My Business is my Mission

Community development & ministry through the lens of business

One Collective is a global organization that focuses on bringing people together to create holistic, long-term solutions in communities all around the world. With a focus on collaboration and sustainability, we are constantly seeking out best practices in the development field. One of many areas of organizational emphasis includes business entrepreneurship and social enterprise.

Andrew babyak

Assistant Dean of Business, Messiah University

Andrew Babyak is a professor at Messiah University, and serves as the assistant Dean of Business, overseeing graduate and undergraduate programs. His research interests are focused on leadership, international business development and entrepreneurship. Having spent six years in Senegal, West Africa, Andrew brings a unique perspective to missions/business as ministry (BAM), both in his classes and in this interview.

Give us some background about yourself. How did you initially get involved in the business world?

“Starting in high school, I got involved in various entrepreneurial projects, and found it very life-giving. At the same time, I felt a definite call to ministry. But growing up, I always heard it was one or the other - you choose business, or you choose ministry. I remember people telling me that full-time ministry meant getting a ministry degree, yet my passions and my giftings were tied to both entrepreneurial business activities and ministry. I didn’t view them as different things - for me, they were part of the same call and passion.

A few years after college, my wife and I moved to Senegal, where I got involved in university ministry as well as business and entrepreneurial consulting work for local business owners.  While there, it became clear to me that the combination of business and ministry is, in my opinion, the most effective way to actually reach people in most communities. I found it provided a natural way to connect and provided legitimacy in the eyes of local community members for why we were there, along with building trust.”

How have your experiences shaped how you view - and teach - business as ministry now?

“From my experience, conversation surrounding business as ministry needs to start by taking one or two steps back and reorienting how we view it. One of the concepts I often hear people discuss in Christian circles - especially in higher education - is ‘faith integration’, or making sure you integrate your faith into everything you do. I always push back on that idea. I don’t think it is a helpful starting point, because it assumes that the two - business and ministry - are separate and distinct. Instead of ‘faith integration,’ what we do in our lives should be about ‘faith emanation.’

Faith integration is more focused on answering the question ‘how do we integrate faith into this activity?’, which can lead to faith feeling like an afterthought. Faith emanation, however, means everything you do - whether it’s work, time with your family, starting a business, watching a game on TV, or church on Sunday morning - is changed as a result of your relationship with Jesus. Faith emanation inherently changes how you go about your life in every aspect. Everything you do is for God and through his power. That changes everything.

With faith emanation, there is no longer a dichotomy between ‘business’ and ‘mission’ - business becomes my mission. And this is especially relevant to cross-cultural ministry, because it centers around utilizing the skills and abilities we have to serve God and others - whether through business or something else - in a way that shows our faith and builds trust with community members. I also believe BAM is so important because business is a central part of every community anywhere in the world - it contributes to the local economy, provides jobs, and offers helpful services.”

What are some of the challenges you’ve seen and faced surrounding the idea of business as ministry?

"There is truly a danger of doing too many ‘good things’ in any ministry context - including cross-culturally. One of the big challenges is losing sight of Jesus and our purpose. If I’m serving overseas, I am not exempt from mission drift - getting so wrapped up in my day-to-day that the task becomes more important than the larger vision and purpose. When I was in Senegal, I found that when I spent time in Scripture and prayer daily, and then went through the day trying to let the Holy Spirit guide me, everything was so much more productive, and the conversations I had with others were more in-depth.

Business as ministry specifically, and ministry in general, doesn’t just happen because you’re a Christian in a specific context. It’s a daily commitment to follow Jesus. The same thing is true in the States - whether you’re a business professional or a pastor. We can get so caught up in doing the good things we’re doing that we lose sight of God.”

What approaches don’t work well in relation to business as ministry? What approaches do work well?

“The biggest misconception I see is the idea of ‘if you’re doing business as ministry or business as missions, being profitable isn’t important.’ I think profit is important for any business venture, in part because we are called to do everything with excellence as followers of Jesus. 

The biggest misconception I see is the idea of “if you’re doing business as ministry or business as missions, being profitable isn’t important.”

There’s one model of BAM where you set up a company, but it mostly functions as a visa platform - it’s not meant to ever make money. There’s a second model where you run a business, but it’s a half-hearted effort - if it breaks even, great. But in both of these models, locals begin to wonder - ‘how are you still here? Your business isn’t very busy. You’re not there that often. How are you making money to support this lifestyle?’ I’ve seen both of these models lead to a loss of trust and perceived integrity towards the cross-cultural worker.

