Missions, Outreach

What’s business got to do with it?

HAVE YOU WONDERED if there is a role for business people in fulfilling the Great Commission? What is God’s purpose for work and business? What is the role of business in the mission of the church? What does this term “BAM” that we keep hearing about really mean?

Under the auspices of the Lausanne Conference, a forum Business As Missions (BAM) Issue Group was formed to explore these questions. More than 70 people, including theologians, business people, church and missions workers from all continents, worked together for over a year gathering research, examining case studies, and engaging in prayerful dialogue.

An excerpt from their work published in 2004 states the following: BAM is about business with a Kingdom of God perspective, purpose, and impact. We recognise there is a need for job creation and for multiplication of businesses all over the world, aiming at the quadruple bottom line: spiritual, economic, social, and environmental transformation. We recognise the fact that the church has a huge and largely untapped resource in the Christian business community to meet the needs of the world – in and through business – and bring glory to God in the marketplace and beyond.

BAM has since crystallised into a movement among Christians around the world.

In 2011, a BAM Taskforce was established to determine how business as missions could support the vision and objectives of the Methodist Missions Society (MMS). This Taskforce, chaired by Mr Han Hai Kwang, is composed of 12 clergy and business people representing 10 local Methodist churches in Singapore.

In January 2013, the MMS Executive Committee endorsed the Taskforce’s recommendation to establish a separate company with limited guarantee to serve as an investment channel for business as missions in designated countries. The proposal will be submitted to the General Conference of The Methodist Church in Singapore for final approval.

The vision of this entity is to reveal Christ and continue His work on earth through business development, expansion, and multiplication. Its mission is to use the talents and resources God has given us to help others build viable and profitable businesses so as to sustain and support ministries that will glorify God. Christians with a heart for missions, especially those from business and professional sectors throughout Singapore, are invited to join as founding or general members.

If the Lord is calling you to support business as missions or if you simply have questions about BAM, please contact the Rev Teresa Wilborn, MMS Assistant Director of Community Development, at teresa.wilborn@gmail.com for more information.

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The Rev Teresa Wilborn is the Assistant Director of Community Development of the Methodist Missions Society.

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