BAM allegations

A couple years ago when I started this blog I was excited to share with anyone who would read (all 11 of you) about BAM--Business As Missions.  It was (and is) one of the most cutting-edge approaches to missions being put into use in the world today.  The idea is that Missionaries engage in some sort of business (usually as owners or managing directors) which allows them to gain access to unreached peoples as well as giving them a way to associate with their targeted people.  BAM is one type of "tentmaking" approach. 

And let's face it--the majority of the world's unreached peoples live in what are called "Creative Access Nations" (CANs).  CANs aren't going to have many visas available for people who want to be public missionaries, and the opportunities that are available for living and working there will likely be out of reach for people who have only theological education.  So, BAM is one of the best ways to go.

But I've learned that BAM will also bring a number of allegations against you... Usually from people who are just making assumptions and don't really know what you're doing.  If you are planning to do BAM, be prepared to be accused of...

• Being Greedy--not really in it for ministry, but you're in it for the money.
• Being Distracted--you can't possibly doing as much ministry as you would be doing if you were a "full-time" missionary without any business responsibilities.
• Being only about Presence Evangelism and not Proclomation (or about social justice and not evangelism)--your business helps people physically, but you aren't doing any gospel sharing.

There is a lot that can be said about each one of these points.  And, the truth is--there are probably real examples of each of these out there in the world.  But I am confident that we are not guilty of these three things.  If any of them, we might be guilty of being distracted by business responsibilities at times--but those are really only distractions if the ministry you're doing is completely separate and unrelated to the business.  In our case, much of our ministry happens because of our business, so the time we put into the business contributes to the ministry. 

BAM is not for everyone.  It takes a team to work well.  But if you decide to do BAM--don't be discouraged if you find that you're not the sexiest missionary on the block in the eyes of some. 

Business and Missions

Four types of Business and Missions models:

Business As Missions—The business actually allows you to do ministry you couldn’t otherwise do.  The business is successful and is a platform for successful ministry.

Business For Missions—The business helps to fund missions or gives you an entrance to do ministry, but the ministry doesn’t really flow out of the business.

Business as a Front For Missions—The business is not seriously undertaken to be active or profitable, but just provides a front in hostile locations to hide the work of ministry that you are actually focused on doing. The ministry has nothing to do with the business.

Business in Spite of Missions—The business is done well and may have some positive effects, but ministry is mostly left behind in order to focus on making the business work.  (Missions as a Front For Business.)

I can live with one of the first two, but not with the last two.

Location

In retail business there is one aspect of your enterprise that is not only critically important--it is exclusively important. Meaning, if this aspect isn't good, then it matters very little how well you do in every other aspect. What is it?

Location.

That's right, you've heard it before: Location, location, location.

The axiom is that you want to be located where people already are going by and can easily stop in. You don’t want to be somewhere where you have to try to draw them in with your product—no matter how wonderful that product is.

That is the point about location—A good location beats a good product. A good location beats sub-par service. Bad businesses (with inferior products or substandard service) can do well in good locations. Good businesses (with superior products and services) do poorly in bad locations.

Location is a trump card. A good location beats all the other things you can do (or fail to do) to make your business prosper. It almost seems unfair. Why should a mismanaged and inferior enterprise do better than your own? Because it has a better position. You may be able to sink 65% of your three-pointers, but all they do is make 98% of their lay-ups.

That is why it is much more important to spend more time and energy (and resources) on securing a good location for your business than spending it on logos, advertising, or even employee training. If location is a trump card for all these other things, businesses are wise to go after the best locations, first, before investing in so many other things.

So… what does this mean for ministry? Are there “locations” in our society we can try to “secure” in order to make it almost impossible to fail?

I’m mulling this one over… I could see “locations” for ministry in three ways:

1. Physical location of our services. And I don’t just mean “services” in terms of meetings (although, that is a part of it, too), but of any kind of service/ministry we would offer to the public who needs it. If we are in places where people are at already, it will make it much easier to serve them. We will have more people who accept the service we have to offer. Even though I’ve listed this first, it just might be the most important.
   
