Since most tentmakers are not able to communicate openly with their home churches nor are their pictures displayed on church missions bulletin boards, it is all too easy for them to be forgotten. We’ve compiled a list of comments they have received on returning to their home churches. It is imperative that tentmakers ensure their home and sending church is on board with them and that a communication channel has been established before they leave. May you never hear the negative comments! Continue reading →

Returned tentmakers into mentors

When tentmakers return home they go through what is commonly known as “return culture shock”. Adjusting to life as it used to be seems easy enough, but the surprise is that they have changed as they have seen and experienced another culture and been impacted by it.

I often hear how hard it was to adjust to no one asking them about their faith anymore. As tentmakers, they always had people around them asking about God or what they believe. At home, hardly anyone asks about faith matters.

The home church has changed while they were abroad, some friends have left, new people have come, perhaps the pastor that sent them is now gone as well. Finding their place at the church they earnestly missed is challenging. Some find it impossible to adjust and thus change churches. Continue reading →

I received a phone call from a returned tentmaker couple saying their time abroad had been a total failure. They did not see anyone become a follower of Jesus and in their situation it had been nearly impossible to make relationships with local people.

They had come to the conclusion that tentmaking as mission does not work.

We agreed to meet together so I could hear their full story. Continue reading →