introduction to the ‘Quadruple Bottom Lines’ (QBL) of BAM

Business as mission is intentional about Kingdom of God purpose and impact on people and nations; focused on holistic transformation and the four bottom lines of economic, social, environmental and spiritual outcomes.

The idea of having multiple bottom lines for a business comes from the original ‘financial bottom line’—the number that indicates net profit (or loss) typically found at the bottom of a company’s income statement. A company that is solely focused on making money for its shareholders will only be concerned about this one ‘bottom line’, its financial earnings. The social enterprise movement introduced the idea of ‘triple bottom line’ impact that is also concerned with social and environmental outcomes. Business as mission extends this idea to ‘quadruple bottom line’ (or four bottom line) impact, including spiritual impact as well.

If intentional impact along these multiple bottom lines is a hallmark of BAM, [any entity engaged in BAM] will do well to build a solid understanding of each. While these four areas of impact are integrated together in terms of the business model, strategy and daily operations—all things working together for missional impact—there are times when the focus should be on each one separately. This is especially true when planning for positive outcomes in each. Then careful consideration is needed as to how success is defined in each area and, therefore, how progress is measured so that there can be accountability and ongoing evaluation.

For business as mission, the four bottom lines are:

1. Doing spiritual good

Acting on the belief that faith in Jesus and a reconciled relationship with God addresses sin and brokenness at an individual and societal level that are the root cause of all other social, environmental and economic problems. Lasting change (God’s Kingdom coming on earth) and salvation from death and sin can only occur when our relationship with God, self, each other, and creation are reconciled. It involves sharing the gospel in word and deed, living as a disciple of Christ as a witness to others, and making disciples. Read more

4 Ways BAM Companies Collaborate with Not For-Profits on the Ground

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by Larry Sharp

 

If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. – Traditional Proverb
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. – Old Testament
Consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. – New Testament


It is expected that a BAM business will seek to be profitable as a key component of its’ Quadruple Bottom Line values. But the ultimate goal is to see transformed individuals and communities, economically, spiritually, and socially.

All the while, Non-Profit or Not-For-Profit organizations nearby are trying to accomplish the same end, often with no intent to separate from the donor funding stream that sustains them. The two entities are driven by a common cause.

I have often wondered: How do they cooperate? How do they work together? Are there ways they can complement each other? Surely the Not-For Profit (NFP) wants social, economic, and spiritual transformation. Of course, a BAM company is unique in its’ drive towards sustainability and independence from donor funds, but aside from that, how should the two relate to one another in the same city or region?

A Guide for BAM Companies

There is a good example in a BAM company operating successfully (post revenue with 400 plus employees) in SE Asia. Let’s call the company ‘J’.

I interviewed M, the owner of J Company, and was impressed with his commitment to cooperation with Not For-Profits in all three countries where he has operations. Here is what I learned.

1. For-Profit minded owners can buy a business idea or operation from a NFP

M and his wife visited a mission worker in the 1990s who had started making bread in her home. It was discovered to be so good that a neighbor offered to buy some. This was the start of a small NFP business with a staff of five at the time of Ms visit. M and his wife left SE Asia for North America but returned to SE Asia three years later and bought the bakery/café along with his sister and brother-in-law.

Twenty years later Walter Deibel made the case in his well-received book Buy then Build, that acquisition entrepreneurs are outsmarting the startup game. M proved to be well ahead of his time.

2. Not-For-Profits are a source of For-Proft employees

J Company takes advantage of the connections and experiences of Not-For-Profits such as aid agencies, church groups, mission agencies, and independent NGO humanitarian workers. Wise business leaders like M know that jobs are important and necessary for survivors of abuse, poverty, gross injustice, and slavery. More and more programs are developing to help victims to overcome and survive and also to be prepared for jobs and a better future. After all, leaders in both sectors know that the end goal is life transformation.

