Around Town: BAM Vancouver, TWU’s new president, Ukrainian Invictus guests

Business As Mission (BAM) Vancouver is part of a worldwide movement – and its March 7 conference will demonstrate that reality.

Speakers will bring news of creative initiatives from around the world – and they will be joined by several local people who work hard to incorporate their faith into their business practice.

These are the keynote speakers:

• Dr. Jenny Nuccio: founder + CEO of Imani Collective, a global social enterprise and woman-empowerment program in Mombasa, Kenya;
• Mike Baer: a leader in the global business as mission movement;
• John Neate: CEO & founder of JJ Bean;
• David Robertson: with his wife Sara runs The Dirty Apron Cooking School, Catering and Delicatessen;
• Donna Cheung: co-founder, with her husband Nouver, of Wakefield Agency.

BAM Vancouver describes the movement it is part of:

Business as mission, simply put, is the seamless integration of excellent business with intentional mission. It is doing business for God’s glory, the gospel and the common good.


Business is a God-given vocation and institution in society, with the potential to bring multiple benefits to people, communities and nations.

Business as mission intentionally leverages this intrinsic power of business to address spiritual needs, hand in hand with social, economic and environmental needs. Business as mission is strategic today because it is often best placed to meet a wide range of needs in communities around the world.

Mike Davies, who with his wife Jennifer Atwood Davies runs BAM Vancouver (and leads YWAM Vancouver), has had many opportunities to see the significance of business as mission during his extensive travels.

Last fall, he posted from the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in South Korea, with 5,400 believers from more than 200 nations, that “Aslan is on the move.”

He was referring to the whole event, but not least the Workplace Track in which he and 1,500 other delegates took part (apparently 2,000 had applied for it).

Davies posted on his LinkedIn site February 15:

BAM Vancouver is a small part of what God is doing in and through business globally. We are thrilled to be a part of this growing movement and helping business people on their journey of discovering business as mission.

Please take a look and see what God’s up to all over the world.

Dr. Brian Albright and Dr. George Watts, Trinity Western University professors and business leaders with extensive experience in sub-Saharan Africa, will also speak at the gathering.

The Business As Mission Conference will take place March 7 at The Westin Wall Centre, Vancouver Airport in Richmond.

TWU’s new president

Trinity Western University announced Dr. Todd Martin as its sixth president February 18:

Dr. Martin has served Trinity Western since 2008, beginning as a faculty member teaching in the areas of sociology and family studies before becoming dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, during which he advanced faith integration across the disciplines. 

Following his successful tenure as dean, Dr. Martin was appointed provost, leading in the area of strategic planning and strengthening TWU’s external relations and academic partnerships with faith-based colleges.

Since the departure of Dr. Mark Husbands, who completed his five-year term as president in June 2024, Dr. Martin has carried the responsibility of interim president and provost. Throughout his leadership journey at TWU, Dr. Martin has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to the University’s foundational identity within the Christian faith and its calling to Christian higher education. . . .

His diverse career spans 25 years in pastoral ministry, including successfully replanting a church in the Lower Mainland, complemented by experience in the financial sector. Throughout his educational journey, Dr. Martin attended ACTS Seminaries (TWU) before completing a Master of Arts in family studies (UBC), where his research focused on intergenerational faith transmission, after which he went on to achieve a PhD in sociology of family (UBC).  

Sharing his knowledge of family theories, Dr. Martin has co-authored three books and authored numerous book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles, and he serves as the managing editor of the Journal of Comparative Family Studies. 

A formal presidential inauguration ceremony will be held April 24. Go here for the full statement.

Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university. More than 6,000 students study at the main campus in Langley, as well as at extension campuses in Richmond and Ottawa.

Ukrainian Invictus Games guests

The B.C. Catholic featured a touching story February 18: ‘Guess who came to coffee? The Ukrainians’:

After the homily in Ukrainian [at St. Mary’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Vancouver], an English one followed, and then the priest had a surprise announcement.

He explained that he had only found out the day before. “After the Divine Liturgy, it is thought that part of the Ukrainian team at the Invictus Games will be joining us for coffee!”

This year’s Invictus Games in Vancouver and Whistler saw Ukraine’s largest team – 35 veterans and servicemen – win 30 medals, place third overall, behind the U.S. (55) and Australia (36). It was Ukraine’s second-best performance ever.