ROMANIA — Christian business leaders can play an important role in transforming society and spreading the gospel. They need to understand how God can use their organizations to share His Word so that communities and people are changed. This was the purpose of the meeting organized in Bucharest by BAM Romania, which brought together international speakers, investors and entrepreneurs from 8 countries.

The BAM Connect Summit event held in Bucharest, Romania, brought together over 100 participants from 8 countries. The meeting was organized by Business As Mission, Romania. Christian businessmen from Romania and abroad were inspired by Christian leaders who, through their projects, changed communities.

Man 1:

We have guests who’ve come here, who are particularly interested in the business environment in Romania, in people who want to start businesses in Romania and want to do it as a mission, serving God and serving the people who will work and those for whom they will work.

Man 2:

This event in particular, what’s powerful about it is it’s totally Romanian-led. This is not a Western American English program in Romania. This is actually Romanian-led. The people that are doing it are doing it from here in the country. And I think that’s special because I think it shows ownership and I think it shows impact.

The BAM Romania movement promotes and supports businesses that pursue not only profit, but also the transformation of people. Those involved understand that they can serve God through the means of business.

Man 1:

When we want to do something with an impact, we need connections and partnerships. You can’t build a business that impacts and transforms communities on your own. You need partnerships, partners to help you, both with experience, mentoring and capital.

Man 3:

l listened to three businessmen at the panel session, two who have businesses here. in Romania and one in China. two who have businesses here in Romania and one in China. They spoke about their businesses and learned how they obey God, how they treat their employees.

The meeting included a plenary session, panel discussions and round tables, where business people could share their views on various topics.

Man 3:

For example, the last round table was about generosity. There was another one about Guild Faith, our partner, about how you can integrate Christian values into your business. There was also Daniel Lar, who spoke about self-control, how to have discipline in your life and how you can have an impact in public mission. There was Michael Baer, and he spoke about the pastor and the businessman. Bob Bush talked about four goals in a business as a mission.

Man 2:

It’s the idea of how can business men and pastors work together. How can pastors engage and equip their business people for ministry in the marketplace. You know, not for ministry in the church, but for ministry in the business world. How do they do that. And there’s a lot of barriers. There’s a lot of lack of trust. There’s a lot of confusion.

Man 4:

A round table I’ve been leading in this day is about how entrepreneurs can better prepare pitches and plans to present to investors to get investment for their businesses. So I’m hoping that we can have an impact through that and see more and more businesses to grow in Romania.

Man 5:

It’s interesting and both challenging to have people from all types of different businesses and with different business backgrounds. I think that’s challenging to figure out how can my input from my years being a business person, an investor, be helpful to them and what can I take away from what they’re telling me.

Man 6:

We organized a round table about generosity, where we managed to talk about what it means to be strategic in our giving, how we can create a plan related to our giving, to treat it as an investment fund of the Kingdom of God.

The participants appreciated the organization of such events in Romania, because they can learn how to integrate Christian values in business and in everyday life.

Man 6:

I think we are called to live for God, but not just on Sundays in church, but every day. Let our relationship with Him be a real one, a living one, a dynamic one in which it can be seen that we are led by a Power higher than ourselves and by that we differ from what we see, perhaps, as negative examples in the market place. May we be a light, let us shine, let it be seen that God’s love is in us.

Woman 1:

I like everything that happens in this community. I really liked that there is a great diversity of entrepreneurs, and from different countries, we are here from more than 8 countries, and from different fields, but all with the same mission.

Man 7:

I’m glad to see young people, experienced people, and I can even take certain principles for myself to implement both in the NGO we have, as a mission in Craiova, and in collaboration with the businesses that our colleagues from the team want to develop. I am very happy to see this in Romania and to hear that Romania and Eastern Europe are an epicenter of mission work as a business.

Alfa Omega TV was the media partner of the BAM Connect Summit meeting, and through its own publishing house has published several books with the theme. “Business as a Mission”.

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