The third model, which I think is the most God-honoring, is to really give the business a go. Now, this is a lot easier said than done because a lot of startups don’t work. But practicing good business principles, and continuing to try and make what you’re doing successful, adds legitimacy in the country where you’re serving, and with the people you’re serving. This model also encourages co-creation with locals and for locals, and when profits are generated, provides local job and livelihood opportunities.

See how One Collective is leaning into the same business principles Andrew discusses

It all comes down to integrity and transparency. It’s important to do what we say we’re doing, and be clear about the purpose of why we’re doing it. If you’re there to start a business, ideally that means you’re there, at least in part, to help boost the economic activity of the area, region, etc.

The other approaches I’ve seen work well in BAM are the ones where national partners are put on payroll when the business itself makes money. I’ve seen what happens when national partners are supported through fundraising with outside dollars - it works for a while, but it’s not sustainable long-term, and it doesn’t foster ownership of the local business and community. 

Because of this, it’s important to be strategic and contribute towards sustainable projects, especially when dealing with finances and national workers and national believers. When a business is sustainable, it gives locals who are involved in it a growing sense of ownership, and amazing things happen as a result of that ownership.”

What encouragement or challenge would you offer to people who are involved or interested in business as ministry?

“My biggest encouragement would be to connect with an existing cross-cultural ministry organization that is currently involved in these types of efforts. I’m not just saying this for the interview - it’s my firm belief that you should really find an organization that you’re aligned with, and work in their structure. You’ll learn a lot through them. Often, people who want to go overseas are so independent and entrepreneurial that they always want to start something on their own. But working with an organization that has been doing it, and doing it well, provides much needed support and guidance. So my advice is to find an organization that’s aligned with what you want to do. The extra hoops to jump through are there to help you.

I personally have a definite “Maverick” spirit, and I still think the lone ranger mentality is one of the greatest dangers for someone who wants to be effective in business and/or ministry.

I’ve ultimately come to this conclusion because of my value for sustainability and effectiveness. If you serve with an established organization, it’s easier to navigate challenges as they come up, and to find others to take over the work you’re doing if/when you decide to transition out. We never know what’s going to happen in the world, or in the geographic location you may be in. The support as you go - spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically - is a huge benefit of going with an organization.

If you’re a student, it’s a great time to spend a summer, a semester, or a year abroad. If you’re looking to serve longer-term, consider a vision trip with the organization you’re exploring. If you’re looking to make a career transition, find an organization you align with and work under their umbrella. And again, I’m not just saying this for the article. I 100% believe it. 

At the end of the day, I think we all struggle with putting ourselves first and having an inward focus. It doesn’t come naturally to look for the needs of others, in our local community or globally. But I also think as God opens our eyes and gives us more passion for our daily lives, he will also give us opportunities to serve like we would never expect. My challenge for myself and for everyone else is to never settle with what you’re currently doing, but always ask God for next steps and how you fit in this whole picture of cross-cultural ministry and community development.”

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Clarity for the Future and Creating Safe Spaces

Emma’s story of serving with one collective

Emma narber

2022 Intern in Athens, Greece

One Collective is a global, Jesus-centered nonprofit that focuses on a holistic, sustainable approach to ministry and development around the world. Over 250 staff serve in various communities on the ground, and any given year around 30-40 interns join established teams to join in the work happening. If you’re interested in serving with One Collective, talking to a serving coach here.

When Emma said yes to a cross-cultural internship with One Collective, she was hoping the experience would provide more clarity about her passions, purpose, and post-grad plans. Her time serving in Athens, Greece did exactly that. Below are Emma’s insights about serving in a new environment, discerning the future, and relying on the Lord in the midst of it all.

What was a problem or issue you faced before interning with One Collective?

“Before I was introduced to One Collective, I was in a season of uncertainty and figuring out where the Lord was leading me next. It was my junior year of college, I was double majoring in Filmmaking and Peace and Conflict Studies, and I didn’t fully know how God would provide opportunities for me to use these passions. It was a season of asking what the Lord was doing and where he might be directing me. At the same time, I had been going through a personal situation where some relationships had been broken off. These things together left me feeling pretty alone and questioning where the Lord was leading me next.  

Working with my mobilizer, and through time in prayer, I felt God was leading me to join One Collective in Greece. For my internship, I worked with refugee women and got involved in anti-sex trafficking in Athens. My time serving helped answer the questions I was having in life.”

How did your internship impact these questions?

“First, through my experiences working with vulnerable women, I felt God cultivate in me a desire to create safe spaces for people who needed them. I went into my internship asking the question, ‘what does life post-graduation look like?’ - and working with women who were displaced from their homes, and had experienced significant trauma or abuse, opened my heart to being part of creating homes and safe spaces for others.

