Re: Top 10 Reasons Why Christian Missionaries should NOT be in business.

Hello!

I thought you might be interested in my top ten reasons why Christian missionaries should NOT be in business. This list was compiled with the help of the students at a recent course I taught on Business & Missions.

1. Business will corrupt the Mission and the witness. The American Bible society lost its vision for Evangelism and became a book-selling business in the 1800’s. Second Generation missionaries in various countries including the Hawaiian Islands turned from the faith to exploit the land for monetary gain.
2. Business demands will take priority. For a business to succeed it must receive a person’s full attention. Missionaries who attempt to operate a business successfully will find little time for the missionary activity.
3. Business activity requires specialized skills. Many missionaries do not have the analytical skills to successfully operate a business. Missionaries are simply not anointed for business!
4. Business activity confuses the donor base. Donors expect Missionaries to be doing Christian service work not income generating activity. Donors will not support tent making professionals who are seeing to support themselves on the mission field.
5. Business values require attention be paid to organizational and monetary concerns sometimes at the expense of people concerns. Missionaries are too soft to operate a business in a tough competitive way.
6. Business is too risky. On average Four out of Five businesses fail in the first five years. The results are worse for Missionaries who are trying to make a go of mission activity at the same time as doing business.
7. Business confuses witness. Locals expect Christian Missionaries to be doing Christian service work, donating their time not trying to do business. They will think the primary concern of the business Missionary is money.
8. Business requires expert advice. Most Church Mission boards are not equipped to properly evaluate and monitor the business activity of Missionaries.
9. Business fosters an independent spirit. Missionaries need to have proper covering of their activities. Who watches over them while they are doing the business?
10. Businesses function under a different regulatory environment. Missionaries may find themselves in legal trouble if they mix money from business activity with money from donors supporting the mission work.

Now can you think of ten good reasons why Christian Missionaries SHOULD be in business?

Check out <http://www.missiology.org/ems/bulletins/reapsome.htm> for a look at Paul – the Non Professional Missionary.

Mike McLoughlin, Director
Youth With A Mission, Marketplace Ministries

Web Site: http://www.scruples.org