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When Mark Smith*, a church-planter in Kazakhstan, sat down with pastors and asked them to name their peoples’ greatest need, their response was unanimous: “Employment!”

Men and women in the former Soviet Union are facing an uphill struggle just to stay alive. Approximately 80 percent of Kazaks who follow Christ have no way to support their families.

Thus the idea was born: helping believers establish businesses that would provide not just an income for themselves and others, but support for their churches as well. A Christian businessman was found outside the country who could lend between $5,000 and $20,000 to entrepreneurs willing to put up their own homes as collateral. These men and women began to establish cafeterias, arts and crafts businesses, a hair salon, an electronics supply shop, a bakery, even a mushroom farm. Each initiative has involved employing other believers, with the hope that they in turn will eventually start their own businesses.

Smith stresses that these projects are still in their infancy. But he is excited at the potential: “At the moment I have more money than projects,” he said. What he needs, however, are trainers to teach needed skills to entrepreneurs. “We’ve got to get the word out: Any people with business skills, we can use them in Central Asia.”

Workers in the Persian Gulf region and in North Africa agree that business development could open up a whole new era in missions. About 75 percent of unreached people live in nations that restrict the access of missionaries. But strategists say these “restricted access nations” should more accurately be called “Creative Access Nations” or “CANS.” By establishing a solid business platform, CAN workers may effectively model biblical ethics, build trust relationships, address employment needs in the emerging church, become an economic blessing to the country and further the Kingdom of God.

Of course, the idea of taking secular jobs on the mission field in order to establish credibility or earn income is nothing new. But marketplace ministry takes traditional “tentmaking” a step further: building a clear missions purpose into the employment itself.

An estimated 70,000 business people worldwide are already members of business organizations with a marketplace missions focus. By 1997 Operation Mobilization workers were part of 40 to 45 businesses, many of them to do with handicrafts. A business task force set up in 1999 is now proposing a network to link prospective entrepreneurs with business opportunities and capital, all for the end goal of furthering the Great Commission in CANS. This network, to be called the “Global Enterprises Foundation,” would be associated with the OM fellowship only informally, although each home office would encourage local professionals to be part of a business consultancy group (BSG). These skilled people would mentor OM entrepreneurs as they start new businesses on the field.

Business areas that the task force identified as having the most potential are education-language schools, vocational schools and the like; recreation, sports and tourism; the computer and Internet sector; water drilling or agricultural-related companies; people-intensive, light manufacturing; businesses using intellectual capital; engineering or business consultancy and training. Each country has its own economic needs and specific research would be part of any strategy.

OM South Africa was the first to pioneer consultancy groups. Already it has successfully linked one entrepreneur with about 40 business people. An OM South Africa staff member has been released full time to facilitate BSG development and to encourage “busionaries”-businessmen with a mission vision.

It only remains for other OM offices around the world to catch the same vision. A long-termer with his own business in the Gulf said, “The momentum started seven years ago, and already it’s overwhelming to see what God is doing. Business and ministry partnerships have proven their worth, not only making dollars but Great Commission sense,” he said.

“The marketplace might very well be the mission field for the 21st century.”

* a pseudonym

April 19, 2002