2. Cultural location. This just means doing things according to the “culture” of where people are at. Call it being culturally relevant, if you like.
   
3. Mental location. This means we are dealing with the exact issues that are in people’s minds as to why they are where they are with God. Now, this doesn’t mean the “real” issues. Sometimes real issues are subconscious. These are the conscious issues in people’s minds—what they think about God, about others who believe in God, about organized religion and about where they fit in the eternal scheme of things. These are the kinds of things Paul was talking about when he made the “take every thought captive” comment. (No, he actually wasn’t talking about lust.)

Securing a good location is “getting a corner on the market.” It is positioning ourselves right under the basket so that we can make the highest percentage shots possible. The question is—how do we get to that location in the communities we are trying to reach?

Missionary Material 4

I used to think that everyone who majored in business majored in greed. In fact I had a roommate once who was a business major and on one occasion I commented to him that he and all the other business students are majoring in greed. He kind of smirked and said, "For most people--that's about right!"

For many people business and ministry cannot mix. Business exists to make money. Ministry exists to save souls. And money is what those of us in ministry are often fighting against in trying to save all those souls from loving it more than God. So, in many ways, business and ministry are enemies.

Many Christians think the Bible says something to the effect of "Money is the root of all evil."

It does, doesn't it?

Well, no, it doesn't.

Here's the verse you're thinking of:

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." 1 Timothy 6:10

Money in and of itself is neutral. The sin is to LOVE money. The sin is to SEEK money before God. The sin is to HOARD money that we have when we could use it to help people in need.

So, business, like money, is neutral. It is no more sinful to do business than it is to have money.

But for many of us... we reject anything from the realm of business because we assume that if your purpose is to make a profit then you must not have pure motives. At the end of the day... we assume... you're in it for the money!

I've written elsewhere about ways we can do business and shield ourselves from the temptations of profits. But as I read through much of the Bible and as I learn more about business I am starting to see that business, in a lot of ways, is a lot like good stewardship. It's a lot like trying to make smart financial decisions. And, if you look at it one way, anyone who has and uses any amount of money is already doing business.

You work at a job and get paid. That is how you make money. You then use this money to buy food and clothes and also pay for your car and your house. When you buy a house, you have to be careful not to spend too much or your salary will not be able to keep up with it. Sometimes things get tight and you have to plan your purchases carefully. At the end of the day, you are selling your services (by doing your job) and then you are managing your expenses the best you can so that you will hopefully end up with a little to save each month. Hey, don't look now, but--You're doing business!

If we manage our expenses poorly we go into debt, are forced to sell assets or we have to live without for a period of time. We probably all have experience at this. So...

Why not learn to do business right? Could learning about good business practices be a matter of good stewardship?

I am reading a very good book now that I think every high-school student should study. That's right--high school! I have gone all of these years (after having majored in science and theology) and have never been taught these things that I believe would be a good idea to include as required high-school or college general education curriculum. The book?

The Complete Idiot's Guide to MBA Basics

It's not rocket science and don't let the "MBA" part fool you--it doesn't take a business whiz to grasp the concepts. Also, don't let the "Idiot" part fool you, either--that just means this book assumes no prior knowledge in the business discipline. Good for guys like me.

So, how about that young missionary wannabe who wants to know how to become an effective missionary in a very unreached part of the world? Well, I'm not saying you HAVE to do BAM, but I think it is a very good option that will allow you to get to and involved in so many places that would never accept someone who just has a Missions degree from a Bible college. And, depending upon the kind of business you do, you will likely need to get training in something else, too, besides missiology.

Managing People

If management is defined as the art of getting things done through other people, then I have one thing to say about it:

I suck at it.

Sorry for the language—I rarely speak like this, but there is no better word that can describe my abilities more precisely.

Whether trying to get things done through other people in business, or by directing them in ministry, I usually end up very disappointed, angry, disillusioned and hurt. The people who were under my management usually end up very disappointed, angry, disillusioned and hurt. In other words—my management style is hell on relationships.

