Article by Melanie Strahle
Administrative Assistant
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Women's Ministry Department

From the beginning of his business, BITHGROUP Technologies President/CEO Robert L. Wallace has joined forces with God. He refers to his work as "God's Business." He states that everything he has, including his business, belongs to God, "I am just the manager of the materials that God gave me."

Wallace, a successful entrepreneur, started BITHGROUP Technologies in 1992 after 25 years of engineering. With offices in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Alabama, this business provides service to large corporations and government agencies with software development, information technologies, wireless engineering, networking, security and management consulting.

As you walk into the office of BITHGROUP Technologies, it is clear that Wallace enjoys sharing Christ in the marketplace. On the lobby coffee table along with the Harvard Business Review are Bible Answers, the latest Sabbath School Quarterly, The Great Controversy, and The Desire of Ages. Wallace treats all of his business as ministry. "Mission and business are better when the co-exist," he says.

Wallace never lets his business get in the way of his religious beliefs. Before the millennium, the mayor of Baltimore hired him as a Y2K consultant. He spent two years preparing for this job. However, New Years Eve 1999 arrived on a Friday night and Wallace refused to work on the Sabbath.

In case of an emergency in the city, over four thousand professionals gathered in Baltimore that night. Wallace simply explained about the Sabbath and stated that he would be unable to attend on Friday evening. He replied to their uncertainties, "I am not concerned." Instead, he attended a special vespers program at his church where the church family gathered to pray for the coming of the new millennium. The turnaround was successful, and the mayor of Baltimore thanked him for his hard work. Wallace recalls that at that time he felt it was particularly important for him to have faith and to remember to "stand for the Lord."

"We have to do what the Lord wants us to do and be the best we can be." Wallace believes that all people have the potential to succeed, and in his business he focuses on that. Born in the inner city of Baltimore, Maryland, Wallace knows how difficult it can be to start a business. He is the founder and owner of Entreteach Learning Systems which uses online resources to help minorities, women, and young people in America become successful. A website offers online business courses and workshops to provide guidelines on how to aggressively start a new business. You will enjoy pursuing his website, www.entretreach.com. You will find case studies, references to scripture, spirituality and family, as well as strategies for success.

Wallace is also the author of several books dealing with business strategies. In all of his books he is open about stating his religious beliefs; reader will know that he is a Christian. He latest book, The Ssese Principles: Guidelines for Creating Wealth Through Faith, deals with ten God-given and faith-based principles in the Bible which can be used by businessmen and women to build wealth.

Wallace has always been open about his faith with his clients. When giving a presentation about his business to a significant businessman, Wallace noticed that this person seemed distracted. Wallace believes that the Lord gave him courage to confront his client and ask him if there was some reason why they were not connecting. The businessman explained to him that he had just been informed by his doctors that he had brain cancer. Soon Wallace went from talking to his client about technology and business to spend over three hours witnessing about God's love. Wallace says, "I believe God sent me there."

Wallace serves on many boards around the country that require travel. During lunches and dinners he always bows his head to pray. Many people ask him what he is doing--he loves to take this as another opportunity to share his faith.

Mission trips are important to Wallace. He is involved with Global Vessels, a Christian non-profit group that raises money to build hospitals, clinics, and churches. He recently started raising money for a new project--building an orphanage in Africa for children whose parents have died of AIDS.

Whether it is supporting other businesses, witnessing to clients, preaching in churches, or visiting other countries, Wallace believes that we must always stand for God. When it comes to sharing Christ, Wallace says, "We have to be bold Christians and be tigers for the Lord."

*article taken from ASi Magazine, Spring 2005