It is read in more than 100 nations, and has been appreciated by thousands of professionals, businesspeople and students who are serving Jesus around the world. This issue of Tentmaking Today marks its 10-year anniversary.
“Our idea was to make a stand-alone tentmaking publication that could promote tentmaking and educate, inspire, and encourage tentmakers and tentmakers-to-be,” says Global Intent’s international director, Ari Rocklin. He was the visionary behind Tentmaking Today when everything started in 2011. Then the e-newsletter was named Tentemaking Briefs. Four years ago it was given its current name. The publication grew out of monthly, organisational newsletters sent by Global Opportunities (now Global Intent) and Tent International.
“We wanted to create a more general tentmaking newsletter that was not linked to any organization. Since we have readers from 133 nations, we must have done something right,” says Rocklin.
Gadaffi and bin Laden
Some important events can help us to remember what the world looked like when the first issue of Tentmaking Today was emailed to its recipients. This was the year when Japan had a major earthquake and was hit by a tsunami that caused a nuclear reactor to explode. It is also the year when al-Qaeda’s leader Osama bin Laden and Libya’s president Muammar Gadaffi were killed. 2011 is also famous for the Arab Spring with its anti-government protests that led to the fall of several leaders in North-Africa and the Middle East. Now, 110 Tentmaking Today-issues later, all this is distant history. Today the tentmaking movement is facing new challenges – a major one being the political development in China that forces thousands of foreign workers to leave the country.
Inspiration
Ari Rocklin says that the most encouraging feedback over the years has come from active tentmakers who share how Tentmaking Today has inspired them.
“Some tell us how they have got new ideas through our publication. Others share how Tentmaking Today gives them a feeling of belonging to a greater movement. We try to bring both encouraging stories about tentmaking and “how to”-articles that can offer new ideas,” says Rocklin.
He encourages more people to share stories and insights through Tentmaking Today.
“I hope that we will get more articles submitted by active and former tentmakers. Whether it is through successes or perceived failures, their experiences are vital to a new generation of tentmakers.”
By Steinar Opheim