Second, while I was in Greece, I contracted COVID and had to go into isolation for 10 days, where I felt the weight of being by myself in a foreign country. That was a difficult experience, but it also provided space for me to dive deeper into Scripture and spend time with God in prayer. That time in isolation introduced me more to the power of God’s word, and how impactful simply being with the Lord can be, especially when feeling lonely or isolated.”

What surprised or challenged you about your internship experience?

“I’ve had opportunities to travel quite a bit, so being away from home has typically excited me more than been difficult for me. During my internship in Greece, however, I found it hard being away from home - I missed my community and the proximity of people I knew well and who knew me well. It was a huge challenge, but I also think this helped me better see and empathize with people I met who had been displaced, moved away from, or lost their homes in much greater ways than I had. Although homesickness was a personal challenge, it also greatly influenced how I now see and work with people who are away from home.”

What did you learn about yourself while living and serving in Athens?

“I would say rather than learning something completely new about myself, I uncovered more of who I was, and saw how little pieces of who I was were actually a much larger part of my heart and story than I had realized.

First, the arts were something I’d always enjoyed and had been part of throughout my life, but also something I’d often put on the back burner. I have always loved dance, art, and theater, and the fact that the team in Athens was doing creative ministry in various ways with refugees confirmed how much it was of value to me. Seeing how the arts were integrated into ministry so well uncovered more of my heart for creativity within ministry.

Second, I uncovered more of a heart for long-term ministry presence. When I spent some time with Nea Zoi, the anti-trafficking organization One Collective partners with in Athens, I was told it took 10 years of consistently building relationships and reaching out for anyone to come and ask for help. That gave me a new appreciation for ministry that doesn’t quit when things are hard or don’t go as expected. I generally hate waiting, and learning more about a ministry like this was a reminder that there is no wasted time in the waiting. 

Third, I learned that I can be a peaceful presence to others even when I don’t feel all that peaceful. There were many times where I didn’t feel as at peace as I would have hoped - I was navigating new challenges, living in a new country, and experiencing a lot of different emotions with that. But at the end of my time there, multiple people from the team I worked alongside shared with me that they felt I was a peaceful person and that my presence brought peace to the larger team. It helped me recognize that in times where I might not personally feel peace, the Lord is greater and can allow me to exemplify more of his peace and Shalom.”

How has your internship continued to impact your life?

“Like I mentioned earlier, I found I had a deep passion for creating safe spaces and environments for people to feel safe and welcomed in, and I wanted to learn more about how to do so. That passion led me to pursue grad school to learn more about what it means to create environments that help people from all different backgrounds feel safe. The Lord has opened doors for that in the day-to-day, too - right now, my neighbors are refugees, and I’ve gotten to practice being a welcoming presence in capacities I wouldn’t have been able to before my internship.

Part of my job now also involves overseeing serving opportunities for students at my university outreach center, both short-term and long-term, and I’ve learned a lot of practices from One Collective about doing cross-cultural ministry well that have influenced how I do my job.

My internship also prompted me to keep learning more about human trafficking in the U.S., particularly sex trafficking. I’ve pursued ways to advocate for the work that’s being done by Nea Zoi in Greece, but also on behalf of other local anti-sex trafficking organizations. I’ve seen myself grow in awareness and advocacy, and also tangibly in learning to love my neighbor and learn from other people’s stories.”

What advice or thoughts would you share with someone who is interested in serving but isn’t sure?

“I would say, why not serve? I think oftentimes we come up with a lot of excuses for reasons why we shouldn’t serve - whether that’s money, expectations from family or friends, or something else. But at the end of the day, the Lord will provide for you all that you need. Saying yes to serving - whether that’s for a few weeks or a few years, and whether it’s overseas or in your neighborhood - makes a difference. The Lord will use your yes, and I think you’ll be in awe of how he uses it. Plus, One Collective is an incredible organization to say that yes with, because from my experience, they really take the time to learn about and empower communities.”

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Leaning Into the Uncomfortable

Hope’s story of serving with one collective

hope trainor

2022 Intern in Cowley, England

One Collective is a global, Jesus-centered nonprofit that focuses on a holistic, sustainable approach to ministry and development around the world. Over 250 staff serve in various communities on the ground, and any given year around 30-40 interns join established teams to join in the work happening. If you’re interested in serving with One Collective, talking to a serving coach here.

Hope knew she wanted an international internship in college, and felt confident she knew what she was getting into when she decided to go. However, much of her experience was unexpected - in the best way possible. Below are Hope’s thoughts on what she learned about ministry, relationships, and herself in the two months she lived in Cowley, England with One Collective.

