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Legitimate Business As Mission Ventures And Effective Witness, Summer Rogers Apr 2023

Legitimate Business As Mission Ventures And Effective Witness, Summer Rogers

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis discusses the practice of missionaries creating cover businesses solely for visa purposes, which brings a dishonest presence and harms the ministry. In contrast, Business as Mission (BAM) is a strategic business model to bring the gospel overseas through social, economic, and spiritual impact. Through a literature review, best practices for legitimate BAM ventures are explored based on studies done by BAM professionals and experts. Research shows that Christian businesspeople can establish an authentic image and credible witness through BAM businesses that are integrated into the local community, generate a profit, and incorporate biblical principles into business operations. BAM …


Sacred Business: Outlining Business As Mission For The Fulfillment Of The Great Commission, Eli Jackson Apr 2022

Sacred Business: Outlining Business As Mission For The Fulfillment Of The Great Commission, Eli Jackson

Senior Honors Theses

Business as Mission (BAM) is the operation of a for-profit business located in a cross-cultural setting and aimed toward the fulfillment of the great commission. This definition reveals four key success factors for BAM: support, financial and otherwise, for both the business and the missionaries; the ability to gain access to cross-cultural settings; the opportunity to advance the gospel; and the requirement of managing both missional and business goals. Examining each of these areas, along with the historical effectiveness of BAM, reveals that BAM is an efficient and effective missional strategy, which should be used to see the Great Commission …


Engaging The Poor: Leveraging Local Poverty Assistance Programs To Prepare For Global Engagement, Darren Hercyk Mar 2020

Engaging The Poor: Leveraging Local Poverty Assistance Programs To Prepare For Global Engagement, Darren Hercyk

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

With globalization, there has been an explosion in travel by academic institutions and the church. For the church, this growth has been in short-term mission trips. Unlike traditional missionaries, most short-term travelers are untrained or lightly trained laypersons. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to understand how local poverty assistance programs could be leveraged to prepare the church today for global engagement. This study provided ten church volunteers with training that included a Scripture overview of the poor, the multidimensional factors of poverty, reducing harm in poverty programs, and the skills for affirming dignity during an interview. Following …


A Study On Church Growth Through Social Work As A Contact Point Of Community, Young Lee Jul 2017

A Study On Church Growth Through Social Work As A Contact Point Of Community, Young Lee

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The objectives of this study is to provide a vision for developing the churches in South Korea and to develop a method to recover the missional function of churches through non-profit organizations. Although Korean churches have achieved a remarkable growth both quantitatively and qualitatively, they have been busy maintaining their status in an immature fashion, resulting in the loss of their influence around the rapidly diversifying world. This study aims to provide a direction and an alternative for the church to recover its mission and approach to the world by studying the ministry associated with non-profit organizations. In order to …


Dando Um Jeito: An Integrated Theological, Historical, Cultural And Strategic Study Of Missio Dei To, In And Through Brazil, Joao Mordomo Jan 2014

Dando Um Jeito: An Integrated Theological, Historical, Cultural And Strategic Study Of Missio Dei To, In And Through Brazil, Joao Mordomo

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Since it’s descobrimento on April 22nd, 1500, Brazil proved to be resistant to Protestant and Evangelical Christianity until the 20th century. However, by the end of the century, Brazil had, in many missiologists’ minds, transitioned from being a missionary field to a missionary force. There is one Brazilian trait in particular that serves well to describe both God as He has orchestrated the evangelization of Brazil, and Brazilians as they increasingly have fulfilled their role in God’s global mission to, in and through Brazil. This trait is summarized in the expression dar um jeito (pronounced “darh oon jhei’-to”). While a …


The Father's Business Person, The Shift To Tentmaking Missions Strategy, Chris White May 2012

The Father's Business Person, The Shift To Tentmaking Missions Strategy, Chris White

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the important place that tentmaking holds or should hold in missions strategy. It is the belief of the author (supported by almost 20 years of ministry experience overseas) that visas and money are often barriers to ministry effectiveness. This paper would like to provide a solution (i.e. tentmaking) to these common tensions that most missionaries encounter. The value of the topic is very personal to the author's ministry: first because I am currently serving on the mission field (needing a visa and money), and second because of the potential tentmaking holds for …