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Local churches will cooperate parish-wide with Peru Mission to give oversight to the woodworkers not only in trade, marketing, and business skills, but also in lifestyle issues with their families. "The facility itself is in the community," says Ball. "These guys are part of the community. The economic part has to be in that context, as opposed to the more individualistic model of being a business leader. It will be a positive approach to accountability."

In 1999, Randy Russ was president and CEO of Community Coffee, one of the largest family-owned coffee companies in America. Spurred by his Christian faith and by the discovery of a great-tasting specialty coffee in an area of Colombia wracked by civil war, Russ and his company began a relationship with 500 family farmers in the Toledo-Labateca region. They formed a cooperative of former rivals to ensure quality and delivery. Fair-trade prices have raised the standard of living, and an annual performance bonus is invested in social development projects. With support from key government and manufacturing groups, the farmers have built an agricultural high school, have invested in coffee processing equipment, and have improved their food supply with fish farming. Local parish priests see the efforts as healing for the community.

Today, Russ runs the Center for Marketplace Ministry and teaches marketing at Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi. He nurtures students' vision for BAM. "Ultimately the hope is that thousands more businesspeople will be affirmed to use their talents and business skills in sharing the Good News through the marketplace," states Russ. "It is a meaningful part of our reconciliation with God and each other when we surrender our talents and businesses to him."

Ken Crowell and Bill Yeager both understand. In addition to branching out from Tiberias to China and South Korea, Crowell has spun off five more companies in the Galilee region under a parent company, Gal Group Christian Industries.

Meanwhile, Bill Yeager's organic farmers in Kenya face the challenges of overseas shipping, opening new markets, and ongoing certification. Yeager sees potential, however, to expand from onion production to sweet potato, pineapple, and green chili markets, among others. But it is the relationships with the local farmers and their children that drive him the most. "Having met the farmers and broken bread with them, there is just no way I am going to quit"—even if the effort isn't "designed to make me rich," he says.

BAM isn't for people looking solely for profits, says Crowell. But if you want to generate eternal returns in a company where you can pick up a Bible in the office or feel comfortable evangelizing in a transparent environment that traditional missions might never reach, what are you waiting for?

Joe Maxwell is a former Christianity Today news editor, and now a journalist-in-residence at Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi.

Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Business as Mission Network has links to other organizations, books, conferences, most admired companies, and more.

ChristianityToday.com's Faith In The Workplace channel explains "Six Ways to Get Involved in the "Business as Missions" Movement."

Previous Christianity Today articles on business include:

From Hand Out to Hand Up | Three Arkansas entrepreneurs are helping build Rwanda's largest bank for the poorest of the poor. (November 1, 2007)

The Good Shepherds | A small but vigorous movement believes that in farming is the preservation of the world. (October 25, 2007)

Surviving the Mortgage Crisis | Most Christian lenders remain strong during sub-prime debacle. (October 12, 2007)

Crop of Concerns | Farm bill draws out Christian reformers worried about subsidies. (August 10, 2007)

Defining Business Success | A CEO on why core values are not enough. (February 5, 2007)

Dollars and Sense | How Salem Communications makes its money. (January 26, 2007)

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November 2007, Vol. 51, No. 11