What was a problem or issue you faced before interning with One Collective? How did your internship impact it?

“I am a go-getter . Before my internship, I had a tendency to get too involved in pretty much everything. I had a daily schedule where every hour was planned out, and if something ran over, it would mess up the rest of my day. I was proud of my productivity level, and I thought it was a point of pride to never say no to anything. I didn’t foresee this being a problem when I first said yes to an internship with One Collective. When I arrived in Cowley, I expected a very similar, structured schedule. I thought the Catalyst, Lola, would have every single thing planned out for me and the other interns.

But when we met for the first time, Lola instead told us, “I want you to do what you feel you have been gifted to do. Whatever you feel your gifts are, I will help you use them.” In addition to participation in the existing ministries, she encouraged us to pursue a personal project based on our own passions. I hadn’t thought before about where God had gifted me - I just said yes to whatever was in front of me. Lola has created space for us to reflect and breathe. My internship helped me understand the value of a “no” and that it can ultimately enrich what I’ve said “yes” to elsewhere. At the start of this new season, I was given the chance to lean into the reflection of my passions, gifts, and calling to choose my yes’s and no’s wisely. 

What surprised or challenged you about your internship experience?

Having the open space to decide what to do, and what not to do, was a big challenge for me. I wasn’t used to it. But the “in-between times” held some of my favorite moments. It was really hard for me to learn to be still,  but ultimately, the times of practicing how to be still were some of the richest moments of my internship.

Another challenge was exercising my muscle to choose and discern - discerning how God gifted me and created me. Rather than doing things because someone else had asked me to, and out of a desire to be valued by them, I was challenged to take hold of my value in Christ, seek what he was leading me to do, and be open to what is mine to do versus what is something I could do.

What did you learn about yourself while you were serving and living in Cowley?

“There were three things I learned - huge perspective shifts - that still impact me today. 

The first shift in perspective was my view of ministry. Growing up, I’d been involved in helping at my church, packing food boxes, helping out at homeless shelters, etc. I thought I had a pretty good idea of what serving was about. People told me that they saw the spiritual gift of service in me, so I thought I must be pretty good at it. During my internship though, Lola would talk about how the entire ministry of Jesus was built on relationships, and it made me realize I had been viewing ministry mostly through a “project” focus, rather than a “people” focus.

The second thing that shifted was my perception of self. I had viewed ministry as transactional in large part because I didn’t believe I had any inherent value myself. I believed that people were friends with me only because they were receiving something from me and not because I had my own value. Lola pushed me into my journey of exploring who I am: a daughter, warrior, leader, and servant. She impacted my personal and spiritual growth, and continued to emphasize that I was beautiful and had value both in God’s eyes and in the eyes of those around me.

Finally, my view of relationships shifted. Building deep relationships while in Cowley made me realize that I had only viewed relationships before my internship as transactional. I assumed they were based on what I did, not who I was, which prevented my relationships from going deep. My internship and Lola’s mentorship taught me about transformational vs. transactional relationships. Transformational relationships mean acknowledging the value of both people in the relationship, you and the other person. That was the piece I was missing. I loved my friends, family, and others around me, but until I was able to realize that I too could be loved for my own God given value, my relationships were limited.

How has your internship continued to impact your life?

When I returned to college after my internship, I engaged differently in some of the same things I was doing before, such as leading the prison ministry. I brought back with me a new, more relational approach to everything I did. In my personal life, I started to see relationships  grow in so many ways that they hadn’t before.

I’m continuing to learn how to be intentional in seeking out the voice of God, who He created me to be, and how He’s calling me to grow. I can see my own value and worth through the eyes of Jesus. I came back from my internship with a new recognition that God has created me beautifully, wonderfully, and with a passion.

Before my internship, I was always looking for the ‘next big thing’ - I would always be asking “what’s next God?” instead of “what do you have for me now, God?”. Through my internship, I learned to look for God in the mundane, and create space to be open to what God has for me in the everyday. That decision to be open has not gone to waste - I’ve seen God move powerfully in the everyday, and I’ve realized that nothing is too small for God to use in great ways.”

What advice or thoughts would you share with someone who is interested in serving but isn’t sure?

I know everyone has a different walk and story - but I would honestly tell you to just go for it. Even if you don’t feel like you’re called to “long-term” international ministry, if you step out into the uncertain and unfamiliar, God will appear in ways that you haven't seen him before.

