Since the Arab Spring more than two years ago, the Muslim world continues to make headlines—civil war in Syria, violence and bloodshed in Egypt, continued unrest in Tunisia and Libya, unrelenting insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan even as the U.S. and her allies struggle to pull out.  Large populations of displaced refugees now threaten the stability of neighboring countries.  As age-old sectarian and tribal hatreds rage across the region, one CNN journalist sadly concluded that there seems little that outsiders can do but wait for the volcano to finish erupting.

On Feb 15, the video titled “A Message Signed with Blood to the Nations of the Cross” went viral.  21 Coptic Christian migrant workers from Egypt were led like sheep along the Mediterranean coast of Libya by masked terrorists. They lined them up along the beach, forced them on their knees, and beheaded them.  This was supposedly IS’ revenge for the alleged kidnap and torture by the Coptic Church of two Egyptian Christian women who had converted to Islam, a claim denied by those involved in the story.

For over a year, many are speculating on what Beijing would do with China’s Christian movement as the Zhejiang provincial government continues to take down crosses from church buildings—over a thousand by now, and counting.  There are also reports of increased suppression of church activities in other provinces.  Is this part of a systematic ideological tightening across the country that may step up in the days ahead?

GLS strives to realize its vision for missions mobilization in partnership with churches:  For every tentmaker we send out in partnership with a church, we hope to work with the candidate and his church to raise up several others to take his place locally. 

September 11, Japan announced plans to “nationalize” three islands that are part of the Diaoyu-Senkaku territorial dispute with China since 1971.  This came one week before the 81st anniversary of Japan’s occupation of N.E. China in 1931, which was the first step to full-scale invasion of the country as part of WWII in Asia.  In terms of cultural trauma for a nation, 9-18 to the Chinese is what 9-11 is to Americans. 

It has been said that the graying of America is a God-ordained phenomenon unique in the history of the world and of the church.  Never before has any country had so many retirees who are Christian and suited to invest their best years to make strategic and meaningful contributions to God’s kingdom around the world, especially in tentmaking missions.  The same is true for Canada where social benefits are excellent and the Canadian dollar is getting stronger all the time. 

In 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.

If 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?

Is it possible to have a profitable and missional business that creates jobs for the poor in an emerging economy using sustainable local materials to produce well-designed products for environmentally aware customers in the West? … The Quadruple Bottom Line of Business as Mission (BAM) aims at holistic witness to the Gospel that brings about economic, social, environmental and spiritual transformation to bless the unreached …