Now, perhaps I’ve being a little hard on myself. I do have a few success stories over the years. But I think I have more disappointments. And one of my consistent feelings is, “Why don’t people do things better than they do? Why don’t they take more responsibility? Why don’t they see that this level of quality is still not enough?” I often am amazed that even though they agree to accomplish a certain goal, they don’t do what it takes to figure out how to accomplish that goal well. I become personally offended when they don’t do their job to the highest standard of excellence.

What do I do? Usually deride them. Yell at them a little. Question their character. Question their integrity and loyalty. Let them know that they’ve personally hurt me by doing a bad job.

I’m a jerk that way.

Well, I’m learning. I have been humbled. I have been completely broken by my own mistakes and my own treatment of other people. I have been personally grieved by the broken relationships I have caused. I know I expect way too much of people and have struggled to find out how to have the highest of standards in work/ministry and yet not expect too much from people. It almost seems contradictory.

I grew up in a family situation that discipled me to motivate others by making them feel bad. Seriously. That’s how my parents and older siblings motivated me. They would insult me for whatever I did that displeased them. I was hurt and was thus motivated to improve in order to protect myself from being hurt by them and to make them happy.

So when I became an adult this is how I attempted to motivate people, too. I would tell people to accomplish a particular goal and when they would go about it in ineffective ways I would question their judgment and intelligence. If they did it again, I would question their integrity. Great management skills, huh? Would love to work for a boss like me, right? Yeah, right.

I have completely started over now. I have read some books. I have listened to other people. I have tried to deal with my own issues and the relational “rut” I easily fall into by deriding those under me who displease me. I’m not perfect and not yet where I want to be. But I am learning. The transformation is underway; but it will take a while to complete.

One thing I’ve learned: Success is obtained not just by looking at the problems and obstacles and solving them. Success is obtained by looking at the goal, and continuing to look at it. The former is a focus on the negative. The latter is a focus on the positive. The former is a focus on a part of the present reality. The latter is a focus on a future reality.

I can do this. I know I can. I can do it right, too. I am filled with hope.

Doing Business Right

I have been thinking about business a lot ever since I started doing business in The Location. I have had my share of struggles in trying to make things run smoothly, work right and be profitable, too. I want things to be profitable for the sole purpose of it being sustainable. That is, I don’t want to have to keep dumping money into an enterprise that is just not working. I want it to make a profit so that it can continue to function on its own.

Perhaps that is part of my problem. Perhaps it isn’t. I don’t know, really. I do know that two out of three enterprises I’ve started have yet to make a profit. Perhaps if I were shooting for large profits rather than just a profit it would make becoming profitable a little easier. I mean, if we shoot for the stars and fall short, we’re still doing pretty good. But if we shoot for a cow pile…well, our chances of success are high but it’s not where we want to be.

One thing I do know: Business people with experience and success (and those who do not have a ministry objective) do not have the mere goal of profitability for sustainability. They want to make good profits. To do otherwise wouldn’t be considered “good business.” So, I wonder, should I be aiming for a higher margin of success even if being rich is not my goal? Would aiming for larger profits actually help me to achieve sustainability a lot better?

One other thing I know: In the business world, people who start businesses that end up being successful in the long run are people who have knowledge and experience in doing what they’re attempting to do. If they don’t, they get people who do to work with them. What that means is that if I am learning as I go (because of lack of knowledge and experience in both business administration and the production of products and services we offer) then I will make a lot more mistakes; it will take a lot longer time; and there is a higher percentage of potential failure.

A football team I follow has just hired a new general manager and a new coach. Both of these men have never held these positions before. They are both “new” to their jobs—doing it for the first time. But they aren’t really doing it for the first time. They do have experience. Even though they have never held the top jobs in coaching and general managing, they have been in the system for a long time. They have been the “second man” for quite a while. They come to their new jobs—not without any experience or idea of what to do—but with plenty of experience in seeing how a successful football club is run. You see, every head coach is a head coach for the first time, sometime. But rarely, if ever, does someone become a head coach without having been an assistant coach for a long time and without having most recently spent time as a defensive or offensive coordinator. No one hires a man off the street—or even a recently retired football player—to be the head coach. Even if that man could eventually figure it out, they don’t want to lose millions on his “learning curve” and the time it would take to learn as he goes. They need more confidence that he will start out with a winning plan.

