TMB

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. Rom 13:1

/ Ari Rocklin

“When we obey the rules and laws of a nation, even though they may restrict or forbid proselytizing, God will open an even greater opportunity for the gospel than if we break the laws of the land.”

The above quote is from a recently returned tentmaker from the northern Asia region. Officials are aggressively trying to stop Christian expats from proselytizing and even connecting with locals outside of work hours.

So how does one bring light into the darkness under such conditions?

Apparently, God always finds a way when we remain obedient to his Word. Even with officials in classrooms monitoring what was being said and taught by the teacher, the Holy Spirit was at work. Much prayer preceded each day’s teaching, praying for the students and officials by name.

Eventually, the questions from students became more and more brave as they noticed that some officials were less concerned about the class discussions with some of them even joining in on the topics.

After a few years of earning the respect of local people and even some authorities, a Bible study group was born right in the classroom. Since having a Bible is not permitted in this country, creative methods were used to get the Word into the students’ hands.

For more on what these “creative methods” are, attend one of our courses.

The door remains wide open for committed, intentional Christian expat teachers to bring the Gospel to this least-reached nation. A government-imposed spiritual vacuum is crying for something to fill this void. Let it be Jesus.

Are you up for it? 
If so, contact us – we will get you there.

Forced Exit! Christian Expatriates leave the region -again.

/ Ari Rocklin

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Once again, dozens of tentmakers have had to leave the countries where they have been serving, some for as long as a decade. Most have heeded their passport country governments’ edicts to leave due to increasing hostilities and lack of security.

Many have become proficient in the local language and accents, making them high value emissaries for the Kingdom. All have reported a new era of openness for the Gospel and some were experiencing Acts 2:47 firsthand:  And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Thus it is easy to understand how difficult this time is in their lives and journeys.

Here are some excerpts from their emails.

Safely in London now. Much relieved.  In the last 2-3 weeks there was a threat to “Christian whores teaching our children”…shooting at our school gate and 2 attacks at our local bank near our home. We were really feeling the need to get out of the country, and I’m thankful that God has brought us to safety. Now time to refocus.

As many of you know, security has plummeted over the months with militias fighting for control of the airport, fuel storage tanks set on fire and the international airport closed. We have prayerfully been watching the news with great sadness and concern for our national friends. Several have emailed or texted to say that they are safe, but the living conditions are deteriorating with lack of cooking gas, gasoline and frequent power outages.

Pray that the seed that has been sown by these tentmakers will bear much fruit now that they have been forced to exit.

Pray for the future of those who had were forced to exit and are facing an uncertain future while seeking God’s leading.

BOOK REVIEW

/ Ari Rocklin

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Tactics
Author: Gregory Koukl
Zondervan, 2009

Tactics by Gregory Koukl is an easy-to-read book for everyone who wants to become better at talking about their faith with non-Christians.

The book has two main parts. In the first section the author introduces a way of speaking to people that forces those who attack the Christian faith to explain what they believe. This is done mainly by asking good questions that leads the conversation in a certain direction. “The key is to go on the offensive in an inoffensive way by using carefully selected questions to productively advance the conversation. Simply put, never make a statement, at least at first, when a question will do the job,” writes Koukl. The Tactics author has long-term experience in Christian apologetics and he is the leader of the organization named Stand to Reason.

In part two of the book Koukl explains how Christians can find weaknesses in the arguments against The Christian faith. His starting point is clear. Everyone is created by God and lives in God’s creation. Those who do not believe in God will have to create explanations of reality that rules God out. This is often their week point.

Every person who rejects the truth of “the God who is there is caught between the way he says the world is and the way the world actually is,” states Koukl. He has found that most non-Christians are not able to explain what they believe when they are asked.

You may be surprised to know that most critics are not prepared to defend their faith. Many people have never thought through their views and don’t know why they hold them, writes Koukl.

We recommend Tactics for all Christians. It will help the readers to fulfill the calling the followers of Jesus have got in 1 Pet 3:15: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” It also helps the reader to see that the Christian faith is a logical faith.

Tactics is written in a way that engages the reader and it is full of practical, real-life examples. One of them is from the University of California in San Diego. Koukl had heard that the general attitude on campus was that Christians were stupid. He opened his talk to the students in this way:

– “I understand that many of you think that Christians are stupid. Well, many of them are. But many non Christians are stupid, too, so I don’t know how that helps you. What I want to do this evening is show you that Christianity is not stupid.”

New Resource Website for Tentmakers

/ Steinar Opheim

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The Norway-based resource center for tentmaking named Tent has recently launched its international website at tentinternational.org.

This is an important step in serving the worldwide tentmaking movement in a better way, comments Tent’s managing director Steinar Opheim.

Tent (the word “tent” in Norwegian means “on fire”) was founded in 2000 focusing on recruiting and training Norwegian students, business people and professionals for work overseas.  Over the years the work has become more and more international. The GO Equipped tentmaking course that Global Opportunities and Tent have developed together, is now run annually in several nations. People from Tent have also invested much time and work in serving the fast-growing African tentmaking movement operating under the leadership of Tiowa Diarra who is based in Bamako, Mali.

Tent’s international website will provide resources for current tentmakers and tentmakers to-be. There is also a news section that will give the readers updated info on what is going on in the worldwide tentmaking movement.

– The tentmaking training we provide can be applied everywhere. We will still aim at keeping a focus on the unreached people groups in our communication. It is amazing to experience how Christian professionals and business people are welcome everywhere, even to nations where the religious freedom is very limited. 

Thus we believe that tentmakers is a key group God will use in reaching the whole world with the Gospel, says Opheim.