One example is that J Company has a partnership with a local NGO to make strategic hires of blind or deaf individuals so that now 20% of the staff are either blind or deaf. J Company is expanding its training materials into braille and other methods to increase the marketability of those disadvantaged. More than one hundred of J Company’s employees have in some way been disadvantaged. These individuals have been ignored by the competition and usually not even given a work interview.

Survivors of human slavery form part of M’s hires.  He has given them a safe environment and a chance to develop their skills and establish real dignity. An important component of this is the training of managers to give everyone equal value and opportunity.

3. For-Profits give back to the world of the Not-For-Profits

There are many ways to give back. J Company has given donations to support more than fifty transformative causes in the community such as: water filters, rural school projects, counseling, soap production, CD and recording distribution, organic farming initiatives, hygiene trainings, and construction of Christian rehabilitation centers. While the donations in and of themselves are significant, M notes that the community readily observes the values for which J Company is known in action through these projects.

The company strives for excellence in all things, treating employees and clients honestly and fairly and providing a safe and flexible working environment. They study the laws of the country and practice them to the best of their ability with ethical and moral decisions and the appropriate handling of money issues. It is evident that the Not-for-Profit ecosystem benefits from the J Company in these three countries.

4. For Profit leaders become increasingly involved in the community themselves

M notes that as they endeared themselves to the community and became a part of it, opportunities developed, such as the start of a marriage ministry. More than 1500 people have attended over twenty marriage encounter weekends. They have seen many marriages radically changed in practical and spiritual ways.

Having dozens of interns come has allowed for plenty of interaction with the community so the intern gets a vision for returning to develop something themselves. In the short term, the intern contributes to the community as they interact with people and projects. While internships or short-term mission trips typically join with NGOs and mission projects, the J Company internship program allows interns to see beyond charity and integrate business with help people worldwide.

One well known successful BAM business owner in Asia, DN, concurs that the business owners need the NGO sector for human and corporate flourishing. Each contributes to an ecosystem which converges with the passion to transform lives by bringing economic, social, spiritual and physical change. This is pleasing to God and to every human on planet earth.

Not all BAM businesses will grow to more than 400 full-time staff in three countries, but no matter what the size, all would do well to explore the synergy which results in cooperation with the Not-for-Profit sector.

 

Read the story of J Company and more than 20 others in the book: Missions Disrupted: From Professional Missionaries to Missional Professionals (see information below).

 

Larry Sharp is the Founder and current BAM Support Specialist of a Business for Transformation (BAM, B4t) consulting firm, International Business and Education Consultants (www.ibecventures.com). Larry served 21 years in Brazil and then 20 years as Crossworld VP of Operations and as Vice President of Business Partnerships. He is currently a VP Emeritus and consultant with Crossworld. Since 2007 he has devoted energies toward Business as Mission (BAM) and currently is a consultant on BAM and education themes. Larry travels within North America speaking and teaching in conferences, colleges and churches on themes related to Business As Mission (BAM, B4t) and missions.  His travels abroad relate to BAM, crisis preparation and management, and team building. 

 

 

Get Larry’s Book: Missions Disrupted

Available at all good book stores online!

 

 


Photo by Vardan Papikyan on Unsplash

 

The Vital Place of Mission Agencies in BAM

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In the month of June we have been highlighting excerpts from the recently published BAM Global Report on BAM and Mission Agencies. To round off this series, here’s a repost of a blog from our archives on why Mission Agencies are a major and vital constituency in the BAM community, alongside our main business constituency and also the church and academia. 

by Jo Plummer

Mission Agencies have long been a crucial player and partner in the contemporary BAM movement.

Many early pioneer BAM practitioners of the 80s, 90s and early 2000s either came from a missionary background or were members of a mission agency. These agency workers- turned-BAMers were at the forefront of the early wave of BAM companies because they were already at the front lines. Sent out with a call and vision to see people and communities transformed by the gospel, they discovered that business could be a powerful means of integral mission – meeting spiritual, social and economic needs in communities.

