What is the difference between a Business as Mission Missionary and the 18.26 Network?

Business as Mission generally involves starting businesses overseas as a platform for missions and the gospel transformation of communities. Typically Business as Mission is done by traditional missionaries who raise their own support.

The 18.26 Network, by contrast, sends people out to work secular jobs overseas to sustainably, financially support themselves so that they can partner and work with pre-existing ministries in their country of service.

How is Workplace Ministry connected to church planting?

Workplace Ministry can benefit, empower, and enable church planting in multiple ways. Profit-generating businesses can financially support local church plants, bi-vocational pastors, church planters, or missionaries, helping them become more sustainable and less dependent on donors. They can also serve as a legitimate means for church-planting missionaries to enter and stay in closed countries. Finally, businesses offer church planters a natural point of outreach and connection with the community, providing opportunities to serve others with the love of Christ.

Where/how can I fit in as an individual?

There are a number of ways to serve as an individual, depending on your experience, goals, and the desired length of your term of service. You could…

• Open a business overseas as your vehicle for missions—build relationships, support church planting efforts, and serve the community around you.

• Partner with MTW missionaries to teach business principles overseas for one to a few weeks.

• Serve as an in-country Workplace Ministry coordinator.

• Mentor entrepreneurs starting micro or small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) across the globe.

• Use your design, marketing, or business skills to help with a particular project overseas for a few weeks.

• Find a job overseas to sustainably support yourself for long-term, cross cultural missions, in partnership with in-country MTW missionaries.

• Start a business in the U.S. or abroad and pledge some percentage of the profits to support MTW’s kingdom-building work across the globe.

Check out the “Ways to Serve” section of this page for more details.

Is Workplace Ministry only for experienced executives?
No! We need people from many professions and many levels of experience to serve. Whether you are a college student exploring your call, a young professional, or a seasoned entrepreneur, there are plenty of ways for you to get involved, follow your calling, and build for the kingdom of God through business.

What can my church do? How do we start?

There are many ways your church can help advance the kingdom through Workplace Ministries. You could start a sermon series on the Great Commission, highlighting how God uses all sorts of gifts and vocations for His purposes. You could host a missions conference highlighting workplace opportunities and financially support missionaries who have started businesses. Talk to missionaries you love and support to see if and how Workplace Ministries can fit into their ministry, and have someone on your missions committee investigate opportunities. As a church or a presbytery you could even adopt a city and, together with MTW missionaries on the ground, develop a plan to impact the business community in that city. Best of all, you could send your best and brightest business people to start businesses for mission overseas and rally your congregation to support them spiritually, emotionally, and financially.

Why do Workplace Ministry?

Business has a unique ability to open doors across the world. When missionaries start and run legitimate, profit-generating businesses, they can access “closed” countries, build relationships, share the transformative love of Christ with their community, and provide sustainable financial support for church plants.

But beyond that, we believe that business, in and of itself, is God-glorifying and can used for mission and building for the kingdom of God.