Recently I shared how we began a new seeker small group study (Story of Redemption) at the workplace of one of our members, Alfonso DeLuna. Alfonso owns a mechanic shop, and he has reached out to a number of people through this shop. So, rather than having these people go someplace else, we just started a small group study right there during the day where they are used to hanging out. It does not get much more missional than this!

Both I and our members have a limited amount of evening time. Then I thought, what if we started setting up evangelistic small groups at the workplace of all of our small business owners? Small business owners are self-starters and used to new ideas. They are well-respected and have a lot of people that look up to them. And they can usually set their own hours, making it relatively easy to schedule these studies. Just think how many people could be reached if we did this with just 5-10 small business owners at our church?

(If we think about helping our people reach out at the workplace at all, we usually just think of them as being individuals lights. Sometimes, this is all that can happen. But people are drawn to community, which is why reaching out in a small group type of fashion can be very powerful and effective.)

THEN it struck me that we could also be looking for "people of peace" small business owners. These are people who are unchurched but are receptive to the gospel whom the Lord has already prepared to receive his message. This is what a church planter would do--contact local business owners who are unchurched and ask them if they would host a Bible study at their place of work. With prayer and God's preparation of their hearts, who knows how many small business owners would be receptive?

What do you think of this idea to reach out in the workplace through small business owners? What other ideas do you have for reaching out in the workplace?