businessasmission.blogspot.com
the place to fuse good business and great ministry
October 2006 - Vol 1, Issue 2
Issue: Recruitment
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Recruitment. Getting the Right People on the Bus.

As a leader in a Business as Mission company you understand how tough it is to find people who understand the balance of between business and ministry. I am part of the leadership team of a business as mission company and I recently I was reminded of how hard it is to find quality people that have the right skills and the passion for Christ. We are looking to fill three key positions on our team. Following traditional paths like Monster.com, we were able to locate a few people that were qualified but lacked the ministry connection. As I have talked to several business leaders, a major theme that keeps surfacing is recruiting the right people. Jim Collins had it right in Good to Great when we said to get the right people on the bus. Through this newsletter and the blog, it's my hope that people around the world would continue to chime in on this growing conversation.

For the past 7 years, The Rightnow Campaign has helped mission organizations and training organizations fill key positions in the U.S. and around the world. Rightnow has filled their database with over 23,000 passionate, talented, and gifted young professionals who they have met through conferences, the Rightnow.org site, and different video resources. Last year they placed 574 of them in part-time and full-time roles as engineers, teachers, accountants, programmers, graphic designers, and business managers. As the emergence of the Business as Mission movement continues, the Rightnow team is committed to helping you find the right talent. Rightnow has now begun to support these companies in the same way...
Virginia Thomas, a student at Pepperdine University came into contact with the Rightnow Campaign several months ago. After working with her Rightnow Career Coach she was connected to Olive Technology, a technology group in India for a summer internship. According to the President of the company she interned with, " We were so blessed to have Virginia with us for the past 7 weeks... She did an outstanding job of observing, documenting and analyzing the internal and external communication and in recommending ways to improve it. Thank you once again for sending her to us. I know for a fact (and can speak from experience) that your services would be of great benefit to the BAM movement...
I'm thrilled to announce that John Terrill and the team for Urbana's Open for Business Event (December 27-31, 2006 in St. Louis) has just announced they are having the first-ever business-as-mission business plan competition! Members of their team and Steering Committee have been working hard to put this together and they are finally able to make the big announcement. They are planning on awarding up to $40,000 to the business ideas that best pursue a triple-bottom-line approach: financial, social, and spiritual impact ...
The team at Bluefish TV (www.bluefishtv.com) is capturing a Business as Mission story (or stories) on video in the next 2 months. The Bluefish team is looking for a business person who is "living it.? Through this person?s story, the concept of business as mission could be communicated to an audience who is unfamiliar with using business to advance the kingdom. These stories would be used at national events and small group curriculum in thousands of churches across the country. If you know of any unique story please leave a comment. Also, we want to hear your thoughts... What should we include in this story? How can we make this a helpful tool in spread the word about BAM?
For the 4th year, thousands of young professionals in their 20s and 30s will gather in a series of national conferences called "The Fusion Experience." Through biblical teaching, worship and experiential learning, the Fusion experience is centered around the theme of fusing your faith and life. The target audience of Fusion is one of the most pivotal and overlooked groups in the church. They are educated, skilled, passionate and looking to make their lives significant. In the past 4 years these events have resulted in hundreds of young professionals pursuing part time and full time job opportunities...
Two BAM owners, with a combination of 30 years of working experience in China and India, continue to say they have found it "Much easier to teach ministry to a businessperson than business to a mission person ... They tend to focus on good business practice and integrating ministry into the business rather than starting a mission and trying to posture it as a business. If the business thrives, so does ministry to its employees and community, all without foreign funding or donations." As a BAM practitioner how does this differ/match your experience?

If you have thoughts, comments, or would like your voice to be heard please comment at http://businessasmission.blogspot.com
Justin Forman
Business as Mission Blogspot