Looking back on 20 years and more of recent BAM history, we see that companies with missional goals embedded within their business model, business culture, company values, working relationships and so on, have often proved to be the most fruitful way for agency workers to pursue their work. But it has not always been easy.

Business failure – already a high possibility for seasoned entrepreneurs in home cultures – became a common experience for missionary-run startups with the additional hazard of being in environments often hostile to both mission and business. Many missionaries are by nature pioneering and somewhat entrepreneurial, however most early agency-related BAMers lacked the know-how and practical business experience they needed to create sustainable, scalable companies. Early BAM companies had few models to follow and lessons were learned the hard way.

Those hard-won fruitful practices are now being passed on, benefiting the current generation of BAM practitioners. They are able to stand on the shoulders of a host of early BAMers (from both business and mission backgrounds) because those pioneers heard the Lord and were willing to go, they were willing to innovate, risk and persevere. In turn, these early BAM pioneers stood on the shoulders of many generations of traditional missionaries that passed on their own hard-won lessons.

Beyond ‘Business as Visa’

Necessity is the mother of invention. In some parts of the world, starting a business has long been the only viable means to establish a settled, credible role in a community. William Carey, right back in the late 1700s, took a management position in an indigo factory when he first arrived in India because missionary visas were hard to come by in the days of the East India Company. And like William Carey*, modern day mission workers soon discovered that the power of a business model extends far beyond a means to getting a visa. (Read more on how it extends here).

Thankfully most agency workers who are getting into business now have many more resources to draw on. They understand that to have a credible, sustainable role in a community, their company has to be credible and sustainable. That means aiming towards excellence in business practice and the true integration of holistic missional goals into every aspect of a company – from business plan, to daily business life.  Read more

Four Contexts to Integrate the Four Bottom Lines of BAM

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In the month of June we are highlighting excerpts from the recently published BAM Global Report on BAM and Mission Agencies. Mission Agencies are a major constituency in the BAM community, alongside our main business constituency and also the church and academia. We believe these resources will be of value whether you are agency affiliated or part of another BAM constituency.

 

Integration of the four bottom lines

Business as mission involves the intentional integration of business and holistic mission. It is in response to mandates God has given to us, His people, including:

  • The Creation Mandate given in Genesis 1 to ‘tend the garden’ and enable human society and creation to flourish
  • The Great Commandment to love God above all else, to obey His commands and to love our neighbour as ourselves
  • The Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all Jesus’ teachings

Our response in business as mission is to seek sustainable, holistic transformation for people and communities through for-profit business models.

As we have seen above, we want to plan for, implement, measure, and grow sustainability and impact in four main areas: spiritual, economic, social and environmental. Although we should examine each one in turn in order to be intentional about each, in the context of the daily business operations these four areas of impact cannot be compartmentalised, they are meshed together in BAM companies.

However, many of us have inherited dichotomised ways of thinking about what is sacred and what is secular. We may be used to compartmentalising our lives; between faith and work, between gospel witness and environmental stewardship, between ‘ministry activities’ and ‘making payroll’ (i.e. paying our employees), for instance. We may come from a church or mission tradition that prioritises personal evangelism over socio-economic justice (or vice versa). As a result, we might have to work hard to be intentional about integrating business and mission together—both individually and in the agency as a whole—and we should consider how to do this in four main ways:

1. Personal integration and preparation

As we (BAM practitioners) are integrated, so our businesses will be integrated. As we live integrated lives as disciples of Jesus, the rule of God’s Kingdom will extend to every part of our lives. Preparation for fruitful business as mission thus begins by being rooted in Christ, abiding in Him (John 15:1-5, Col 2:7) and by developing patterns of thinking that are transformed by that relationship (Rom 12:2). Integration flows from our theology and is expressed through our walk with Jesus in daily life.

