SIM's Missional Business ministries move forward

A group of SIM workers with a passion for business ministry met at the end of last year and agreed a roadmap for the way forward.

The 18 workers spent four days in the Middle East, listening to God and to each other, working out what must happen if business ministry is to flourish within SIM.

A video from Joshua Bogunjoko pointed them to creation and to the dignity of work.* They also heard TED talks from our practitioners; and Zoom calls with other organisations in different parts of the world facing similar challenges.

The December meetings, which built on the 2017 Montenegro gathering, wrestled with some tough questions: How can we bring unity in our diversity, whether we run a small microenterprise or a large for-profit business, whether we serve in the marketplace or at home, as entrepreneurs or employees?

How can SIM support country teams to identify opportunities for business ministries and train them to oversee such ministries? How can we build networks which support businesspeople, providing coaching and specialist skills, such as accountancy and business planning?

The product of the discussions was a roadmap:

1. Form a global team to lead us, with regional hubs to serve contextually and relevantly. One regional hub is already working in East Asia.

2. Develop a database of all our businessoriented workers so we can be integrated and collaborate as a network across the mission.

One entrepreneur in the holistic manufacturing sector said, “It was great to get so many people from different facets of MB together in one place to learn, grow, plan and dream together. I’m encouraged by the support and look forward to easier and better access to this in running my MB.”

Many communities in the world live and die without Christ and for many, missional business is one of the only ministry strategies well accepted and understood in the context. In other communities in the world, the love of Jesus has been shared through other ministry strategies, but not business. As a result, they have missed some unique opportunities that MB provides. MB is key to cross some barriers and we need to utilise this more effectively.

Will you commit to praying for and playing a part in the growth and development of business ministries, seeing a global team and regional hubs developed?

To learn more or to let us know who should be in the database, email intl.bizmin@sim.org. *On the home page of Port, look to “Ministry Point Persons” dropdown menu on the lower right. Choose Missional Business > Documents > December 2019 meeting > Joshua’s Video Message.

PLEASE PRAY:

--For the development of strong, collaborative network of MB practitioners.

--For the Lord to encourage and guide each of our MB practitioners today .

OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE

SIM is ‘open for business’ around the world, in both open and restricted access countries. Here is a short list of skills and areas of knowledge, though many more could be added. Please share with your friends, prayer supporters and churches.

Entrepreneurs

Accountants

Human Resource specialists

Consultants

Marketing professionals

Communications workers

IT Workers

Micro-enterprise

Tourism

Manufacturing

Agriculture

Textiles

Healthcare