So, as an entrepreneur who has never ran a successful business or even been the “second man” in a successful business, I have a pretty big learning curve ahead of me. That is okay. But what it means is that I would do well to learn about the right way to do my business. Knowing the product is not enough. Knowing how to produce what we’re selling is not enough. I need to know about all the administrative things I see big successful companies doing that might seem “unnecessary” for a small business like mine. I need to be prepared for growth and have the systems in place to handle it when it happens. Because if I don’t, the business will crash and burn when it can’t keep up.

I have a lot of work to do. I have a lot of study to do.

And I have accepted this. I think sometimes, as Christians, we don’t accept the business challenge ahead of us when we start to do BAM. We make some fatal business assumptions. One is that the business will kind of work itself out. Another is that we don’t really need an MBA or need to know about the things MBA graduates know. Another fatal assumption is: “If this is God’s business he will bless it and make it successful.” We use this kind of blind faith in God’s power to exempt ourselves from due diligence in the task he has given us to do.

One book about BAM that I read said that most BAM enterprises are usually good at business or good at ministry. Less often will they find one that is good at both.

I think this is a challenge to us to well in both business and ministry. If we cannot, perhaps the model isn’t as good as we thought.

Putting Business to Work for God

I think that sometimes Christians are given more credit than they deserve. For both good and bad. I have heard Christians take credit for everything that is good about Western culture. “Our societies have progressed beyond societies of the world because of our Judeo-Christian heritage.” Maybe, but I doubt it. In the time of Jesus the Roman Empire was the envy of the world in terms of organization, technology and progress, and they did it without being Christian first. Many like to say it was because of the official acceptance of Christianity that the Roman Empire fell. Maybe, but I doubt that too.

In our modern age Christian missionaries are often blamed for all manner of things stemming from the days of rampant colonialism where Christian missions was simply a part of the process of “civilizing the natives” and bringing them into modernity. Missionaries are commonly blamed for destroying cultures and changing customs. It is almost like people say, “Natives would still be just like we like them—living in harmony with nature without any of the trappings of Western technology—if it weren’t for missionaries going in and messing things up.”

First of all, that is a very narrow and incorrect view of how things are. I could write an entire book dealing with the misconceptions bound up in that one statement. Secondly, I think people are giving missionaries too much credit for “messing things up.”

There are at least three dynamics in our world that I believe are much more responsible for the changing of cultures than missionaries. I even think the influence of missionaries may be far down the list from these “top three.” But this isn’t based on scientific research—just my own experience over the years. What are those three dynamics? Politics, the people themselves and business. I might say technology, but I am going to include that into the others. New technologies wouldn’t be brought to the peoples of the world if it weren’t for government programs or businesses selling the new products.

Politics. Politics is big. We know that political borders don’t represent ethnic boundaries, but they are important nonetheless. Government, political administration and strife over these things (war) effect people tremendously. Cultures are mixed and changed. It has been this way ever since man began defining boundaries and ruling over one another.

The people themselves. Most people don’t realize this but when you see “natives” in t-shirts it often is not the pushing of outside culture in as much as it is the sucking of it in. People see things on the outside that they don’t have and they want it. Contrary to popular belief, most so-called “stone age” tribes do NOT consider themselves to be living a dream in harmony with nature but instead loathe their own poverty and way of life and desire ways to get out of it.

Business. Businesses make money when they sell their services and products. They are effective when they create consumers. This is what marketing is all about—letting you know why you NEED our product. And taken as a whole, this is a powerful force in our world. I honestly believe that international business has exerted more cultural influence on non-Western peoples than traditional missionaries ever have.

Coca-Cola spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year just to try to sell their product. Their goal isn’t to try to make people into better people, but to make people drink Coke. So, it might be an easy choice for them to send an implicit message that in order to be cool, fashionable, sexy, etc. you should drink Coke. To talk about the real physical benefits of drinking Coke—well there aren’t any. It is full of sugar and will make you fat if you drink a lot of it. So, they don’t go there. Instead they go to image. Along with a thousand other companies, they implicitly teach people that how you look—how “cool” you are—is important.

