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Pray for God to Raise Up Merchant Missionaries!
—by by Keith Carey
In the developing world, a youth is searching for a job. Unemployment is at 50 percent in his country, and even if he were to find a job, it would pay less than three dollars a day. He can barely read because he had to drop out of school early. And he never learned that hard work and honesty can bring him God's blessing and help him, his family, and his nation to prosper. He is old enough to know that in his world, people don't get jobs just because of their skills; they get them by having the right connections. Since he has neither, his chances are bleak. This adverse situation didn't happen by chance.
Cultures that do not have the moral values of the Bible often do not have the foundation to produce a workable economy. When there is corruption, organized crime, or an oppressive government that suppresses efforts to produce needed goods, services and jobs, everyone suffers. Unemployment and poverty become rampant no matter how many natural resources the nation controls.
Trained Christian businesspeople have a unique opportunity to help unreached people groups with both their spiritual and physical needs. They can provide jobs and demonstrate Christ-like character on a day-to-day basis. In essence, they can show others the better way that God has for them. These are not new ideas if one studies history.
In the past, Christians, as well as Members of Other Religions, Have Used Businesses to Spread their Beliefs
There is no valid reason why not. The 2002 book, On Kingdom Business: Transforming Missions Through Entrepreneurial Strategies, reminds us that the gospel was often spread in the marketplace rather than from a church building. But sadly, many of the essays in this book, most of which were written by businesspeople, give examples of how Christian leaders often don't understand what businesspeople have to offer mission efforts. Their skills in business are often ignored, and they are told to go to seminary to prepare for traditional church planting work. This is not to downplay the need for solid biblical knowledge, but people with business skills, just as in other professions, have a unique opportunity to extend God's kingdom. And the reasons why businesses have so much to offer boil down to our basic physical needs.
God Created Us With Physical Needs that Christian Business Efforts Can Fill
By the sweat of your brow you shall eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken… (Gen. 3:19, NIV)."
Let's not deceive ourselves. Most of us spend a huge amount of our time in the workplace. And there is a good reason for this. God ordained that at the time of the Fall. The curse was that work, and thus life itself, would be difficult. But God in His wisdom, had made it so that people's efforts to obtain the things they need can lead to a blessing.
In his essay, How Business in Itself Can Glorify God, Wayne Grudem writes:
Thus, Christian businessmen who go to the unreached peoples with the expectation of making a fair profit while showing the character of God can be among God's best ambassadors. They can be used by Him to provide for both physical and spiritual needs.
Daniel Bathelder wrote an essay regarding an effort to employ SE Asian refugee widows in making quilts. He said, "If entrepreneurs use their gifts to meet people's felt needs, everyone wins. International business interests often show up in impoverished areas of the world simply to exploit opportunities. If you come with the same gifts and abilities but use them to help, the results are life-changing."
Here Bathelder brought up the point that there are other possible employers out there who simply want to "exploit opportunities." International businesses need to keep their labor costs low, so they find the places where people will work for the lowest wages. In his essay, he offers a better alternative: Help them to become self-employed. He used the example of a relief and development organization that hired widows in a particular part of the developing world. These widows were not allowed by local customs to work outside the home. But they all had sewing machines, so they were hired to make quilts from their homes. As time went on, they couldn't keep up with the demand for more quilts! So they hired more widows. People who once gave money as charity began to realize that their money could be used to help someone start their own small business, and thus get to a point where they no longer needed charity.
God exhorts His children to help the poor. I John 3:17 (NIV) says, "If anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?" Though God wants His people to be generous with the poor, there are other ways to combat poverty. Wayne Grudem writes, "I believe the only long-term solution to world poverty is business. That is because businesses produce goods, and businesses produce jobs. And businesses continue producing goods year after year, and continue providing jobs and paying wages year after year. Therefore, if we are ever going to see long-term solutions to world poverty, I believe it will come through starting and maintaining productive, profitable businesses." One possible way is through micro enterprises.
Where Do Micro Loans and Micro Enterprises Fit In?
Micro enterprises are a way to provide jobs and sustenance. They involve a group of people who are loaned a small sum of money to set up or expand a very small business. The typical method of loan is to give portions of the lump loan to individuals. If anyone fails to pay back the loan, the other members of the group must cover for them, so there is accountability through pressure. Once they pay back the loan, they are eligible for a larger loan. Loanees are given training to help them run their business successfully. This often involves training in self-discipline. Christian groups may include Bible studies that emphasize honesty and diligence.
Joshua Tsujimoto, a Japanese-American who has worked with micro-loan efforts in South Asia, offers some caution. "The problem with giving out loans is that you have to be careful to make sure you don't create dependency. When foreign money comes in, you must be careful, or there will be a big mess."
He offers a second qualification. "You have to change the people before they are ready for micro loans. This only comes from converting their allegiance to Christ." This is a big order in this part of the world where fewer than one in 100 is a follower of Christ! "Conversion only comes through prayer," he explains. "You must bind the strong man before you can pilfer his house."
Tsujimoto offers two principles that are essential for making micro loans work. First of all, go through a for-profit bank. People know that the bank will not show them mercy if they skip out on paying back a loan. The Christian organization must get the initial money into the account. Then the people who benefit from the loans can take money out and pay back the bank at a given time. Then other people can take advantage of the bank loan to set up their business.
Secondly, Tsujimoto insists that those who take the loans must tithe. Unless they give the Lord the first-fruits, He will not bless their efforts or their business. Therefore, tithing is essential.
There are some obvious weaknesses here. If you only give out loans to Christians in a non-Christian nation, you may be perceived as buying converts. Also governments, in the interest of fair play, might require you to give loans to people of all religious faiths.
These questions have not yet been resolved. There are also issues of dealing with corruption and systems of bribes that can stop Christian business efforts before they begin. But we must pray that God shows His servants how to overcome these formidable obstacles.
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