From Calling to Complexity: Aaron’s Journey in Business as Mission
PART ONE
Aaron didn’t begin his overseas work thinking business was the point.
He came to faith in college after growing up in a nominal Christian home. Discipled by a fraternity brother and shaped by campus ministry conversations about unreached people groups, he went to South Asia assuming that “real ministry” looked a certain way.
Business, in those early years, was mostly a visa solution.
“We did just enough to stay legal,” he says. “The real work happened somewhere else.”
But over time, something began to shift.
Aaron had studied business in college and came from an entrepreneurial family. As he began leading his team’s business functions — helping companies source products from South Asia — he started noticing something unexpected:
Doing real business created real relationships.
“This is helping my relationships,” he realized. “It’s allowing me to connect with people in ways that feel natural.”
The turning point came during a short internship at a factory in China. Watching a business owner live and work alongside his employees every day, Aaron saw something different.
“You’re with your people all day,” he says.
That proximity changed everything.
In that moment, Aaron realized he didn’t want ministry to orbit around business. He wanted the two to live in the same space.
Business was no longer something to justify his presence. It became an integrated life — creating real value, building real relationships, and making money and making disciples in the same place.
Launching — Just Before COVID
In 2019, Aaron and his co-founder launched their own Business-for-Transformation venture — just months before COVID reshaped the global economy.
They started with a service-based e-commerce agency, bootstrapped from scratch. What began as a side hustle grew steadily.
Six years later, the company has nearly 100 employees — primarily in South Asia, with teams in both North and South America.
Their work now operates across three primary streams:
Their core agency, building an intentionally Christ-shaped workplace culture
Serving other BAM companies, helping them sell products effectively online
Launching and acquiring brands, sourcing from BAM-aligned manufacturers
But growth isn’t Aaron’s headline.
Faithful presence and long-term transformation are.
Building Culture in a Majority-Hindu Context
Aaron works primarily with colleagues from Hindu backgrounds, along with some from Muslim families. He is one of the only followers of Jesus on his leadership team.
Rather than constant public preaching, his approach is relational and steady.
“When people come into my office with a problem, we pray.”
There’s a weekly Bible study — what they call a puja — where seekers and believers gather in open conversation. Christmas and Easter are celebrated publicly. Questions are welcomed.
One team leader who once described his faith as nominal now leads Bible study discussions himself. Another colleague from a Muslim background continues wrestling with faith.
Aaron reflects honestly:
“We haven’t necessarily seen dramatic conversions yet. But we’re seeing conversations happen. Truth is being discussed.”
Six years in, the seeds are still being planted — patiently, faithfully, consistently.
And the business continues to grow.
But with growth came something Aaron didn’t anticipate.
Complexity.
In Part Two, we’ll look at what happens when a thriving BAM venture outgrows improvisation — and why the right expertise at the right time matters.