Central Asia: International Transformational Business

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Assignment: Join a team working with an array of businesses that transform communities through meeting local needs, operating with integrity and just compensation, and being a example of God’s love and heart for justice in word and deed. Receive training, mentoring and support for long-term ministry through business.

Ministries: Incarnational living, language learning, sharing good news in the context of interpersonal relationships and through businesses designed to meet local needs and build stronger communities through God-honoring work.

Context: Central Asia is in the 10/40 window, the area of the world with the least Christian presence, and in most places it is not possible for mission workers to get religious visas. But the doors are open to businesses and investment.

The biblical story tells us that work is a gift from God, that one aspect of being created in God’s image is to find joy in the work of our hands and minds. Not only is work a gift, but it can also be a form of witness to God’s saving work through Jesus and intent for the flourishing of all creation.

But this is often not the case. In some areas where VMMissions works, people face difficult decisions. Fathers leave homes for months, even years, at a time to work in larger cities or in work contracts in industries in countries thousands of miles away, often with safeguards for their health and just compensation. Older children leave home to help support their families, losing the protective networks of their communities. In some contexts, believers lose their jobs because of their faith and their children face hostile school environments. This isn’t the shalom that God intends.

With this in mind, VMMissions formed a transformational business group composed of entrepreneurial business leaders, among them people with management, marketing, loan risk analysis and international experience. The group’s purpose is to mentor emerging projects and provide loans when needed.

Contact Jason Rhodes Showalter for more information.