The stories from returned tentmakers due to the pandemic are heartbreaking. It seems almost all of them have now returned home to an uncertain future.

Here are some of their comments.

“It took us years to prepare to go and we had just settled in and started our work when we had to leave in a hurry. What was it all for?”

“We were seeing our friends and coworkers showing interest in our faith for the first time since arriving and then we had to leave! What will happen to those people that did not get a chance to learn more or even to read a bible?”

Do not neglect to show hospitality…for you may be hosting angels without knowing it.

There is an urgent need for returned tentmakers to find a place to live temporarily, to regroup and to rest as they try to learn what God’s next steps are for their lives.

The pandemic has thrown almost every tentmaker we know into a challenging time. Will we ever be able to return? What do we do in the meantime? What do we tell our friends, families and our church?

In 2007, I was walking and praying for the many Kingdom professionals that are a part of my ministry and my family. I was grieved over a recent email from one of them, who was nearing burnout and whose job contract was about to end. They had nowhere to go once they got back to their home country. This is a fairly common occurrence and even though they can stay with family and friends, it is not always an ideal situation for reflection and restoration.

During my walk that day, I felt God challenging me to do something about this. “You help people go to the darkest places on the planet where they are my emissaries, now build them a place where they can find rest and hear my voice.”

I immediately thought that this was a great idea, but where would the money come from? I felt God saying: “That I leave up to you.” The vision was the easy part; finding the resources to do it would require a miracle.