Business as mission: Equipping business professionals to serve in cross-cultural ministry

The globalization of business provides Christians with opportunities for evangelization never before possible. Business as Mission encompasses diverse styles and types of ministry that leverage business endeavors to help share the gospel, disciple believers, and plant churches around the world. Many business professionals are realizing that God's call on their lives includes their vocation. Christians from a variety of backgrounds desire to share the gospel and reach people for the Kingdom using their professional connections.;Many corporations send employees around the world for extended periods to work in the overseas portion of the business. Often these workers go to countries that do not readily admit missionaries, yet welcome business professionals because of the commerce they bring. Some Christian business professionals ask what they can do to help in Kingdom work. Since they are not traditional-track missionaries, most mission agencies do not provide training for them. In many situations, it falls to the local church to train and prepare these people for maximum effectiveness in cross-cultural ministry.;This project examines the biblical doctrine of work and how a theology of work can inform the missiological training of Christian business professionals engaged in cross-cultural settings. Christian business professionals with international work experience answered questionnaires to ascertain what they wish they would have known before they moved internationally. They most often cited cultural intelligence as the one subject they wish they had known before their overseas assignment.;Nearly two-thirds of the Christian business professionals involved in this study were engaged in some type of ministry during their time at work. Eighty-one percent were involved in ministry away from their jobs. Two-thirds of those surveyed stated they were able to integrate Christian values with their professional work. Over 65 percent of survey respondents worked in the 10/40 Window, an area difficult to penetrate by professional missionaries.;Resources in this study provide the local church with training materials for international business professionals who desire to intentionally serve the Kingdom of God wherever they move.