By Jeri Little

Business As Missions over the past several years seems to have focused on bottom line profits and the financial largesse which flows to various indigenous missionaries and mission projects. This is as it should be. After all, the seminal idea is to create earned profit from God honoring ventures to finance eternal endeavors worldwide. One fundamental difference between traditional missions funding and a BAM venture is that the funds are available locally and accessible immediately. Truly this aspect served to revolutionize our ministry in Romania & The Republic of Moldova.

For me personally, I have always been in awe of what business and the resultant profits have meant to the very people who aid in their creation. I am referring to the nationals who are hired, trained, and tasked with helping to create those profits. I believe that our employees and their high level of commitment have allowed us to garner the sterling reputation that we have developed and now maintain in the market place. They are our greatest asset (next to God’s presence and provision). Without these key players, our business at Little Texas would never have achieved profitability and grown exponentially.

With this in mind, I find myself pondering what our business has meant to our employees the past seventeen years. I am reaching beyond wages. I am looking past salaries and well past year end bonuses. I am remembering the dozens of Little Texas families in crisis that have been helped, precisely when and how they needed it most. I am vividly reliving the essential, and at times, life saving difference an indigenous BAM has made.

Certainly that was the case with young Anca. One of the ugly vestiges of Communism in Romania is indelible systemic corruption. One encounters and is threatened by this at every level of society. This would include health care. Every employee is provided with a work card that assures virtual “womb to tomb” benefits. Theoretically.

For a young mother about to give birth, the reality is quite different. Anca, one of our kitchen helpers was admitted to give birth in one of the maternity hospitals in Iasi. She was placed in a room with eleven other young women about to give birth. Each of the other moms-to-be were treated and cared for by the staff with an acceptable level of concern and professional competence. Anca was not. The reason is that all the others had ready cash with which to “bribe” the doctors and nurses to provide needed care. Anca did not have any money for such payment.

Complications arose for Anca and she experienced excessive bleeding. The staff, for their part, assiduously ignored Anca. As they moved in and out of the ward room to give medical care to the others, Anca lay slowly bleeding to death. I was in Bucharest when I received a phone call from Little Texas, apprising me of the situation. The remedy was as simple as immediately instructing one of my staff to race to the hospital, Little Texas money in hand and pay the doctor so Anca would not die.

The blood money was promptly paid, and Anca duly treated. She revived, survived, and gave birth to a healthy baby. Funds were available right then, right there and could hastily be put to highest use. This was due to the fact that in God’s economy, business alongside ministry was part of His Master plan. There was no need to phone or write to the States to raise funds. There was no delay, no waiting, and tragedy was averted. Everyone was aware of God’s sovereign mechanism for saving Anca and her baby.

When I meditate on all that Business As Missions means, I find myself remembering Anca.

Jeri Little is the pioneering founder of Enterprise International. He, and his wife Gloria, have founded several Businesses As Mission companies in Romania including Little Texas, Enterprise International’s 4 star hotel and restaurant in Iasi, Romania. Jeri’s story has been published in the book “Merchant To Romania”.