What major should I pursue to prepare to be a tentmaker?

This question often comes up when talking with university students planning to become tentmakers. It is a logical and good question to think about. The answer I give them is not always what they expect.

Has God laid a specific country or people group on your heart?

My response changes depending on their answer to this question, “Do you have a calling to a specific country or people?”

If the answer is YES, then look at the professional needs in that area and pursue something that will fill those needs. The answer varies depending on the context. There is no one field or skill set for all locations. Sometimes there is a specific sense of calling. But frequently it is not.

Global Intent has launched a LinkedIn page to provide another resource for tentmakers. It also hopes to make its thinking more accessible to the Christian professional community.

The page puts Global Intent in the internet space used by the professional community. Most tentmakers come from this community of working professionals in diverse occupational fields. LinkedIn is the place where those workers network.

Did you see the above memes when they first appeared in social media? Did you want to know more about the details? It was part of a “Did You Know” series of inspiring facts about tentmaker experiences.

Now it is time to tell the rest of the story. The back story to SOME OF these stories will be revealed without compromising the people involved. It will be an inspirational series.

“The most effective evangelism—by far—occurs through meaningful relationships between Christians and non-Christians.”

“…we must be close enough to unbelievers for Christ to be observed and experienced through us.”

“One reason that 85+% of today’s churches are not growing is that the social networks of people in these churches are almost entirely within the church.”

These challenging observations come from Charles Arn’s research described in “The Silver Bullet for Disciple Making.”

The key is getting Christians and non-Christians together. These principles apply even more so to the tentmakers working overseas. They have the additional complication that they have to cross cultural and ethnic barriers as well. At first glance this task may appear daunting.