When J. Gunnar Olson shared his vision for an International Christian Chamber of Commerce at a conference in 1984, he had no master plan for global expansion. He had only a conviction that God wanted to raise up businesspeople who would walk supernaturally with Christ in the marketplace.
What followed could only be explained by the hand of God.
God's Supernatural Business Growth Begins
The first groups formed in Scandinavia. Then calls began coming from unexpected places. A businessman in Kenya heard about ICCC and wanted to start a chapter. A network in the Philippines reached out. Entrepreneurs in Germany, leaders in Colombia, professionals in Bangladesh - one by one, people from around the world connected with the vision.
"I felt like I was running at top speed in front of a large train just to avoid being run over," Gunnar later said of those early years.
Ministry Expansion Without Marketing
There was no marketing budget. No church denomination backing the movement. No corporate sponsors. Yet ICCC spread to continent after continent - Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, the Pacific, Latin America.
The expansion happened through relationship, not programs. As businesspeople encountered the teaching - that their work was ministry, that God cared about their businesses, that the Kingdom could be manifested in the marketplace - they caught the fire and carried it home.
Global Impact Across 75 Nations
Today, ICCC operates in over 75 nations with active Regional Boards on every continent. Millions have been trained through programs like Transformed Working Life. National policies have been influenced by ICCC members who brought Kingdom principles to government.
What began as one Swedish businessman's obedience to a divine vision has become a global movement touching every corner of the earth.
"The history of the ICCC," the organization states, "is a history of imperfect men and women who stepped out in faith and experienced God's faithfulness."
