We were recently invited by the Evangelical Church of Cuba to run the first tentmaking course there. As they did not have the money to pay for our travel and fees, we made the decision to cover these costs out of our own pocket. We trusted that the Lord was opening up this new opportunity to expand His kingdom through Christian professionals going abroad to work, with the intention of making disciples.

32 people came to the training and some 22 of them are ready to go abroad.

Gustavo Borges of Tent Brazil was one of the trainers; his Spanish language skills were a great asset to the course and to the interactions between students.

Phillip Sandahl of Global Intent, a career missionary to Latin America who is also fluent in Spanish, not only brought a lifetime of missions experience to his teaching but was also able to spend many hours dealing with individuals’ questions and helping them plan for their tentmaking mission.

With the excellent translation of our Cuban friend, “Mongui”, I was also able to do my part of the teaching.

The end result?

Here is a note from one of the church leaders:

“Brothers.

For us it was a great blessing to have you as a teacher. Your experiences in the field were of edification for all.

I, for one, am very happy because this first training was a success. I believe that the future of Cuban missionaries is well guaranteed. It is a realized dream, of many years of prayer.

Thank you. I hope we can see each other soon. Come back, Cuba will welcome you with joy.

Another leader said this:

“Don’t send us money. Help us build ourselves up by teaching us how to develop businesses and becoming self-sufficient”

Pray for this new tentmaking movement to grow and give meaning to the many Christian professionals that are being sent to work abroad.

By Ari Rocklin