How can the wonderful, connected world of instant communication be seen as a challenge? Are these “channels” not an incredible way to remain connected with family, friends, co-workers and even the church back home? Have you noticed that most video calls are now high definition?

The vision of every tentmaker I have ever worked with is to bring the Gospel message to hard places, where few if any Jesus followers are seen or heard. It takes a commitment to that vision every day if we are to see people being transformed and disciples being made.

As I review conversations and meetings with tentmakers from the past year, a few frequent issues have become increasingly prevalent. The first of these is cultural adaptation. One would think that in our connected world, cultural differences would slowly melt away as people travel more and interact with people from other cultures in their own homelands, particularly when you factor in the desire to reach another culture group with the Gospel.

The often-quoted four stages of culture shock first proposed by Kalervo Oberg, a Finnish Canadian from British Columbia, puts this process into four simple stages: Honeymoon, Frustration, Adjustment and Acceptance. For some reason, people are struggling with the Frustration stage. A tremendous amount of time and energy is spent comparing the new culture with their home culture, seeing the negatives of the new and only the positives of their home.

In February of 2020, Gustavo Borges of Tent Brazil and Ari Rocklin of Global Intent traveled to southern Spain to investigate the possibility of starting a permanent tentmaker training and retreat center.

Stage one was to meet with as many people as possible to seek out potential partnerships. Stage two was to look for a physical base where these courses and tentmaker retreats could be held. There is a growing need for a place for active tentmakers to visit for vacations and breaks, where they can be restored without security concerns. It also needs to be close to a major airport with good ground transportation.

We have helped hundreds of tentmakers get ready, equipped, and launched to go to unreached and often unsafe countries. As we track with them, we have come to realize where tentmakers are in the most danger. You would be surprised to learn that it is not out there among unstable nations and hostile people. I’ve been doing this ministry full-time since 1998, and since then four tentmakers have died in car accidents upon returning to their home countries.

Why do you think this is? We don’t know, but one reason could be simply that they are accustomed to vastly different road rules, or no rules at all, and have mastered driving in those conditions. However, upon coming home there are strict rules—like red lights, which actually do not mean “slow down and look” but that you must come to a full stop. Driving on the left side of the road for a few years and then coming home to drive on the right side and hitting another car head-on was one of the accidents that claimed a tentmaker’s life only a few days after returning home. He was on his way to his church to share his story.