Christian missionaries, and Christian workers in our own culture, have always faced an uphill battle in combating the messages coming out of our TVs and magazines when they advertise for such businesses. Instead of teaching people that how they look is important we want to teach them that they are intrinsically valuable and loved by God. We scramble to pick up the pieces of broken people who can’t live up to the cultural “ideal” put forth in all of these images.

And it’s hardly a fair fight if we look at it in the world’s perspective. Churches fight this battle with minuscule budgets and without being coordinated and connected to any or few other churches. Big companies like Coca-Cola have hundreds of millions of dollars at their disposal and a very well-connected global network to get their message out. Perhaps only the Mormons come close to doing anything similar with their message. They have been doing BAM for a long time.

My point is this: Instead of always fighting the influence of non-Christian business in the world, we should use business to influence the world for God’s kingdom.

Non-Christian businesses would love to make the world full of consumers. They are successful in producing consumers when they make people dissatisfied with themselves and narcissistic. Narcissism (concern with our own image) is like a substance addiction that keeps us coming back and buying more drugs—it makes us perpetual consumers always needing to buy things that are really not good for us or, in the least, are unnecessary.

But why not make businesses work for Christ instead of against him? Why not start businesses that send out a good message—the right message? Why not have kingdom-minded Christians running international businesses around the world that do not lead people to narcissism but lead them to redemption? Why don’t we harness the ability to influence that exists in the business world and use that to expand God’s kingdom on earth?

I say let’s do it.

Team BAM

Another concern people raise about BAM is that doing both business and ministry takes too much time. After all, even the apostles designated others to do certain things so that they could focus on teaching the Word of God.

And this is my response: Doing just ministry can also take too much time if one guy is trying to do the work of 10. Doing just business can take too much time if one person is trying to do the work of 12. To be successful in both ministry and business you need to have a team. The size of the team depends upon the size of the work at hand.

Actually, you could say that the twelve apostles and the seven who were chosen to serve the widows in Acts were all a part of the same team. They each had different roles, but they were getting it all done.

The same is true with BAM. If the business aspect takes one full-time person to “run” it and the ministry aspect also takes one full-time person to serve, then you should start out with a least a team of two people. You could both do some business things and both do some ministry things—however you decide to break it up according to your gifts and passions. But BAM isn’t intended to be a “one-man show.” It takes a team.

Non Profit--For Profit

One of the most common objections or "concerns" that people raise when it comes to BAM is that doing business will lead to greed or distract you from ministry in the pursuit of money. At first I was surprised when people brought this up. I thought to myself, "If you know me you HAVE to know that is NOT what I'm about." But some of these people didn't know me. And when thinking about others doing BAM, I might have the very same concern if I didn't know them that well. I might have that suspicion, "Is this just a fancy way for them to use God to get rich?"

Here in The Location stinginess is more of a cultural sin than greed. It's like, You shouldn't withhold your money from me--that's wrong! But it's not so wrong (in people's minds) to want more money all the time. But greed is a real thing and it certainly can and does affect us. We should not take it for granted that greed isn't going to raise its head and tempt us. Our defense should never just be, "Oh, I would never do that."

So if a Christian missionary starts a business with the goal/plan of doing BAM, what is going to keep them on the right track? If the business is successful then they would not need to be financially supported by anyone. Therefore, if they would start teaching heresy or if they dropped all ministry just to do business and make money, there would be no recourse of "pulling their funds" to stop it.

I think I have a way to help address this concern, and it is how we have set things up with our work here in The Location. That is to have non-profit ownership of for-profit enterprises.

That means that the missionary (or the minister, if done at home) is not the one who owns the business but is the one who runs it. He or she wouldn't be keeping all the money, nor would it be at their discretion to use as they please. Neither would there be shareholders who control the profits or who are expecting/desiring to get a return on their investment. Instead, all the profits would stay within the company and organization that owns the business.

