| The Business as Mission (BAM) movement has become a fast growing flower in God’s garden. But not all rapidly growing seedlings will last for a long time. |
| So what will happen to the Business as Mission companies? Will we still talk about BAM 50 years from now? Of course only God knows what the future will look like and his foolishness is wiser than the wisdom of the humans (1 Cor 1.) Still it is possible to say something about the strengths and weaknesses of the BAM-strategy. BAM strengths Let us look at the strengths first. Here are a number of reasons why Business as Mission is a very relevant strategy for bringing the gospel to the ends of the earth: 1. Business people are welcomed everywhere. Nearly all countries will give visas to clever business people who will contribute to building up their society. In several of the countries where the Gospel is least known, there is a great need for business entrepreneurs who can bring about the creation of new workplaces. According to estimates from the World Bank, 2.6 billion people today have to survive on less than $2 per day. 1.4 billion people have an income lower than $1.25 per day. Within the next 20 years, two billion people will be born in societies where there are few churches and few jobs. It was God’s intention that everyone should work. If we have no job to go to and our skills are not in demand in society, we will very easily lose our dignity. God rejoices when business people use their skills and help people to get their dignity back. 2. Business people are welcomed in all layers of society. A man who served as a missionary in an African country for more than a decade, decided to start an import-export business when he moved to a new place. Now he is testifying how all doors opened for him after he started his business. 3. God has always used business people to bring the gospel forward. The Bible tells us that all but the apostles had to leave Jerusalem due to the persecution after the killing of Stephen (Acts 7). Many of those who left were craftsmen and women. The book of Acts tells us that those who were scattered planted new churches in the places where they settled. Gary Goodhew, a retired Anglican bishop, has concluded that «in the earliest history of the Christian mission the saving news of Christ was often carried to new places by those who were seeking to do business.» 4. Business leaders are people of influence. Some years ago a tentmaker went to Greenland to run a shipping business. The business soon became the biggest tax payer in the local community. Because of his contribution to the society, the tentmaker was able to connect on a personal level with the municipal leaders. BAM challenges There are also some common reasons why some Business as Mission companies fail. 1. The founders/leaders don’t know how to run a company. Some Christians have seen the BAM-model as an entry strategy to countries that do not issue visas to missionaries. Without any business skills, the people involved try to set up a viable company. However, due to lack of knowledge on how to run a company, the business fails. 2. Stigma of business Related to the first problem is the attitude that business work is not real work for God. Some people think that as soon as they’ve managed to register a business they can use as a visa platform, they’ll spend as little time as possible running the business, and as much time as possible on evangelism. Anyone thinking like this will probably not succeed in his or her business. The attitude will also often discredit the name of Jesus. When the authorities see that the persons involved are not doing the job they promised, they conclude that Christians are people who do not keep their word. 3. Hostile authorities are becoming more aware of the BAM model It is not only the Christian business people who know about the BAM way of working. Authorities in countries that are hostile towards the Gospel also have up to date knowledge about BAM. In many places they keep track of what the business managers are doing. This causes problems both to the businesses and to the local believers who are getting involved. Conclusion The BAM companies come in all shapes and sizes. Within the BAM family you find everything from one person companies making very little money to multi-national businesses with profits of millions of dollars. Together the BAM companies form a colorful flower. Let’s pray for God to raise up good BAM leaders and models so this movement now and in the future will have maximum impact for God’s kingdom. |
Author: Steinar Opheim
Will the US keep up with the rest of the world?
A focused group of 10 students showed up when Global Opportunities re-launched the organization’s tentmaking course in Pasadena in October. Nevertheless, the US can be left behind as the worldwide tentmaking train is gaining speed and bringing the gospel to the ends of the earth.
The US has been a driving force in the worldwide mission movement. In the same way, Global Opportunities has beena pioneer in developing modern tentmaking. Hundreds of overseas workplace witnesses have received their training through GO’s courses. But nine years into the new millennium, the American tentmaking train has to gain new speed if the US wants to maintain a leading role in what is happening.
In collaboration with its European partner, Tent, GO is now running annual tentmaking courses on three continents. The training that has been developed by the GO-Tent alliance is also used in other countries. On the African continent it is estimated that 1000 professionals will take the course in 2009. The courses in the US are outnumbered by similar events in Canada, Mali, Norway and Uganda. One thing that is admirable with Americans is their competitive attitude. Americans want to be world leaders and in many areas they are. Hopefully the same attitude can bring the US back as one of the major locomotives in the worldwide movement of tentmakers. The next chance for Americans to jump on the train and get the basic training is the GO Equipped TENTmaking course in Fort Myers, Florida in February of next year.
Nike won the world as a leading manufacturer for sports shoes and clothing. If you want to contribute in winning the world for Jesus as an international workplace witness, the course in Florida is a good starting point. Why not follow Nike’s slogan, book your tickets to Florida immediately and “Just do it”? You can register for the course here.
Steinar Opheim
Director
TENT Norway
“Christians are better than other people”
After three years of hard work and Bible teaching, a tentmaker serving in Asia was speaking at a house church meeting. – It is true that Christians are better than other people, isn’t it? the tentmaker asked.
The tentmaker was surprised to see people in the congregation starting to nod their heads in agreement. After a few clarifying questions, he realized that what he had tried to teach people throughout the last years had been in vain. The believers in this mid-sized Central Asian city really believed that they were morally superior to others in the society.
“If I could have done it over again and retrained the believers, I would have done things in a very different way,” the tentmaker stated a few years after finishing his job in the former Soviet republic. With a lack of knowledge on how to train disciples, the tentmaker focused on Bible teaching and systematic theology.
“For all Christians it is valuable to have a profound knowledge of the Bible, but I understood too late that many of the people I taught did not apply the Biblical message to their own lives. As a result, their lives were not changed,” states the tentmaker.
What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ in my life, at my workplace and in my neighborhood? This is one of the most central questions when it comes to discipleship training. Unfortunately the Biblical message remains head knowledge for many of us, and thus our lives are not changed according to the Scripture. Theological issues, and not the transformation of lives, also remain the focus in many churches.
Jesus called us to make disciples of all nations. In the four Gospels we read how he trained his disciples, concentrating on the few people he knew would be able to teach others. And he focused much of his teaching on everyday challenges and principles in the Kingdom of God.
There is no doubt that a tentmaker can be a good disciple-maker. A tentmaker works and lives under the same conditions as the people he or she has come to train. In this way a tentmaker, like Paul, the tentmaker from Tarsus, can model what it means to follow Jesus in everyday life.
It is said that when we we aim at nothing, we hit it every time. If we don’t know what the aim of our discipleship training is, we will probably fail. Dawson Trotman, the founder of Navigators, has given us the following guideline that can be of help: “A person is mature physiologically when he or she can reproduce physically; so too, a person is mature spiritually when he or she can reproduce spiritually.”