December 2006 - Vol 1, Issue 4
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Searching for Business as Mission Leaders

The end of the year seems to always trigger those magazine writeups of the "Top 20" people, companies or events to watch in the year ahead. So, that's what we are going to do for Business as Mission on this blog. The only difference, is this one will kick off as the new year begins. Over the next few months I plan on starting a series of posts that will spotlight 20 major influencers who will be impacting Business as Mission in 2007. These 20 passionate, and talented people, companies or organizations that are out to move the business as mission movement forward in hopes of connecting people to groups where there might be some synergy. Here's where I need your help! Tell me about yourself, someone that you admire, or someone that you are working with that is making a dent in this crazy world through business as mission. I need to hear about their story before Friday, DECEMBER 22nd. For all the information, visit the blog and email me.

They are a source of inspiration and hope. For Business as Mission, it's the stories of people who are "living it out" that fuel future entrepreneurs of the business as mission movement. The businessmen and women that lead these groups are always full of vibrant new ideas for the future and lessons they have learned from the past experiences. In the year of 2007, it is my hope that through this blog we could identify 27 different case studies that might inspire, challenge and educate others in their journey to get involved. I hope to interview each of the leaders of these 27 groups in the coming months and share their stories starting in January. I've already assembled a list of 18 very intriguing and unique stories. Just like the previous post about the "Top 20" Business as Mission Influencers, I need your help in identifying other stories that need to be told. So if you know of someone who is involved in Business as Mission, send me their story before January 1st!

Starting a business as mission company obviously involves a great deal of risk. Often times it means mean putting everything on the line. It requires a great deal of time, effort, energy, relationships, money and that can be very intimidating for someone who is new to the idea of being an entrepreneur.

One of the very first things I believe someone getting involved in business as mission needs to examine is the role of risk both in their attempt business and their personal walk with Christ. It's all too easy to get comfortable in a certain way of life and not step out and take a risk. I think that's because many times we fear the perception that society supposedly gives to failure. Any business as mission business owner will tell you that any endeavor in business as mission will be filled with failures. The key is being able to take the risk and go for it and learning from the failures as you go along.
The winners have been announced and it's official! A Business as Mission company, "Cards from Africa" has finished in 2nd place in the World Challenge Competition! The competition, sponsored by Newsweek, Shell, the BBC is one of a growing number of competitions that are spotlighting social capitalist ventures (See previous post about Social Capitalist Awards). Last month, Fast Company also released the results of their 4th annual Social Capitalist Awards. Another Business as Mission competition will come to a conclusion later this month at the "Open for Business" event in St. Louis.
Why is it that the Christian community always seems to be trailing behind the rest of the world? Does anyone else feel like that every new breakthrough or significant shift in society is led by the world and not Christians? Doesn't it always feel as though we (Christians) are increasingly finding ourselves reacting to society instead of defining it?

I'm not pretending to break any earth shattering news or bring to light some long kept secret. But all in all the Christian community is finding ourselves duplicating models that have been pioneered by groups in the rest of the world. Why is that the case? Is it because we don't have enough talented leaders in the Christian community? Is it because we have lost respect in society? Is it because the Christian community is not altogether as powerful and full of resources as we might think? Or is it because we are doubling and tripling efforts to do the very same things because we are too busy debating petty details that we lose sight of the bigger picture of society.
When you think about it there's both a positive and negative word association that comes to mind when I think of the words "creative access". On the one hand the words allude to creativity that challenges and inspires us to new heights. On the other hand the words rekindle a lot of negative baggage and often times I believe it's the negative that outweighs the positive. It's why I think the ideas of a platform or creative access should be removed from our playbook.
For those of you in search of an easier way to stay up to date with the postings on this Business as Mission Blog, welcome the RSS feed. I know several people have already setup the RSS feed, but now you will find several RSS feed links on the bottom of the far right column of the page. This should make it easier for you to keep up to date with the conversation along with the other feeds from other blogs and websites that you follow. If your puzzled about this post and are unfamiliar with RSS feeds, click here to learn more. Remember, another great way to keep you and your friends in the loop is to sign up for the monthly e-zine. There's now close to 750 people that receive this monthly update! To sign up, type your email address in at the space on the top of the far right column of the main page.

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