In the US it is not against the law for non-profits (even tax-exempt organizations) to do profitable business. While some activities would still be taxed, the important thing is how profits are handled. For this set up, profits would not go in anyone's pockets but would be used for the stated purpose of the non-profit organization. So, it is possible for something like a church (a non-profit organization) to own a business like a coffee shop. The income, in addition to covering expenses, can be given to the missions budget or help feed the homeless or any other kind of ministry.

Along with non-profit ownership of for-profit enterprises comes oversight and accountability. I believe that in BAM we should have as thorough a ministry plan as we do a business plan, and vice versa. The board of directors can then hold the missionary(ies)/minister(s) accountable to not only run the business well, but to put excellence into the ministry as well.

So, imagine some possibilities:

A non-profit organization is created in the US and opens several different businesses. One is something like a YMCA center where people come to work out, play sports, take classes on all kinds of different things... and the staff are the ministers who not only interact with the customers but also offer special short courses on the Bible, do discipleship, and run children's programs. Another team of ministers start a coffee shop to reach out to the college and artsy crowd while also having a worship night once a week; hosting group meetings to overcome substance or pornography addictions; and partnering with a homeless mission to help provide food and volunteers on a regular basis. Another group of ministers start an organic farm in a more rural area and host area youth during the summer to help do the work of the farm while also discipling them. The income from the produce covers all expenses.

And I'm sure there are a lot more creative and more impacting ideas out there that others can/will think of. Perhaps this will help you to start brainstorming.

I have actually created a non-profit organization in the US to be the owner of our business here in The Location, and also future businesses we may start in the States that are associated with what we're doing over here. But it takes teams of people with a common vision to do all of this. I'm excited about the possibilities.

So, let's hear your ideas...

Businessman Christian

I tend to loathe the "How to be rich and be a Christian" movement that is in certain sectors of Christianity these days. You can call it the health and wealth gospel. But, actually, what I am talking about is bigger than the health and wealth gospel movement. It is the line of teaching that aims to justify "building bigger barns" that Jesus warned us about. And I know that saying this automatically offends many of the wealthy people I know, some of whom support missions.

Personally, I don't think it is wrong to own anything or to have money. We have to be careful not to condemn wealth but to condemn greed. But it seems like this argument, "It's not wrong to have money, only to be greedy," is often the very mask that covers up greed. It is sad that we have to waste energy in our lives or in the church trying to justify the wealth we have.

If we think to ourselves, "I give my 10% to God, so I can do whatever I want with the rest!" then we miss the heart of Jesus. We miss it.

I am not one to be dogmatic about a 10% line, increasing our giving by 1% a year, etc. I know for some 10% is an unimaginable sacrifice. For others, giving 10% means sacrificing luxuries, not necessities. And it is to this latter group that I am referring in this post. Is the 90% that we're living on still more than we need?

I tend to be one who promotes living more simple lives, consuming less, and giving more. Kind of like food. Gluttony is the sin of overeating--eating more than our bodies need. Just because I have lots and lots of food doesn't exempt me from gluttony just because I only ate half of it and gave the rest to the local homeless mission. No, I should only eat what my body needs regardless of how much food is on the table.

So, I tend to think the same way when it comes to wealth. I should only consume as much as I need, regardless of how much I make.

I write these things because I want to warn people to be aware. Beware of those books, seminars, conferences, classes and audio Cd's that give us a lot of solid financial and accounting advice, but mask greed. I don't want us to hide behind a truth that it isn't wrong to have wealth when our hearts are more excited about that wealth than serving Christ. That doesn't mean we throw away good accounting and financial planning, but it means we root out greed whenever it sprouts.

I want to warn people that this is NOT what BAM is about. It is not about making ourselves wealthy. It is all about furthering the mission of God in our world.

If I call myself a "Christian businessman" then what I am saying is that I am a businessman who happens to be a Christian. The word "Christian" is the adjective modifying the noun "businessman." So, it means that I am a businessman first, Christian second.

Perhaps it would be better, then, to call myself a "Businessman Christian." I am a Christian who happens to be a businessman. "Christian" is not just an adjective modifying my identity--it is the root of who I am. It just so happens that I do business. I am a follower of Christ first, and a businessman second. That means I do business for Christ--not try to make Christ do business for me.

