Business As Mission Ideas for Missionaries...

Ji-Young and David

On January 2nd, Monday, Ji-Young Rhee and her assistant David Kim from San Jose, California gave a presentation about business as mission (BAM) ideas for Korean missionaries and Korean NGO leaders in Rwanda.

Business As Mission or BAM is not a new idea. It has been around. It was formalized in Christian circle in 2004 when Lausant Movement adopted it formally.

BAM is different from Business For Mission where you run a business and intend to use a part or all of the net profit for mission purposes.

BAM is also different from Business And Mission where business usually provides a platform to enter into a country where a missionary visa is not granted.

BAM is a business of which the purpose is to be self-sustainable with profit, to witness Christ's love and values through godly business practices and personal life, and to create impact that will help restore the broken relationships with the Creator God, other people and the rest of the creation.

Sister Ji-Young Rhee is an amazingly energetic, passionate and God-loving woman of God who will go anywhere and everywhere in the world if she can be of help in advancing God's Kingdom. She does not go with the Word alone, however. She will go with practical business ideas for micro enterprises usually of appropriate technology (AT). She is therefore tremendously resourceful. She is a software engineer by profession. But she is the wife of a PhD in mechanical engineering and the mother of three sons. Also she is now Chairperson of the board of Messengers of Mercy (M.O.M.) that provides a variety of resources, particularly medical resources, for the mission fields. In addition, she has now formed a Kingdom business, called E3Empower, which will gather and supply a variety of resources for the mission field, not to make a lot of money, but to be self-sustainable, to witness Jesus as the Savior and the Lord through godly business practices and to create the lasting impact in helping restore the broken relationship between God and all His creations. Yes, it is a BAM!

Ji-Young shared biblical foundations for BAM but also showed a variety of resources that included teaching materials for children, materials for creation science, natural farming ideas and methodology, affordable and effective water purifier, durable and affordable lights, solar cooker, solar charger etc.

All missionaries and NGO leaders were amazed and impressed. Ji-Young promised to continue her support for Rwanda. Missionaries and NGO leaders agreed in principle to find a way to work together managing the resources together with shared responsibilities.

We thanked the Lord for sending her (and her assistant David Kim) to Rwanda and expressed our appreciation for their coming to Rwanda and commitment to supporting Rwanda. - Jeffrey