Business As Mission Conference 2026

It’s a movement, a cultural shift, a generational impact.

It’s redefining The Great Commission by merging business opportunites with missional initiatives.

Business As Mission will bring together entrepreneurs, investors, business professionals, students and passionate individuals from all over the world, connected by a common cause to create, invest and build businesses with kingdom impact.

Introducing our international Keynote speakers, Merari Peña and Joao Modrano.

Merari Pena is the driving force behind Forever Crystals, a jewelry brand that beautifully illustrates the integration of faith and business. A native of Puerto Rico from a missionary family, Merari originally stepped into the family jewelry business to support her father’s ministry work in Cuba. What began as managing two small kiosks has since evolved into a thriving international enterprise.

Today, Forever Crystals operates nine company-owned retail stores, seven franchises in Puerto Rico, and a distribution network extending to Costa Rica and the Caribbean. Under Merari’s leadership, the company employs nearly 90 people and is known for its "affordable luxury" and high-quality Swarovski elements. It is a business embedded in its Latin culture. Forever Crystals celebrates the spirit of Latin American women, embracing their beauty and flamboyance and desire to make a bold statement.

Forever Crystals is quite open about their missional aims. Apart from sharing the gospel message directly in their stores, it also shines through all of their business ethos and operations. Company materials explain, “Our responsibility with clients, employees and shareholders goes beyond just simply providing a product. We strive to give back with grace what has been given by grace to us. We provide this in many ways that include but are not limited to, strategic partnership with missionary organizations, providing employment in a dignified and creative environment and using our operation towards helping in the progression of the great commission.”

From holding prayer within the company to feeding the homeless and supporting Operation Christmas Child, Merari demonstrates that a business can be profitable, sustainable, and a tangible vessel for God’s missional love.

João has been an organizational leader his entire adult life. Having co-founded and co-led a global church-planting organization for over three decades (an org that has planted nearly 6000 churches in unreached people groups), he currently leads BAM Global as founding associate and executive director and serves as Catalyst for Business as Mission at the Lausanne Movement. He serves as co-founder, co-owner or board member of several BAM businesses, as well as on the boards of several NGOs and educational institutions.

João is known as a passionate communicator and has spoken and ministered in over 60 countries. He has authored, co-authored, and contributed to multiple books, including the Lausanne Occasional Paper on Business as Mission; World Christian Encyclopedia, 3rd Ed.; and Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (Brazilian Edition), as well as co-edited or contributed to several study Bible and encyclopedia projects including the Bíblia Missionária de Estudo (Portuguese and Spanish) and the Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South. With doctorates in Intercultural Studies (D.Int.St.) and Religious Studies (Ph.D.), specializations in entrepreneurship, management, leadership, and intercultural communication, an MA in Religion and a BA in Sociology, he designs and teaches BAM-related courses at several universities, in addition to teaching organizational leadership and intercultural studies.

João is a global catalyst with a pastor’s heart and a strategist’s mind. A missional entrepreneur, academic mentor, and missiological creative, he lives at the intersection of faith, business, and the Great Commission. Whether mobilizing church leaders, championing Business as Mission across continents, or teaching students from around the world, he carries a holy ambition: to see the Great Commission fulfilled among all peoples and through every vocation for God’s eternal glory.

João is married to Sophia, a personal trainer, and they have two adult children (an engineer and a law student). They live in Curitiba, Brazil.

Concessions

For students or for registered not-for-profits, charities or churches, there are a limited number of special rate tickets. Please contact us at [email protected]

Media Waiver

By purchasing a ticket you are consenting that your image may appear in Business as Mission Vancouver photographs or videos used for promotion purposes. For any concerns please contact us at [email protected]

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