It may be helpful to prepare for BAM by examining our own thinking in light of the sacred-secular divide and make a study of the Bible on topics such as economics, business, human flourishing, justice, mission and restoration, for example. Does our worldview align with God’s view of us as integrated people and communities?

As we commune with Jesus and seek the will of God, we allow ourselves to be integrated into his plan and He is able to use us in big, small, obvious, and surprising ways to advance his Kingdom. Being yoked with Him, allowing Him to carry our heavy burdens, we are able to rely on His direction and not on our own striving or direction. As we listen to His voice and obey it, we can follow the miraculous life that Jesus modelled for us as his disciples—in business.

2. Integration in business planning

To fulfil its potential to create integrated impact, a BAM business needs to have a clear plan for reaching profitability, alongside creating spiritual, social, and environmental impact. The first step in the process is to identify a business model that could be viable and profitable in the target location, among the community the business team hopes to reach and enable to flourish. This step may take extensive research and reconnaissance. Good community development practices, alongside business planning practices, should be engaged to research and discover the felt-needs of the community, rather than imposing solutions to social, economic or environmental problems from an external perspective. Read more

4 BAM Bottom Lines: Doing Spiritual, Economic, Social and Environmental Good

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In the month of June we are highlighting excerpts from the recently published BAM Global Report on BAM and Mission Agencies. Mission Agencies are a major constituency in the BAM community, alongside our main business constituency and also the church and academia. We believe these resources will be of value whether you are agency affiliated or part of another BAM constituency.

 

The BAM and Mission Agencies Consultation considered the full and effective integration of business and mission and how we keep a positive tension between the multiple bottom lines of BAM. Working subgroups focused on each of the four bottom lines of spiritual, financial, social and environmental outcomes for BAM and these discussions were framed by dialogue on integrating ‘multiple bottom line impact’ in a BAM company.

Introduction to the ‘Quadruple Bottom Lines’ (QBL) of BAM

Business as mission, as we have read in the BAM Global definition, is intentional Kingdom of God purpose and impact on people and nations; focused on holistic transformation and the four bottom lines of economic, social, environmental and spiritual outcomes.

The idea of having multiple bottom lines for a business comes from the original ‘financial bottom line’—the number that indicates net profit (or loss) typically found at the bottom of a company’s income statement. A company that is solely focused on making money for its shareholders will only be concerned about this one ‘bottom line’, its financial earnings. The social enterprise movement introduced the idea of ‘triple bottom line’ impact that is also concerned with social and environmental outcomes. Business as mission extends this idea to ‘quadruple bottom line’ (or four bottom line) impact, including spiritual impact as well.

If intentional impact along these multiple bottom lines is a hallmark of BAM, agencies will do well to build a solid understanding of each. As has been previously stated, while these four areas of impact are integrated together in terms of the business model, strategy and daily operations—all things working together for missional impact—there are times when the focus should be on each one separately. This is especially true when planning for positive outcomes in each. Then careful consideration is needed as to how success is defined in each area and, therefore, how progress is measured so that there can be accountability and ongoing evaluation.

For business as mission, the four bottom lines are:

1. Doing spiritual good

Acting on the belief that faith in Jesus and a reconciled relationship with God addresses sin and brokenness at an individual and societal level that are the root cause of all other social, environmental and economic problems. Lasting change (God’s Kingdom coming on earth) and salvation from death and sin can only occur when our relationship with God, self, each other, and creation are reconciled. It involves sharing the gospel in word and deed, living as a disciple of Christ as a witness to others, and making disciples. Read more

Why BAM? It’s Biblical, Strategic and Time for New Wineskins!

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In the month of June we are highlighting excerpts from the recently published BAM Global Report on BAM and Mission Agencies. Mission Agencies are a major constituency in the BAM community, alongside our main business constituency and also the church and academia. We believe these resources will be of value whether you are agency affiliated or part of another BAM constituency.

