Tentmaking: Working Abroad to Share the Gospel

JM Bell
Richard taught English in North Africa. He and others who were working in the country helped the church treble in size. In Nepal, aid workers from many different agencies help the church grow. In North Africa, a tour company brings in tourists, benefiting the economy, and shares the gospel with nationals. Elizabeth, in Asia, helps manage a road-building project to an inaccessible village in a mountainous region during a year out from university. Her prayers will be a blessing to the region for many years to come. I had the privilege of working for six months in a village of nomads in West Africa as an aid worker and teaching new believers the Bible.
Tentmakers are some of the most effective workers extending Gods Kingdom in the world today. They have shared the gospel widely and seen churches established where there were none. But what is a tentmaker? The origin of the term comes from the New Testament. During Pauls missionary journeys, the Apostle received financial support from Christians some of the time and at other times he supported himself and others using his trade making tents. While he worked as a tentmaker he shared the gospel and established worshipping communities of believers. Today, those who work abroad with a profession or trade and a desire to share the gospel are walking in Pauls footsteps (Acts 18:3, 20:34f, 1 Thess. 2:59 and 2 Thess. 3:7-9). Paul also wanted to be an example of someone who worked hard, and to avoid accusations of preaching the gospel for money (1 Cor. 9:12,15,18). These same reasons are true for modern tentmakers. Tentmakers have existed from the early days of the Church. In fact from a historical perspective supported workers may be in the minority! Tentmakers from all around the world are serving God today. They range from a well-paid oil executive to a maid from Southeast Asia in a Muslim home. They not only increase the number of workers in the harvest field, and can be wholly or partly self-supporting, but they can also work in regions that are closed to traditional Christian workers owing to visa restrictions. Working as a tentmaker can be very rewarding. However, some have had negative experiences that could have been avoided with a little forethought and preparation. I well remember having Sunday lunch with a family who had become very frustrated. They had come to the Middle East expecting to share the good news effectively, but after two years the husband knew few nationals and no language. He had a high-powered job, working with other Westerners in English, and had little time to socialise with nationals. The little social time the family had together was spent with the expat church. His wife by contrast had fared better. She had learnt some Arabic and her children spent time in neighbours houses. She was able to share something of Gods love. This couple had gone out without the backing of people skilled in guiding tentmakers, which would have enabled them to be more effective. In contrast, each day I hear of colleagues in my own agency and others who through their faithful service are seeing Gods Kingdom grow and lives blessed in Jesus name. Who is a tentmaker Whether you today? Someone who is called by are a student God, both to extend his embarking on Kingdom cross-culturally and a career or to glorify God through study have worked or employment. Roles include: for several business people, community years in your and agricultural developers, own country, doctors, nurses, diplomats, perhaps God is computer and software calling you to specialists, civil and mechanical live out Gods engineers, students, teachers, love in another lecturers, journalists, writers, secretaries, teachers of English culture. I as a foreign language, research encourage you workers, sports people, etc. to check it out.

The Pros 1. Often the only way into restricted-access countries, e.g. Islamic states, China. 2. Can often reach people that traditional workers cannot reach. 3. An example of hard work to local believers. 4. Often partly or wholly selffinancing. 5. Often gives natural contacts with local people. 6. Avoids the accusation of preaching the gospel for money.

Possible Pitfalls 1. Time management. Tension between job and ministry, especially with full-time jobs. Employers may not be sympathetic to your aims. 2. Unrealistic aims and the pressure of trying to succeed in two roles. 3. Lack of clear goals in ministry leading to ineffectiveness. 4. Difficulty in learning the language and culture because of lack of time. 5. Loneliness if not part of a team. 6. Lack of pastoral care or accountability if not working with an agency or sending church. 7. Lack of proper support base and furloughs to strengthen links with home church. 8. Often limited by short-term contracts. 9. Vital preparation can be overlooked. Key issues to think through 1. What has God called me to do? Having a clear vision of what you want to achieve will ensure you are both fruitful and fulfilled. 2. Making, taking or faking a job? Making a job avoids unsympathetic employers trying to prevent you sharing the gospel. Faking a job: a question of Christian integrity? What are you communicating if you enter a country as a teacher and do not teach or do not do it well? Aim to bless the country with your job. 3. Partnering with an agency and/or a team can offer: support and complementary gifting, prayer support and pastoral care, accountability and better preparation and in-service training. Preparation 1. Biblical foundations. 2. Your walk with God and intercessory prayer. 3. Relationships how well do you relate to and work with others? 4. Relationship with sending church and agency

