036: How Can the North American Church Engage in BAM?
Oct 3, 2016
Peter Shaukat gives us practical ideas and steps for how business people and churches in North America can engage in business-as-mission, through going, through short term trips and through coaching and encouraging. Listen to learn how you might mobilize the business owners in your church to further BAM initiatives around the world.What do you think of this episode?
Peter Shaukat was born and raised in Toronto Ontario. Since 1975 Peter has been engaged in cross-cultural mission, having lived and worked in a professional and business capacity on six continents, including nearly two decades in South Asia. He is the founder (1998) and CEO (since 2003) of a global investment fund which has invested in dozens of Kingdom-focused companies across the Arab world and Asia.
Peter travels extensively, preaching, teaching and mobilizing Christian business men and women to use their time, talent and treasure to extend the Kingdom of God among the least served and hardest to reach.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came to be passionate about missions.
- I grew up in a Christian home and mission was something that was very natural to the church where I grew up. My family were very supportive of mission.
- In my late teen years, I moved away from the Lord and became an idol-worshipper. Mission was something that other people did.
- Through a serious football accident, I came to really know the Lord and within weeks of that experience, I really became a deeply committed Christian and began to find a ravenous hunger for the Scriptures. In the Bible I found that God is a God of the nations and sensed very deeply that he called me to be a world Christian.
- I was studying Chemical Engineering at the time and at the time there was this sacred-secular dichotomy and there was this believe that people like myself, not studying ministry full time, that my role was to support missions financially. But I couldn’t shake a passion for missions and I had to learn how to incorporate my professional background with my passion for missions.
- The coming together of my faith and my vocation came later.
What is BAM?
- The term BAM is like a language with many different dialects. You’ll hear terms like BAM and business-for-transformation. They’re both similar.
- A working definition is authentic, credible, commercial businesses that has a genuine, missional purpose and intent. It means that the Lordship of Christ and the intentionality to demonstrate and proclaim the Kingdom of God is not accidental, but is intentional in how the business is conducted.
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As Christians, we don’t exist for ourselves but we exist for the world for which Jesus died.
Why should the North American church engage in and support BAM?
- As Christians, we don’t exist for ourselves but we exist for the world for which Jesus died.
- We must think strategically about how to in the most meaningful and effective way engage in the fulfillment of Christ’s mandate.
- Of all of the ways in which we can be involved, what are the ways that will enable us to liberate the talent, the spiritual giftings and the resources in meaningful ways.
- I would feel badly if any conversation about BAM led a North American Christian to believe that BAM is the silver bullet or that traditional missions is no longer relevant. It is one of many strategies.
- It compliments some of the classical mission endeavors that are still valid.
- North American Christians needs to be involved in BAM because the message of Christ is a holistic message – it is about the physical, spiritual and emotional dimensions of humanity.
For North American churches, if they want to begin participating in and supporting BAM initiatives, what advice do you have for them?
- Begin with an audit of your own church resources – who in your church congregation has business skills and expertise? Mobilize them for missions.
- The average Canadian church could benefit enormously by reaching out to some of the sending agencies that are explicitly advocating BAM initiatives. Do some research. Talk to them. Engage with them. They bring critical insights into cross-cultural work.
- To practically engage, the church needs to differentiate between business creators and business initiators. When we talk about BAM we often just talk about the entrepreneurs. Churches that want to engage in BAM should be aware of the fact that a lot of BAM initiatives that are already up and running are in need of additional building resources. Send some of these assets into situations where they can help build existing businesses.
- Be intentional about recognizing the BAM eco-system around it – what I mean by that is where is BAM being taught? We send young people to theological colleges. What about sending our church members to BAM school or BAM conferences?
I would feel badly if any conversation about BAM led a North American Christian to believe that BAM is the silver bullet or that traditional missions is no longer relevant. It is one of many good strategies.
If there is interested in participating in a BAM initiative, what are some of the challenges that a believer can expect to face?
- If one is thinking entrepreneurially, certainly the church and the individual needs to be aware of the very high chance of failure. I do not recommend that churches as entities get involved in the financing of BAM initiatives. But individuals within a church should be encouraged to be involved in the financing of an initiative.
- The church, in contemplating the engagement as a sender, needs to be aware of the costs and prospects of BAM. Many of the BAM initiatives are no in the high-end markets. Most exist in middle income countries. The church as a sending entity is still going to have to put money where its mouth is. It needs to understand that there are many of the same predominant factors as a classical missionary – there must be funding and prayer support.
- Churches can rally the business owners in their church and mobilize them.
- The biggest domain for BAM is in the small to medium enterprise range. When the church can identify its small and medium business owners and mobilize them to be coaches for people who want to go overseas as BAM workers, this is very beneficial.
- Sending these business owners in their churches to go on short term trips to encourage BAM workers and help them problem-solve is a great way to use the tool of short term mission trips.
Begin with an audit of your own church resources – who in your church congregation has business skills and expertise? Mobilize them for missions.
What resources would you recommend for people wanting to learn more about BAM?
If our listeners wanted to learn more from you, how might they contact you?
