A Christian having an international career does not automatically make him a tentmaker. A tentmaker is a Christ follower with a missionary calling to serve others cross-culturally through his/her profession and make disciples of people who have yet to know Jesus. Preparing for a tentmaking career overseas will therefore have a professional and a spiritual aspect to it.
Read MoreProfessionals and business people, who look nothing like traditional missionaries but live cross-culturally to make disciples through their work, are missionaries. We call them bivocational missionaries or tentmakers after Paul, who used his day job stitching tents as a way to share the good news about God.
Read MoreLacey’s story is a story of learning to say “yes” to God on the unexpected, yet beautiful journey of following His call.
Read MoreWe address a few common myths people hold about “calling,” particularly when it comes to work and vocation, through what Scripture has to say.
Read MoreIf work is an integral part of a tentmaker's life and witness, and not just a "passport" to get to the field or a "platform" for ministry, then getting the right job is important. But what constitutes the right job? How do you find that job overseas?
Read MoreCherry longed to return to East Asia with her American husband and children. She was a high-performance salesperson in her company, so her boss agreed to create a position for her in to grow their business. Then the unexpected happened: Cherry's position fell through. Would they still go?
Read MoreBob and Sabrina went to Asia with a heart to serve young people. At the university where Bob teaches, some of his students are from Muslim countries where economic hardships and even civil war are part of life. Quite a few of these bright young people are suffering PTSD symptoms from the violence and loss of loved ones back home. Bob and his wife Sabrina reached out and became their unofficial host family.
Read MoreChrist-followers are called to live a purposeful life that honors God (1 Peter 2:9). Sometimes we may feel lost and wish we had a clear invitation from God: a Macedonian call for what to do with our lives.
Read MoreWhat constitutes a missionary call? A deep inner feeling? A burning bush experience? Something just for the spiritual elite? Popular but misguided notions can confuse and hinder your discernment for God’s call. Drawing from Rev. Mack Stiles’ message at the 2013 Cross Student Missions Conference, let us clarify the fundamentals, then illustrate them with Mitch and Zoe’s story
Read MoreAs we celebrate 30 years of ministry, it is time to revisit and reaffirm our mission. This is important in order to sharpen our objectives, develop new strategies, align our teams, and mobilize others to join us while staying focused and relevant in this rapidly evolving world scene that is changing the landscape of missions.
Read MoreDespite suffering and chaos, spiritual revival spread among young people across China during WWII and the Civil War that followed. Brave bands of evangelists felt called to reach the poverty-stricken Northwest. Without knowledge of each other, they went out from Shanghai, Jiangsu, Henan, Shandong and Shaanxi.
Read MoreChina’s Back To Jerusalem (BTJ) missionaries in the 1940s were tentmakers by necessity, unaware perhaps of the legacy of tentmakers before them.
Read More“You go to church because the foreigners pay you!”
“You’re a pastor because you receive money from America!”
These are common accusations from Muslims against Christian converts and pastors in Central Asia.
Read MoreEvery day we read disturbing headlines from around the world: radical factions escalating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from both sides; IS jihadists massacring Christians in Iraq; Islamic terrorists kidnapping school girls in Nigeria; militant Buddhists persecuting Muslims in Myanmar; the government taking down crosses from church buildings in China … and the list goes on.
Read MoreAt the 2010 Lausanne III, Tim Keller of New York’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church made a case that if Christians want to reach the world, they must reach the cities. Christianity won the 1st century Greco-Roman world because it won the cities. Today, half the world’s population is urban.
Read MoreIn the old days, “going overseas to save the lost” might simply mean putting our careers “on the altar” and going to seminary to study the Bible so we could preach to the heathens.
Read MoreIf career is an integral part of a tentmaker’s life and witness, and not just a “passport” to get to the field or a “platform” for ministry, then getting the right job is important. But what constitutes the right job? How do you find that job overseas?
Read MoreThe current global economic malaise has made it more challenging for donor-dependent missionaries and job-dependent tentmakers to stay on the field. While there is a place for short-termers, the work of missions to impact lives and transform culture requires long-term investment. There is no short cut to building relationships and gaining influence. So it is important to consider what it would take for workers to serve on the field beyond a few short years.
Read More
