Business for Missions: Gospel Access

For years, our team carried a burden for a region of nearly nine million people—a place where the gospel had almost no presence, no viable access points, and no path for traditional ministry.

The spiritual need was overwhelming, and political, cultural, and security barriers made entry impossible. Every door we tried to open was firmly closed.

We knew that if the gospel were ever going to take root there, it would require a different approach, a creative, Spirit-led strategy that aligned with the needs of the people and the realities on the ground.

Because of your generosity to this ministry, a team entered the region not as outsiders but as contributors to the community’s economic and social well-being.

Over the next six years, God worked through perseverance, prayer, setbacks, and small breakthroughs, through seasons when progress felt invisible and moments when the entire effort seemed impossible.

But God was quietly weaving together relationships, approvals, and circumstances. Then, in what can only be described as miraculous, final approval came. After years of waiting, we were granted permission to establish a legal business in the region.

This was more than mere paperwork—it was a door that had been shut to the gospel for generations. Suddenly, what had been unreachable became accessible.

A team is already mobilizing, preparing to enter through this newly opened route for believers to live, work, build relationships, and demonstrate Christ’s love.

Their mission is clear! Bring the light of Christ to millions who have never heard His name through the credibility and compassion of business done with integrity.

This story reminds us that borders, governments, and barriers do not limit God. When His people persist in prayer, creativity, and obedience, He creates access where there was none.

What began as an impossible dream has become a living opportunity—one that holds the potential to transform an entire region with the hope of the gospel.

Thank you for being an integral part of this ministry through your gifts and prayers. You are helping open doors to those who have never heard the gospel!

Please join us in prayer:

• Praise the Lord for the permission to live and work in this region, which had previously been closed to the gospel.
• Pray for the businesses currently seeking permits and approvals, which will allow the gospel to reach unreached peoples and places.
• Ask God to point our teams to those who are favorable to opening gospel doors.
• “Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38).

Thank you for partnering with us to utilize creative strategies to expand kingdom work and bring the gospel to some of the least-reached places on earth.

Several businesses located in countries worldwide allow long-term Christian workers to engage unreached people groups through small manufacturing businesses. These companies communicate the gospel and plant churches in their local communities. Products from these businesses are sold in the U.S. on an e-commerce platform, which provides revenue and working capital to support the underlying missionary tasks of evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. See the array of beautiful and useful products available HERE.

This video demonstrates the effectiveness of a fitness facility in Thailand. Not only are we engaging the Thai people physically, but church planting is happening, and lives are transformed through relationships and the gospel.

Click HERE.

Thank you so much for your generosity to this ministry and people across the globe reached through businesses you support. Your prayers and sacrificial giving undergird a new, transformative missions model of developing businesses that improve local people’s livelihood and living standards while providing a natural means of gospel entry into certain countries. Through these businesses, long-term workers have opportunities to share the gospel with local people, from farmers or artisans who provide the raw materials or products to store owners and consumers who purchase the goods.

These business and non-governmental organizations are foundational for opening sustainable gospel access for our missionaries in countries, cities, and people groups that are usually closed to Christian missionary visas. IMB personnel provide business leadership and oversee the business and mission strategy.

Your gifts accomplish the primary missionary task by providing:

• Access—opening access for personnel into locations otherwise closed to them
• Identity—giving them vocational identity to help locals relate to them
• Engagement—offering opportunities to interact with local non-believers

Presently, nearly 300 Business-for-Mission entities are dotted throughout the IMB footprint, providing visa access for more than 1,000 of our missionaries and families. The Gospel Access fund provides these entities’ initial start-up and ongoing capital support.

We want to share with you some of the ways God is working through your generosity:

English classes through virtual reality. People worldwide want to learn to speak English. English learning makes up the largest number of our field-based business enterprises. Recently, we have found great enthusiasm for our new virtual-reality English classes, as they quickly grab the attention of students and adults in places in each affinity with significant lostness. Pray for new partnerships under development using virtual reality to teach English so we can share the love and truth of Christ as we connect with people across the globe.

Manufacturing and e-commerce: In various locations globally, we have established manufacturing companies that employ local believers, pastors, and other national peoples. These businesses produce and deliver products to U.S.-based consumers. Many are now available for purchase. Ask God to open new doors for manufacturing businesses so believers can provide for their families.

Sports and fitness activities: God has used sports for many years to help us develop trust, deepen relationships, and share the gospel. Whether through camps, clubs, or leagues, athletics bring people together. As we continue looking for innovative ways to engage lost people, we have established workout groups, gyms, and recreation centers. Your generosity to this project helps us connect with those who need the hope Christ offers. Ask God to use these fitness entities to deliver His hope.

Leadership consulting: Because of your gifts, we recently launched several pilot consulting firms in hard-to-reach locations. Local business leaders attend regular sessions that teach leadership solutions to improve business practices, employee retention, and customer engagement. Pray for doors to open in additional areas and with new businesspeople so we can share the gospel.             

Thank you for your generosity and prayers. Your sacrificial gifts and intercession are truly transforming lives as we partner together to solve the world’s greatest problem, lostness.