BAM and Christian Business

Thank you to Katdish for bringing this up in the comments on my post The Approach.

Is BAM the same thing as a "Christian Business"?

In my hometown you can look through the Yellow Pages and will see numerous ads with the Christian fish symbol on it, a cross or sometimes a scripture. Sometimes someone gets clever and spells the word sun (that fiery ball in the sky) as "Son" (that's right, the Son of God--Jesus). These are all "codes" to let us know that the owner is a Christian. Many Christians will see these things, pick up on the code, and become excited to find a fellow Christian. When it comes time to use their service (auto repair, dentist, lawyer, etc.) they will choose that Christian business over the other ones.

Not too different is when a businessman joins a church. He then gets a hold of the church directory and promptly sends out letters or e-mails letting everyone know about his business. Or, he makes an announcement in church that he will give a special deal to all the members of the church who want to come purchase his goods or services. Most people are so excited that they are on "the inside" of a good deal that they don't realize that this guy is likely doing this to increase his business, not because he wants to "bless" the church.

Now, I don't think these things are inherently wrong. I think that depends on the heart of the business man or woman and what their purpose is. I cannot judge them. I think we often feel jaded, though, because we feel like people are using God. And I think many times people do. They have put a Christian label on their sign to drum up more business in areas where there are a lot of Christians. They are using God to make more money.

BAM (Business as Missions/Ministry) is quite the opposite. The idea is to use business to impact people for God, not using God to improve business. Profitability is important because it is necessary for sustainability. The real "bottom line," however, is kingdom impact. Our main purpose is to serve God and to expand his kingdom. Therefore, we try to do business with those who are NOT Christians. This is not to try to trick them or get their money, but in order to get to know them and build a relationship. In the course of a relationship we share our faith in Christ in a natural way.

Therefore, I think most BAM businesses would NOT use Christian labels or symbols because the goal isn't to get into the Christian community but to get into the non-Christian community.

The Blessings of Restricted Access

I have often said that our situation here in The Location (a "closed" country) forces us to do things right. And this is not something I ever thought about before I came here.

Here in The Location...

We are not the ones up in front leading things.
We do not run big ministry programs.
We do not build church buildings.
We do not pay preachers.
We do small discipleship rather than mass evangelism.
We do Business as Missions.
We set up National Tentmakers.

I always thought of working in "closed," "restricted access," or "creative access" countries as simply an obstacle to overcome. I wanted to work in such a place over an "open country" because I knew that many of the most unreached peoples are living in restricted access countries. So, for me, doing other things besides traditional missions was simply an "evil necessity" because of the political situation. That is, we do business or tentmaking or development projects because we have to do it just to get in, but if this country was open, we'd dispose of those other things and just do ministry.

I don't view it this way any longer.

I discovered that the things I felt I was "forced" to do because of restricted access were actually the best things that a place like The Location needs from someone like me--a missionary from the West. And so I also discovered that the other things I might be doing if this were an "open" country are sometimes NOT the best things to be doing. My situation caused me to "think outside the box" when I was mostly used to traditional missionary approaches I had seen in places like Mexico, Haiti and Latin America and heard about from places like India and Thailand.

Some of the things I learned:

• That as a foreigner I should not do things the nationals can do, but try to contribute in ways that are mostly impossible for the nationals to do without outside help.
• That building things like church buildings and Bible colleges tends to institutionalize Christianity as a religion rather than growing God's church as a living community.
• That for the most part we ignore the idea of "The Priesthood of All Believers" in our practices both at home and on "the mission field."
• That sustainability and reproducibility are definite and realizable goals and not just long-term hopes.
• That not only is discipleship a bigger need than evangelism (in our popular understanding of those two things), but that real evangelism is discipleship (in Jesus' understanding).
• That slow, deliberate growth is strong and ultimately more effective.
• That it is right for Christians to be deliberate about being in the world rather than isolating ourselves from the world, even though isolation is our pattern around the world.

So, for me, restricted access has become an opportunity to learn how to do things the right way. Another thing I have found myself saying often is that if The Location were to open up, begin offering missionary visas and inviting Christian workers, I would not change my approach to what we're doing here. It would basically stay the same.

