Author: Ari Rocklin

The four questions tentmakers are asked

/ Ari Rocklin

Ari J. Rocklin

The four most common  questions that expatriate workers are asked by neighbors, coworkers, shopkeepers, taxi drivers and those they come in contact with are:

  1. What is your name?
  2. What do you do here?
  3. Where are you from?
  4. Do you believe in God?

Everyone can answer the first three questions in a few short minutes, perhaps even without thinking about it too much. The fourth question requires thought, preparation, sensitivity, gentleness, respect, divine inspiration and a time out. 
Check out Peter’s advice on this – 1 Peter 3:15,16.

Paul the tentmaker from Tarsus

In one short, to the point sentence, we learn much about Paul. Having established his persona and reason for being, we can assume that he then began passionately sharing his faith in ever creative ways.

How you answer the fourth question will either open the door for future faith discussion or perhaps close the door to potential friendships that lead to faith talks. It is vital that we get it right, we only have one chance to make that critical first introduction of our faith. If it were up to me, I would make every future tentmaker spend at least 100 hours preparing themselves for this one question. It is that important. Getting that answer wrong could raise suspicion and make you an object of unwanted attention or it could simply set the foundation for future dialogue and perhaps even give you status as a man/woman of God.

For those of you considering tentmaking business as mission, or those of you out there already doing it, I urge you to do some homework so you will have the best possible answer to question number four.

First ever mass evacuation of tentmakers! 

/ Ari Rocklin

Ari Rocklin

This has been a tough month for tentmakers in the troubled region of the world. As I watched this quickly developing turmoil, from one country to the next, I received a word from the Lord which has been of comfort to those who have had to leave, sometimes with only their clothes on their backs, to an unknown future.

   ” I am the Lord God, I have not been caught by surprise by these events. 
   Tell those who have to leave in haste that their service to my Kingdom has 
   run it’s course this time around. They could not have done anymore. 
     Their service and obedience has been noted and I am pleased.”

How does anyone prepare to evacuate from countries where an already weak system breaks down completely? The terror of gunfire, air attacks, bombs blowing up at all hours of the day, seeing bodies on the streets from your windows, spending time with locals who do not have the luxury of being evacuated and must stay behind.

At our tentmaking business as mission courses, we try to prepare people well for all known challenges. However this one has not been a part of our program, but will be in the future. We have learned a lot from the experiences of tentmakers who have faced forced evacuation in the past weeks, and those now being trained will benefit from their tragic experiences.

God is in control!

We are hearing reports of a new openness to the Gospel in this region already. One house church that seemed incapable of taking leadership without the tentmakers, were forced into doing it simply since they knew they would be alone in a matter 
of days. The report told us of a confident, joyful, mature house church telling the tentmakers that we will be fine now, is encouraging to everyone involved.

One tentmaker refused to leave with the initial waves of evacuations, and was seen as a hero by the local people. Even taxi drivers were telling him that this is 
a new time in their country, and talking about your faith is now OK.

Another tentmaker who also stayed behind until the last possible moments (just before the bombs fell from the coalition forces) was actually invited to sit at the table where the new constitution was being drafted. Imagine the joy of being a part of something like this? Add to this joy, being asked what he thought should 
be in this constitution. He suggested freedom of religion, and was told that it was already in the document. Then he suggested freedom to change ones religion. 
This too was added, after a rather lengthy explanation of what he meant by that statement. You can understand why this would be a new line of thinking in this region. Again, in the middle of turmoil, God is doing a new thing.

It is impossible to share all the good news that are coming out of this tumultuous time, but trust that God is doing something amazing even as we watch the news 
in horror. 

Pray for the local believers, yes there are many. 
Pray for the local friends of our tentmakers who have had a chance to hear, 
but have not yet made decisions. 
Pray that the tentmakers will find encouragement, that their needs will be taken care of, and that they will be able to return to a better situation than the one they were forced to leave.

What’s going on in Scandinavia and will the rest of Europe follow?

/ Ari Rocklin

http://globalopps.org/tmbriefs/Nordic.png

FINLAND

Together with Howard Norrish of OM, we had the delight of being part of a weekend seminar in Kauniainen Finland. 

Howard is one of the foremost experts on tentmaking and personally it was a joy to sit in on his teaching that displayed a life time of experience and knowledge. His passion for the children of Ishmael moved the listener to a new passion for them as well. The Finns had arranged a wonderful bible school for the venue and we were treated like kings. You don’t want to know what the weather was like outside. 

 SWEDEN

Together with Steinar Opheim of TENT, with the fantastic cooperation and planning by the Smyrna Church missions team, we ran a one day seminar that had more people than expected in attendance. This was the first ever seminar we have run in Sweden, and what a joy for me it was to be back in the church where I gave my heart to the Lord as a young boy. It almost felt surreal to be standing in the pulpit on Sunday morning, looking over the smiling faces and seeing the spot on the balcony where I had sat so many years ago. It was a great testimony of Gods faithfulness.

 FAROE ISLANDS

Steinar Opheim had the pleasure of flying to these islands in mid winter to meet with mission leaders. Future cooperation is now being planned, and some representatives of this small but missions committed land are joining us for the Bergen course. 

 NORWAY

The upcoming tentmaking business as mission course in Bergen Norway looks to be the most international one yet. Even though the course is not until June, it is already 95% full. If you are interested, please register now! We would hate to not be able to accommodate you, even though there are always other courses coming up.www.tent.no

 DENMARK

Steinar has worked together with the Danish tentmaker group and it has been a pleasure to see them attend our training in Norway.

 ICELAND

It is my personal delight to be running the first ever tentmaking seminar in Reykjavik Iceland in June. It is Steinar’s and my vision to see a Nordic Tentmaking Group be born out of these meetings and connections. Together we can do so much more!

If you are interested in being a part of this group, 
please send us an email.

The Challenges Tentmakers Faced in 2010

/ Ari Rocklin

 Ari Rocklin

One of the priveleges of working with tentmakers, business as mission people, is hearing back from them during their vacations and after their returns to their homelands. We’ve setup a systematic way of gathering their experiences and challenges, and are listing them here. Number 9 is the least of the challenges, but worthy of noting, and of course number 1 being the most critical challenge.

The GO/TENT team looks at this information very seriously and then adapts the real life issues into their training and mentoring. Thus each course they run has new and updated information from active tentmakers which in turn allows them to offer up to date training for those being trained. Indeed, the GO/TENT team feels this is one of the greatest strengths of their intensive program in equipping people for ministry skills in hard places.

For an expanded version of these challenges, you can email us or simply attend one of our courses.

As you read down this list, do know that it is the accumulated experience of literally hundreds of active tentmakers. We hope this gives you good insights and helps you to prepare well.