I know a lot of people are worried about stepping into something uncertain - and what might go wrong or be difficult. I would challenge you to make a list of all the things you’re worried about, and then make another list of all the things that God could do. Weigh those things together - and ask the question “If I go, what could God do?”  When weighing the options between our fears and God’s plans, it’s often evident that we have nothing to lose. If you could only take one piece of advice away, it would be this: don’t say no to an opportunity like this out of fear.

If you give God even two months of your life, in a new place, in a ministry with people you’ve never met before, he will meet you there.”

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The Long Work

Women’s empowerment in central asia

One Collective is a global organization that focuses on bringing people together to create holistic, long-term solutions in communities all around the world. With a focus on collaboration and sustainability, we are constantly seeking out best practices in the development field. Two of many areas of focus include community development and women’s empowerment - both of which are heavily emphasized with our teams in communities in Central Asia.

Lily*

Serving in Central Asia

In a Central Asian cultural and religious context where women are particularly oppressed, Lily* and other One Collective workers saw the need for change - both on the community level and within individual hearts. Now, Lily has lived in Central Asia for 7 years, and in this conversation, she shares more about her experiences, expectations, successes, and failures along the way with women’s empowerment and community development.

*Names in this story have been altered for security reasons.

Can you share a bit about your early experiences with how women were treated in this culture?

“I first came over to focus on engineering, so I didn’t have a specific women’s empowerment vision. All I really knew is that women were looked down upon here, and were treated like second-class citizens. There was a very naive part of me thinking, ‘I get to show that I’m a young woman that’s single, unmarried, and I have this degree. Maybe I can be an example for local women that there is a different way to live than just being married at 18.’ That was my expectation, but definitely not how things panned out.

Once I had learned enough of the local language to start going into nearby villages, both men and women were surprised to see me - the sentiment I felt was, ‘she’s the engineer, really?’

But I also saw how big of a difference local followers of Jesus made in this cultural belief. There was one instance where I and a dear, older local believer our team works with went into a village to do a water engineering project. I was the only woman working with a group of men, and this local believer was in many ways my advocate. In this culture, it’s expected to shake hands or nod and greet everyone, depending on your gender. As a woman, I couldn’t shake hands but I did nod to everyone - and none of the village men acknowledged me in return.

I was showing where the tap stands should go and the men in the village disagreed… because they wanted the taps closer to their individual houses. I tried to explain more of the reasoning behind what I suggested, but they just went to talk to the local believer and told him ‘we’re just going to wait until a different man comes back and we’ll tell him.’

But this local believer advocated for me and said, ‘No, she’s the engineer. She knows what she’s doing, and we should listen to her.’ I just love that story because it points to how following Jesus can really change the way you interact with and advocate for women. This 60 year old man who loves Jesus stood up for me, because he recognized that the tension was based on the fact that I was a woman.”

So if you started with an engineering focus, why did you start to shift to more of a women’s empowerment and community development focus?

“Over time, we shifted focus from water engineering projects to more general community development. That was for a lot of reasons - but one is because with water engineering projects, we usually only had access to form relationships with the mayor and maybe a few other people in a village. We had even less access to women because usually it’s the men digging up the pipelines, etc.

To add to that, when we did just a water project, and then tried to stay after to build relationships, people would ask ‘why are you still here in our village?’ We wanted to have more time in the villages to invest in key relationships. With community development, we are better able to reach both men and women. That was one of the reasons we shifted focus, because we felt that integrating women’s voices into community change was critical.

Practically, our approach looks like beginning two separate projects - a women’s project and a men’s project, to create space for women to give their own unique input on what the community needs and priority areas of focus are. We offer the same amount of time, same amount of money, and the men and women separately get to decide on a community development project that they will focus on. We wanted to affirm that women’s voices matter, and show that they have the ability to impact their community in unique and necessary ways.”

Once you settled on the strategy of incorporating women’s voices into community development projects, what were some of the unique challenges you faced in this context/culture?

“Gathering women in villages was harder than we thought. In the villages, because this is such a segregated society, women have very little mobility and autonomy. They’re not allowed to go many places without their husband’s permission. And the husbands weren’t giving permission to their wives to come to the women’s community project meetings because they were suspicious, asking ‘what is this new thing?’ or saying ‘my wife has work to do at home.’

What helped address this problem was allowing men - like the mayor, or the husbands of different women, to come see what the women were doing, and normalizing that the women were just doing the exact same parts of the program the men were doing. For example, at both meetings, the group creates maps of what their village is like now and what they’d like to see. The more that the men saw and understood, the more they'd be okay with their wives attending.

