Simon Cox Blog: One-on-One with João Mordomo on Brazil, the Gospel, and Business as Mission

Friday 24 August 2018

One-on-One with João Mordomo on Brazil, the Gospel, and Business as Mission

“It is not uncommon to find Brazilian missionaries in far-flung places, including among unreached people groups.”

Ed: How long have you been involved in Lausanne International and what is your current role?

João: In 2003, Mats Tunehag invited me to participate in the brand new “Business as Mission” issue group leading up to the 2004 Lausanne Forum in Thailand. One of the main outcomes of that process and Forum was the Lausanne Occasional Paper on Business as Mission.

The issue network itself began to gain significant traction after the Forum, and Mats served as the Senior Associate (now called Catalyst) for BAM for many years. In 2011, Mats invited me to join the leadership and planning team for a global BAM Congress in 2013, also in Thailand. The damage was done (i.e. BAM had me whether it wanted me or not!) and I was invited by Lausanne to join Mats as a co-Catalyst, a role I assumed officially in 2016. Jo Plummer had been instrumental in the growing BAM movement since the early 2000s and also joined as co-Catalyst in 2016. She and I continue in these roles today.

Ed: Tell me about your current roll and what you do.

João: As a co-catalyst for BAM, I have the great joy and privilege of providing service and leadership to a growing global BAM movement that gathers, encourages, and trains BAM practitioners through thematic, regional, and global events.

Additionally, we seek to discover BAM best practices through research and reporting, as well as develop and share new resources. We now have nearly 30 reports on themes related to BAM (e.g. “BAM Incubation,” “BAM In and From China,” “BAM and Mission Agencies,” etc.) and wealth creation for holistic transformation (e.g., “Wealth Creation and the Poor,” “Wealth Creation and the Stewardship of Creation,” “Wealth ...