TMB

Foreign Workers Bring Change in Israel

/ Steinar Opheim

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 Expatriates working in Israel are bringing the Gospel to many Jewish families, says Andy Ball. He is encouraging the Christian guest workers to see themselves as tentmakers.

   The immigrants can reach out with the gospel in ways we cannot do as Israelis, states Andy Ball. He is managing the bookstore run by the Israeli Bible Society in Tel Aviv. As often as possible he visits the immigrant congregations in the city trying to give the guest workers a vision of how they can share the Gospel while they are employed in Israel.

   Many Filipinos are working as housemaids for elderly people. The families they are employed by know that they are Christians, read in the Bible and go to church every Sunday. I encourage them to take some extra steps in faith. One suggestion is that they can pray for healing if their employers get sick. We have already experienced many concrete answers to these prayers, says Andy Ball.

He is currently writing a book where several of these stories will be told. One of them is about a Filipino housekeeper working for an orthodox, Jewish family. One day the husband in the family got ill and ended up in hospital. After examining the man the doctors concluded that he had just a few days left to live. The man decided to call together his whole family in order to say farewell. After their visit only his wife and the housekeeper remained in the room.

   You know that I have rejected you every time you have tried to tell me about Jesus, the man said.

   Today I want to tell you that I have heard every word you have said. I truly believe that Jesus is Messiah. Now I want you to pray that God will heal me, he continued.

   God answered the prayer of the housekeeper and the man was healed. When the family heard what had happened, they started thinking that the housekeeper had some kind of a special healing power. The orthodox, Jewish man explained to them that this was not her work. It was the faith in Jesus as Messiah that had saved him, tells Andy Ball.

Another man told his housekeeper that he wanted to believe in Jesus, but he felt that he had committed to many sins in his life. He doubted that there wouldn’t be any forgiveness available for him. The housekeeper explained that Jesus would forgive everything as soon as he asked him for it.

   The woman told me that the prayer the man prayed was the most fantastic she has ever heard. In an open way he confessed his sins before he asked Jesus for forgiveness. As he was saying Amen, he passed away, tells Andy Ball.

Reflections from the youngest student at a GO Equipped TENTmaking Course

/ Ari Rocklin

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 A New Calling Tugging On My Heart.

Near the end of last May, my father and I traveled some twenty-five hours by airplane and bus to reach the city of Bergen in Norway. When we finally arrived at the building where the course was being held, I was exhausted but excited for things to begin.

  Amazingly people had come from 20 countries 
  to this course that was full past capacity.

Why was I there? To learn about becoming a tentmaker – someone who works abroad to share about God’s word, using a work visa to enter countries that are otherwise closed to traditional missionaries.

They follow the example of the apostle Paul, the original tentmaker, and support themselves with their jobs rather than relying on donations from home. They also work to plant small house churches that will remain in the country even when they eventually leave.

Over four days of information-packed sessions, taught by some very talented speakers, I learned more and more about God and His will for His children, and the world around me. It was an eye-opening experience for me in many ways. Even though, at 16, I was the youngest person ever to take the course, I still found it perfectly applicable and understandable, not to mention fascinating.

The rest of the students were of a wide variety of ages, cultures, and backgrounds, yet we got to know one another as good friends. We came together from every continent with a desire to learn and God’s voice echoing in our ears, which helped to create a very positive atmosphere throughout.

Of course, ten hours a day in any classroom is a challenge, and the difference in time zones didn’t help me, but I kept in mind that the course is specifically designed to fit into the schedule of the average working person. In any case, the knowledge I gained from it was certainly worth the effort. I walked away from this experience with a new perspective on things, and a new calling tugging on my heart. I now feel that God plans to send me, perhaps as an English teacher, and, come next September, I will begin working towards that goal in college.

I strongly urge anyone reading this, regardless of age or identity, to look further into the GO Equipped course.

I can safely say that it will make a difference in the way you see things – and it may even change your future in the way it did mine.

