We were getting the tentmaking booth ready for the missions conference when a couple stopped by to chat. They had questions about tentmaking and wanted to know more, so we invited them to attend the tentmaker track the next day.
Jerry and Sonya were very interested when they were told about an upcoming tentmaking course the following week, but they explained that since both of them were working, it would be impossible to get time off work on such short notice.
I love the word impossible when God starts people on their journey to becoming tentmakers.
“Do not say it is impossible but pray that God would make it possible”
A week later, we were setting up the classroom for the GO Equipped Tentmaking course at a beautiful Bible school in a snow-covered countryside when Jerry and Sonya showed up to share about their miracles of getting time off from work.
Shortly after the course, Jerry was asked to take on a foreign assignment in South Asia for a few months. He realized God had prepared them for this by allowing them to learn about tentmaking, which he could now put to good use.
Since the job contract was short, Jerry realized that he did not have the luxury of time to see how he might influence his workplace for the Lord, so he decided to follow through on the teaching.
During the course he had learned of the importance of praying daily for ones co-workers, specifically by name. He made a bracelet with alphabet cubes for each of his co-workers’ names.
It did not take long for his majority-religion co-workers to ask what the letters on his bracelet were about.
Jerry, the engineer, boldly told them that each letter represented a co-worker and that this bracelet was his way of remembering to pray for them each day. His new friends were amazed, and this led to spiritual discussions in the office.
Today, Jerry and Sonya are on a long term work contract in a post-Christian European country where the name of Jesus has long ago been forgotten.
By Ari Rocklin