Another challenge is having women be really invested into the process - there is a male mayor of the village, but there’s also a leader of the women in each village - from this language, it would translate in English roughly to “woman mayor”. Getting this woman, or another key woman involved to invite other women has been helpful to get other women involved. Many women are hesitant to speak up and share their thoughts in these meetings. Sometimes the women feel like they can’t contribute - ‘I’m just a regular housewife’ - and we reply by saying ‘no, your voice matters, I want to hear what you think about what we’re talking about.’ So it’s been helpful for us to do things like go around the room and ask individually what each woman has to say, or asking ‘what do you think about this?’”

Where have you seen evidence of transformation in your work? What has been effective?

“As we have seen these different projects progress, I’ve seen an incredible difference - like in my experience with that local believer standing up for me - when someone is a follower of Jesus. Even with men and women who aren’t believers, we’re seeing their hearts changed. There is hope. A lot of times in this kind of culture and context, it’s easy to wonder ‘what can really be changed?’ Here, what I see most often is that none of the stories of transformation are full village transformations (yet) - but it’s family to family to family transformation. That’s often how Jesus works - through one life to others.

The cultural traditions and religious context these women live in say that women are lower or that they are possessions. The way we’ve seen mindsets change the most in these women’s lives is when we partner community development and women’s empowerment with sharing about Jesus. There are ten local believers we partner with who regularly go to nearby villages to build deeper relationships and share about Jesus, and three of those are women.

One woman, Jala, has been a believer for the past seven years, and as she visits women in different villages, she always talks about how much God loves them, and values them, and created them. Usually these women she visits start crying, because they’ve never heard that before. It’s a whole new concept to them - they say, ‘really, there’s a God who loves me?’

“Usually these women she visits start crying, because they’ve never heard that before. It’s a whole new concept to them - they say, ‘really, there’s a God who loves me?’”

The larger community development meetings are great, but going to individual houses and speaking directly to the women, saying ‘God values you, and God says you are worthy’ - that is also important - and the combination of both is even better. It’s a very holistic approach.”

What are some elements of women’s empowerment that people tend to forget or not think about?

“When it comes to women’s empowerment, if you only focus on women - like Jala telling other women that they have worth and value - this is great. But if these women don’t hear this from their husbands, it’s just going to be words. So it’s important for our local believers to also be sharing with men the value women have, about treating their wives well. We have amazing stories from that…

..I think men are such a big part of women’s empowerment and I didn’t realize that before. That was one of my misconceptions, that women’s empowerment means just working with women. But it’s important to include men because they will get so much more out of their own lives and their own identities when women are empowered. Both of their identities are transformed.”

What advice would you give to people who are working with, or might want to work with, women in areas where there is a history of oppression?

“People say it all the time, but it’s true - it takes time. We’ve been taking this community development approach for five years now, and we’ve made lots of mistakes.

With that, I would encourage people to make the mistakes. I think many of us - myself included - are so scared to get it wrong, that we get paralyzed. I can be afraid and wonder ‘what if I get it wrong? What if I set back women’s empowerment by 10 years with this mistake?’ But I don’t think that fear is from God - it’s my own worries and thoughts. The truth is, the only way we have gotten this far is because of the mistakes we have made. You have to try something, and start somewhere. That’s the only way that we can start making those mistakes to learn what does and doesn’t work.

“Make the mistakes. I think many of us - myself included - are so scared to get it wrong, that we get paralyzed.”

My other challenge for people working in these contexts would be to find local people - find local women who already have that desire for their community to change - and ask questions about their lives and how they see themselves. It’s important to understand what the deepest felt problem is - because even if you recognize women don’t feel like they have value or worth, the reason why they don’t feel that could be for a multitude of reasons. If you’re trying to challenge someone that they have value, you have to first understand why they don’t feel like they have value. So my encouragement would be to start talking to local women and asking them those questions. When I say “just start something” and you ask “but how? But where?”, this is where you start. You start by finding women that are in these situations, and you start asking questions.

I’ve talked a little bit about it, but something I haven’t emphasized enough is the power of Jesus transforming hearts. All the different stories I have, you know, he’s a part of that. Yes, it is the holistic approach, it is the community development projects - but it’s also God transforming hearts. That’s where you’re going to get true, lasting women’s empowerment.”

Want to get involved?

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It’s Not What You Think It Is

Best Practices and Challenges for Christian Anti-Trafficking Work

One Collective is a global organization that focuses on bringing people together to create holistic, long-term solutions in communities all around the world. With a focus on collaboration and sustainability, we are constantly seeking out best practices in the development field. One of many areas of organizational emphasis includes anti-trafficking work, with teams working in Europe and Latin America.