Overcoming the Pitfalls Care and forethought are vital. The choice of the post taken and the establishment of clear and realistic goals are also vital. Many of the issues above can be worked through more effectively with a Christian agency that has experience of facilitating tentmakers. The advantages of partnering with an agency are considerable. Ethics 1. Integrity and identity: Are we a missionary in disguise? No, biblically all of us are called to give a reason for the hope that we have when asked (1 Pet 3:15). There is no difference in this respect between being a witness at home and elsewhere in the UK and doing it overseas. All of us are sent as Christ was sent by His Father (Jn 20:21, Matt 28:1920). We are sent into the work-place whether in our own country or abroad. We must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). 2. A matter of truth: Faking a job. Does this reflect on the nature of our gospel? 3. Our witness: Shoddy work reflects a shoddy gospel. Eph 6:7 4. Accountability: Is getting a job overseas a way of not being accountable to leadership of your sending church or local believers in the country where you work? Accountability in ministry is a New Testament principle: Apollos, Aquila and Priscilla, Paul and Timothy, etc., all made themselves accountable (eg Acts 13:1-3, 18:22-28, 2 Tim 2:1-2).

for accountability. 5. Ministry skills. 6. Communicating Christ across cultures practical and theory. 7. Learning the language, culture and history of the country. Case Studies 1. A family with two children from the West went to the Middle East with the aim of sharing the good news. The husband took a demanding post as an oil executive in one of the major cities and attended the expat evangelical church. After two years the couple were frustrated, they had few relationships with nationals, most of whom were women friends of the wife (in a segregated society). Though the woman had some success at language learning her Arabic was still rudimentary. The husband had no Arabic. What were the major issues preventing effective outreach to Arabs? What could be done to improve their effectiveness? Suggest a plan for a team to help bring together a gathering of believers. 2. An agency set up a development organisation and a West African government invited them to work with refugees in the Sahel. They aimed also to establish a worshipping community of believers. The expats worked in a team to set up literacy, medical and agricultural projects. Competent national Christians were employed and encouraged to

take responsibility for the day-to-day running of the projects. Time was set aside for language learning. Expats wore local dress and lived in local accommodation. Singles lived with African families. Before language could be adequately learned Muslim refugees responded to the gospel and the discipling of the church began. What features of the teams practice aided the establishment of the church? What challenges would the expats have experienced? 3. A team set up a language school in a fairly developed country, where they had to compete for business with serious competitors. The business, though essential for supplying visas and for workers initial language training, had become a burden to the team. Someone with a strong administrative background was able to go out for a two-year placement, to ease the stress of running the business on the team. By the end of the placement, the financial viability of the business was secured, and the tasks of running the business had been broken down and documented in easy-to-follow steps to enable people from non-business backgrounds to run the school. How would the role of the administrator have differed from the roles of other members of the team? How might this role have fitted with the goal of the team to establish worshipping communities of believers?

Further reading: Planting Churches in Muslim Cities Greg Livingstone. Pub: Baker Working Your Way to the Nations Jonathan Lewis. Pub: IVP (US). Also available as a correspondence course from TASK: at www.taskgb.co.uk Avoiding the Tentmaker Trap D Gibson, foreword by Patrick Johnstone. Pub: WEC Intn Business Power for Gods Purpose Heinz Suter & Marco Gmur. Pub: VKG CH-3280 Greng, Switzerland, available from Frontiers Penetrating Missions Final Frontier Tetsunao Yamamori. Pub: InterVarsity Press 0-8308-1370-5 Want to be a Tentmaker? in guidelines for decision making from Christian Vocations The Challenge of Tentmaking a booklet from Global Connections with useful addresses for advice and training. The booklet is available for download click on the link at www.taskgb.co.uk Tentmaking Business as Mission Patrick Lai. Pub: Authentic 1-932805-53-2 Blessing the Nations in the 21st Century - Rick Loves article on missional integrity www.ricklove.net/articles/Love_BlessingTheNations.pdf Useful contacts for advice: Christian Vocations - www.christianvocations.org, Frontiers - www.frontiers.org.uk

WITH LOVE AND RESPECT, INVITING ALL MUSLIM PEOPLES TO FOLLOW JESUS