Why Mission Agencies do Business as Mission

Business as mission (BAM) is the strategic use of authentic business activities that create authentic ministry opportunities that bring spiritual, economic, social and environmental transformation to unreached peoples and marginalised people. In other words, it is taking the instrument of business, with its innate, God-given ability and power to do good in the world, and intentionally harnessing that power towards the work of mission.

There has been much discussion around the value of and justification for doing business as mission, not least among mission agency leaders. We would like to suggest that there are at least three strong bases for taking a positive approach: It is biblical, it is strategic, and it is time for new wineskins.

It is biblical

There are numerous themes in the scriptures that provide strong support for running businesses that give expression to Kingdom of God values and purposes.

In Genesis 1 and 2, we see God’s great enterprise of creation by which He reveals Himself as the original Great Entrepreneur. God created human beings ‘in his own image’ (Gen 1:2), as creative beings who are to co-labour with him to steward creation through innovation and work. They are to use the fruit of their labours to sustain families and communities, and to care for others.

In Deuteronomy 8, God reminds his people Israel not to forget him as they prepare to enter the promised land—to settle down and start agricultural and mining businesses (Deut 8:8-9)—because ‘it is [God] who gives you the ability to produce wealth’. In the desert, the Lord had provided manna daily, but when the people entered this new land the manna stopped immediately because God designed human society to be provided for through enterprise and work. Business is a God-designed and ordained institution that can bring glory to Him. Business done well involves innovating with natural resources, good stewardship of these resources, the opportunity for dignified work, the creation of life-enhancing products and services, and the multiplication of resources and wealth that enable people and societies to flourish and advance.

The Apostle Paul exhorted Christ’s followers to work hard and not be idle (2 Thes 3:10-12), and modelled the value of work and enterprise by his own example. Paul seemingly engaged in the business of making tents (or perhaps leather working or saddle making) to provide for financial needs (1 Cor 9:6), to ensure his message was credible by being free of the complications of patronage (Cor 9: 18, 2 Cor 12:14), to enable mobility and open up opportunities to meet and spend significant time with others (Acts 18:1-3), and to model the Christian lifestyle (1 Thes 4:11-12, 2 Thes 3: 6-9).

Justice and concern for the poor and marginalised is a theme pervading the scriptures and one in which all business as mission practitioners can actively participate and make a significant contribution. Starting business as mission enterprises enables us to ‘open our arms to the poor’; just as the entrepreneurial woman in Proverbs 31 did as she worked hard, produced good products, and traded well.

Read more

The Vital Place of Mission Agencies in the BAM Movement

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by Jo Plummer

Mission Agencies have long been a crucial player and partner in the contemporary BAM movement.

Many early pioneer BAM practitioners of the 80s, 90s and early 2000s either came from a missionary background or were members of a mission agency. These agency workers- turned-BAMers were at the forefront of the early wave of BAM companies because they were already at the front lines. Sent out with a call and vision to see people and communities transformed by the gospel, they discovered that business could be a powerful means of integral mission – meeting spiritual, social and economic needs in communities.

Looking back on 20 years and more of recent BAM history, we see that companies with missional goals embedded within their business model, business culture, company values, working relationships and so on, have often proved to be the most fruitful way for agency workers to pursue their work. But it has not always been easy.

Business failure – already a high possibility for seasoned entrepreneurs in home cultures – became a common experience for missionary-run startups with the additional hazard of being in environments often hostile to both mission and business. Many missionaries are by nature pioneering and somewhat entrepreneurial, however most early agency-related BAMers lacked the know-how and practical business experience they needed to create sustainable, scalable companies. Early BAM companies had few models to follow and lessons were learned the hard way.

Those hard-won fruitful practices are now being passed on, benefiting the current generation of BAM practitioners. They are able to stand on the shoulders of a host of early BAMers (from both business and mission backgrounds) because those pioneers heard the Lord and were willing to go, they were willing to innovate, risk and persevere. In turn, these early BAM pioneers stood on the shoulders of many generations of traditional missionaries that passed on their own hard-won lessons.