Joy Lee

Humanitarian & Disaster Institute, Wheaton College

Joy Lee works with the Humanitarian and Disaster Institute through Wheaton College. As part of her Master’s degree, she wrote a short paper discussing the relationship between American Christianity and anti-sex trafficking work. What started as a class assignment born out of personal curiosity has since grown into a key interest and passion in her life. Now, Joy is completing a much more in-depth article for a journal focused on Christian relief and development work. In this interview, Joy shares more of the background for her research, main takeaways, and how to apply these key points of learning as followers of Jesus.

Can you share more about the background and context that led to your interest in anti-trafficking?

“My interest started through my previous job, where I learned about the history of women in sexual slavery under the Imperial Japanese military - often referred to as “comfort women.” As a Singaporean-North American, this shed light on my home country and family's context of Singapore during World War II in Asia. I learned this was a forgotten history that still impacted many former comfort women survivors. Through this job, I had the privilege to bring awareness to their unheard stories and advocacy for justice, and contribute to peacebuilding programs.

It was influential for me to read primary accounts from some of the women who survived this treatment, and are now activists for their own cause, reparations, reconciliation, education, and raising awareness about what happened. But many of them were born in the 1920’s, and this group is aging out. Having encountered them and seeing their heart for women today who have experienced sexual violence, it made me want to continue their legacy. That was a big part of motivating me to continue that work through my research.

The other motivator for me was, as a Christian, thinking about God being a God of justice - who sees the unseen and hears those who cry out but are unheard. It was both of those things - my cultural identity, and my identity as a Christian.”

Tell us a bit about the context for your research. How did it start?

“The professor for the class I initially wrote this paper for made the point that “we all theologize, we all speak of God, so what does it mean to be reflective on that?” That really got me thinking about how we don’t always practice what we preach, and we are often unaware of how our theologies inform our actions, yet so much of what we believe shapes how we think about and therefore do things.

There’s something about our faith that motivates us to see people who are hurting, and I think that’s really important. But this also means how we understand God “seeps into” how we do and approach work - and a lot of anti-sex trafficking organizations are faith-based. So specifically, I’ve been researching the doctrine of personal salvation - the belief that we are all individually saved by God out of our sin and brokenness - and how that impacts anti-trafficking work done by Christian organizations. How does that belief shape organizational identity and marketing? How does that belief influence the interventions that are valued, practiced, and prioritized?”

Can you share some of the things you’ve learned through your research?

“One thing I’ve found is that the intervention of rescue (i.e. rescuing those who are being trafficked) is very controversial, and can be easily mishandled by well intentioned faith-based nonprofits. There’s often this approach or narrative by Christian organizations that looks like ‘busting down the doors, saving poor women’, especially in Asia. However, my research points to this approach, especially coupled with strict shelter care programs, as being a harmful approach because it infantilizes and objectifies women - it makes them out to not have agency.

I feel the underlying issue here is a savior complex. But this mindset is not in line with best practices.

On the flip side, as I’ve read more from Asian-American theologians, I’ve found more productive approaches are defined by a thread of empowerment. I think that reflects Jesus better and speaks to the heart of God more. In place of objectification or believing we are the “saviors” of others, we should think about the importance of the Imago Dei (the theological belief that we are all made in the image of God) and work to humbly empower others by coming alongside them as they exercise agency and freedom of choice. It has led to me and others asking the question “What does it look like to listen to survivors of sex trafficking, to women, who are sharing what they hope and desire and what is harmful for them?”

You mention a common approach that American Christians take to anti-trafficking - can you explain that narrative, and why it doesn’t lead to successful results?

“I believe there’s a slow shift away from this, especially with a widening awareness about ethical storytelling, but the common narrative I’m describing follows the imagery of ‘there is a damsel in distress and a hero who saves the day.’ A story you often see in the news or from organizations goes something along the lines of: a poor, scared, young girl was kidnapped from her family and is being sex trafficked. There are very specific details about this young girl’s life, going into depth about her traumatic experiences. Often local government officials where the girl is rescued are portrayed as corrupt and, or best, indifferent.

And then the nonprofit comes it - maybe along with local law enforcement - to bust down the doors and rescue her from her captors. This girl is scared, but they give her a hug and she’s immediately comforted. If the organization is overtly Christian, you might hear how this girl is smiling, happy, and now knows that Jesus loves her.

“The hero narrative, that ‘we go on this quest, we save them, we get them out, everything is better’ is very enticing. It’s very emotionally interesting. But the reality is, trauma healing is not linear.”