M.R.
Canada

Going Global

/ Ari Rocklin

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opportunities for you

Did you know that GO/TENT mobilizers and trainers are planning on a global reach to promote tentmaking in 2012-2013?

What do Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Philippines, Taiwan, Sweden, Germany, Belgium and “insert your country here ______________”  have in common?

These and other countries are now being considered for tentmaking development. It is our vision to not only promote tentmaking but to come alongside national and regional tentmaking business as mission groups and organizations to work together to launch new local initiatives as well.

What do we offer?

– Speakers for your church, conference or mission event.
– Fast paced 2-4 hour informative seminars.
– A two week curriculum course in 4.5 intensive days. 
– Consultation with mission agencies seeking to integrate 
  tentmaking into their strategy.

Prayer!

We ask you to pray for God’s leading in this major initiative and in many ways a faith venture on our part, to see where He is leading and where the strategic people and places are.

Act now!

It is cost effective to run events in your country as our staff are going to be in your region. Take advantage of this and contact us soon. As you can see, our next two courses are already full and there are only two more courses for 2012, in Florida and Germany.

In Africa, foreign support may rob God of his role as sustainer

/ Phill

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DENNIS M. OKOTH

Across my homeland, Kenya, orphanages are springing up on a regular basis. Unfortunately, many of these are started for no other motive than to eat out of the hands of the underprivileged.

It isn’t just orphanages. Some African Christians have launched Bible schools and academies that exist only for the trapping of foreign aid. Money meant to feed the poor and educate young Christians has become a salary for those who solicit the funds.

Does this mean that American Christians shouldn’t support missions in Africa? No, far from that. All labor that uplifts human dignity and importance should be undertaken with the painstaking excellence that it deserves.

My concern is for African Christians who rely completely on foreign donors for their livelihood. Doing so robs God of his role as a loving father who should be fully trusted to provide for all of our needs.

In my years of experience as an educator and counselor, I have come to see clearly that some of my well-meaning brothers and sisters of the faith view God as an instrument of manipulation to meet their daily needs — a cash cow of some sort. They see the Almighty as someone who must be impressed to milk out material gains under the guise of a Christian ministry or project.

Some of my countrymen have started their own business enterprises and tagged them as “Christian ministries” in order to draw foreign financial support. To them, keeping their wallets continuously lined with the dollar is a sure way of making ends meet.

Deserving, needy children in our societies have been used as bait to win foreign sympathy and support in order to earn a healthy living.

Loving the poor truly is inherent to following Jesus Christ. But I have seen the dignity of many African Christians destroyed when they become dependent on foreign support.

The benefactors who collect and coordinate this support often don’t know the consequences of their actions. It sometimes takes years for those who bite the bait to realize that they have been duped. If one tries to wake them up to this reality, they become reluctant to admit their folly. Doing so would require them to acknowledge their error to the supporters who contributed to the work with a sincere desire to help.

To break this vicious cycle, we must train our young and vibrant Christian soldiers that God can meet their needs through the skills he has generously endowed on all his children. We must teach them that hard work pays.

Tentmaking is a noble endeavor that honors God. It also sends a positive message to the younger generation that God blesses hard work.

The devil, who is the enemy of God and his children, would like us to see God differently. This prompts me to ask a question to people in Africa and America: Who is God to you? On a daily basis, we decide whether God’s leadership is better than ours, whether or not he is the source of our joy.

The strongest determiner of how much we enjoy life here on earth is hinged on how we perceive God. If we perceive that God has our best interests in mind, we will follow his leadership in every circumstance. We will leave our survival in his hands — not in the hands of a foreign financial donor.

I believe it is time we say “no” to financial arrangements that could be working against us — both the beneficiaries and the donors. We must stand up for what is right, even if we stand alone.

DENNIS M. OKOTH, a native of Kenya, is principal of Messiah Theological Institute in Mbale, Uganda, and works with a mission team of Americans and Africans. He will serve as a dean at LivingStone International University, a  church-supported university under construction in Mbale. Used with permission