Now I feel that even if God calls me to work in an open country (or in America) I would still do ministry in this fashion. That is a strong emphasis on discipleship and leadership training; indigenous leadership from the earliest stages of church planting; business as ministry that helps those who are poor to be able to feed and support themselves; setting up national tentmakers; and an emphasis on simple organic church communities that are easily reproducible and that live out the Priesthood of All Believers concept.

We should not view "tentmaking" or Business as Missions as a necessary evil for working in "closed" countries. Instead, we should consider how these approaches might work in more open places, too.

What is BAM?

Someone asked me recently what BAM is and I liked my response so much that I'm posting it here:

BAM stands for "Business as Missions." The idea is that we do business as a way to do ministry in a foreign country, particularly "closed" or "creative access" countries. It is NOT "business as a front for missions" or "business with enough Christianity to raise funds from Christians" but real mission work accomplished through real business.

Actually, I don't think BAM is (or should be) limited to foreign fields. I think BAM could mean "Business as Ministry" even in our home country and be an effective way to reach people who would never come to visit a church out of the blue.

Training

Well, I wish I could go into detail on this blog about our training, but I can't. However, I do want to explain and share a little.

We are doing BAM (Business as Missions) here at The Location. (I think I'm going to start calling it "The Location" instead of "here at our location" all the time. Sounds more interesting; more mysterious.) And I will say that it is related to agriculture. That's all I'm going to reveal on this blog.

So what was this training? Well, we do agricultural promotion. That means we have a particular crop that we promote for people here to plant and harvest. It is a crop that many don't know a lot about, but it is suitable and can bring them a good income, too. It is also good for the environment in many ways. So, our agricultural promotion program is a win-win situation for us, for them and for the environment. If that is all we did it would be a good thing for The Location and The People here. (I guess we have to start calling them "The People" rather than just "the people we're working with here at our location.")

But our agricultural program also allows us the opportunity to build relationships with these unreached people in these unreached villages. We get to know them through this work and they get to know us. The local government is completely behind our activities, too, because it will help them have an income, help the environment and help the economy. So whenever we go visit these villages there is no suspicion on behalf of the government--"Are they CIA spies? Are they spreading foreign religion?" No, we've answered that question in their minds already--"Oh, they're there promoting The Crop." (I see a trend here: The Location. The People. The Crop.) So as time goes on and we build relationships it will be only natural to share our beliefs with The People. It won't be as problematic because no one will think that is the main reason we're there.

We have designated a group leader in each village for those who are planting The Crop. Most of these people are also the village headman or the vice-headman. And it is these group leaders we invited for a three-day training this past week. And we had a lot of fun together.

Most of these guys live way up in the mountains and out in the jungles. They represent the poorest of the poor, and also the most difficult peoples to access in this country. But we brought them into town to our office and had all of our lessons prepared with pictures on a power-point. We projected this on a big screen and it was all very impressive to them. Most development organizations just have someone talking without any visual aids, or with minimal visual aids. We had our power point presentations, videos, materials for them to touch and hold, and different things for them to eat and taste. It was all new to them and they all returned to their villages excited about the possibilities for planting The Crop.

They are also more motivated than ever because they now see and know for sure that we are for real. Many people visit country villages and promote different crops promising to buy it at high prices. Then when harvest comes the promoters are no where to be found, or they offer prices much lower than what was promised. The government has been guilty of the same thing. Therefore, most villagers are wary of outsiders who come in promoting something and hyping their product. It takes time, but we plan to always do what we say and build their trust. Over time they will see that we are not trying to trick them or take advantage of them.

So I believe our training has opened a lot of doors. I am confident now that when I, or one of our staff, visits these villages in the future we will be more eagerly welcomed. I am confident that we will now get more requests from families in these villages to plant The Crop than we can supply. I am confident they will be more determined to plant The Crop in the right way so that it thrives and produces the best possible harvest.

Mostly, I pray to our God that his Holy Spirit will open doors through all of these activities for us to share about his great love and offer of forgiveness. I pray that lives will be changed and villages transformed. If you have a moment, please pray for these same things, too.