If you talk to many organizations who take a long-term, relationship-oriented approach to anti-trafficking, you’ll hear them all say that change is not linear. Women coming out of trafficking might experience positive change, but maybe a trigger happens and causes setbacks. Their journeys “loop”, they aren’t straight lines.

The stories about dramatic rescue and governments with corrupt people, that are often portrayed in popular media - those stories are not untrue, but in the context of all the anti-trafficking work going on around the world, they’re the exception. When we make these exceptions out to be the norm, we’re really misrepresenting what’s happening, and it skews our understanding of what’s happening most regularly in anti-trafficking.”

What has your research indicated as best practices when engaging in anti-trafficking work as Christians, then? What advice would you give to those Christians practitioners daily engaged in anti-trafficking?

“The first thing is, It’s very clear from survivor scholars that it’s important to keep complexity in the story. Everybody’s story is unique, and it’s not always going to be “now they’re out of that work and they have a 9-5 job, work with other survivors, are doing great, etc”.  For example, there are women who return to sex work because they can’t make enough money in other ways to get them out of the cycle of poverty.

I think as Christians, we do have good intentions and we want to get people out of the negative situations they’re in. But when we think about sex trafficking, we need to think of it less as a personal morality issue and more as a result of cycles of poverty tied to broken systems.

Second, for practitioners, the resounding advice from all researchers is to listen to survivors - believe what they say they need, what they think is good for them, etc. It is important to have emotionally safe communities, like a rehabilitation center, but if women aren’t allowed to leave them, it can become its own sort of prison. If survivors still feel like they’re under control, they’re not going to thrive and find their own agency and independence.

For example, if a woman has a lot of friends at a bar where she was previously trafficked, and wants to go back to visit them, take the time to discuss this with her. It would likely be harmful to tell this woman ‘you can never step foot in that area again.’  This is a woman with her own agency. Our desire to reform and bring positive change can not be held above someone’s human right to their own decisions and agency.”

What challenge or encouragement would you give to people who care about anti-trafficking work but are not “on the ground” engaged in it? How can they help?

“I would encourage everyone to revisit and examine their own intentions and motivations for caring about or doing this work. What about our story has brought us with interest to caring about this issue? What might our mixed motives be? While writing this paper, I’ve had to ask myself, “what am I doing? What ideas do I bring into this research from my own background - and how does that affect my perspective on this issue?  Why am I researching this?” Take time to self-reflect. Externally, learn from or support the work of organizations that demonstrate holistic care, empowerment, and a systemic understanding of the issue.

For people who are interested in advocacy and communications, or just generally want to support this work, I would say to remember that a label does not define the whole person. They are a person first - someone who wants to flourish in life. With that, it’s important to honor the stories of survivors. From a marketing perspective, this is hard - one of the big outstanding questions surrounding this topic is, ‘what does it mean to keep complexity in a story in such a fast-paced, short attention span culture?’ Even if the women never read these stories written about them, we should still want the story to be honoring, because as Christians, we care about upholding the image of God within them.

There are layered realities to who someone is. For example, a woman may be a woman, but she is also an able-bodied woman, a Cambodian woman, from a specific social class, but trafficked in a neighboring country. And all of these layers of who she is impacts her lived experiences and intersect with each other. Trafficking impacts people in different ways because of the different parts of who they are. Thinking about sex trafficking in this intersectional way helps us to have more than just a simple story in our minds for what is happening. It may also help us imagine what could happen if survivors took the lead in combating sex trafficking. 

Finally, I would encourage people to research any anti-trafficking organizations they want to invest in - with their time, money, etc - and look for those positive themes of empowerment and agency building.”

Want to get involved?

Interested in getting involved in anti-trafficking work around the world? Contact a serving coach

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Change-Maker

The Legacy of Libbie

Libbie

Change-maker in Chibolya, Zambia

When Kristin and Ben first came to Zambia they met a vibrant, passionate woman named Libbie. Libbie had lived in a neighboring community all her life. “I love Zambia,” she told us; “What I want is a community where they should know the word of God.” She wanted to do something for her community “so they could have the skills to sustain themselves.” But she simply didn’t have the resources to do that alone.

Libbie was someone who could make things happen. She began to work collaboratively with One Collective and the dynamic team that had started to serve her community by following the ways of Jesus.

Libbie set to work helping young women discover their own potential and rise out of the bondage of domestic violence, abuse, and prostitution.

Libbie was a source of support, joy, and hope to all the vulnerable people of her community. She shared her resources, her time, and herself with the people she loved, helping them to know and understand the ways of Jesus.

Libbie died on April 23, 2022, but her legacy of hard work, determination, perseverance, and hope lives on for all in the community of Chibolya.

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