Beyond ‘Business as Visa’

Necessity is the mother of invention. In some parts of the world, starting a business has long been the only viable means to establish a settled, credible role in a community. William Carey, right back in the late 1700s, took a management position in an indigo factory when he first arrived in India because missionary visas were hard to come by in the days of the East India Company. And like William Carey*, modern day mission workers soon discovered that the power of a business model extends far beyond a means to getting a visa. (Read more on how it extends here).

Thankfully most agency workers who are getting into business now have many more resources to draw on. They understand that to have a credible, sustainable role in a community, their company has to be credible and sustainable. That means aiming towards excellence in business practice and the true integration of holistic missional goals into every aspect of a company – from business plan, to daily business life.  Read more

Education and Identity: Managing Connections to Christian Networks

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Once a month, our panel of mentors answer your practical business questions. Send us your questions!

Dear BAM Mentor,

How do you manage your associations with Christians and Christian networks – both national and international – in light of security concerns? My ideal is to maintain my relationships with churches and Christian organisations (and indeed receive vital support/services from these); and I want to be well connected into the local church. However, I am concerned about how those connections may endanger my business. How have you managed both the relational side and other more formal associations you have with organisations or churches?

~ Feeling Cautious

Dear Cautious,

I personally believe that there are two key areas that you need to focus on as you consider your associations with Christians and Christian networks while working in a hostile environment. You should concentrate on education and building a strong identity.

Ever since we moved into a restricted access country, we have been working on educating all of the different parties involved in our lives. Most of our sending churches had only dealt with traditional missionary models, so we had to talk with them about:

  • How they communicate with us in email
  • What they could post about us online
  • How they should refer to us during their services.

During the first few years, we had to be vigilant about what they were writing in their online bulletins and websites. Over time, they have come to understand the seriousness of their actions. One simple way to make your point clear is to share real life stories of people who have been questioned because of “church mistakes.” Read more

Pragmatic and Prophetic: Managing Connections to Christian Networks

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Once a month, our panel of mentors answer your practical business questions. Send us your questions!

Dear BAM Mentor,

How do you manage your associations with Christians and Christian networks – both national and international – in light of security concerns? My ideal is to maintain my relationships with churches and Christian organisations (and indeed receive vital support/services from these); and I want to be well connected into the local church. However, I am concerned about how those connections may endanger my business. How have you managed both the relational side and other more formal associations you have with organisations or churches?

~ Feeling Cautious

Dear Cautious,

This is first and fundamentally a theological-missiological issue, secondly a relational issue, and thirdly a risk-related issue. Let’s tackle the question in this order.

By “theological-missiological” I mean that the question takes us to the core issues of spiritual warfare, identity with the Kingdom of God, and the often overlooked and neglected matter of suffering for the sake of righteousness, in fulfilment of God’s purposes. The point is that, ultimately, our security is not our concern! We are engaged in a spiritual warfare, in which the advance of the Kingdom of God is often painfully slow and subject to setbacks, and that suffering, even to the point of shedding blood, let alone expulsion, is the New Testament norm. It’s commonplace, but profoundly erroneous, to assume that because we are doing something as value-added as business, we have therefore some sort of iron-clad guarantee that we’ll be exempt from the same tests, trials and trauma of any other missional effort.

By “relational” I mean that our being blood-bought brothers and sisters in Christ by definition implies a willingness to be associated with this community, to take pride in our shared identity, and to find meaningful ways to engage with other Christians. Our businesses should not be seen by the host country as discriminatory (i.e. don’t hire all Christians!) or a cover for activities that may be illegal at worst, or at least misunderstood (i.e. avoid associations with certain styles of activities or messaging that can be counter-productive). But we should resist any fear or shame in being identified with the local and global Christian community which shares the Name of Jesus, just to protect our business – which, while important, is of secondary importance to the Body of Christ. Read more

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