Free Tentmaking Seminars are coming to North Bay, Ontario (Aug. 4), and to Lake Avenue Congregational Church in Pasadena, California (Sept. 18 & 19 – Friday evening at 7:00 pm or Saturday morning 8:30 am).
Alan” and “Rachel” opened their home to people they met in China and invited new friends to an English language Bible study. They sang Christian songs, discussed a specific passage of the Bible, mostly about Jesus, prayed together, ate refreshments, and enjoyed each other. Within a few months a couple of people became Christians. Friend brought friends, the group grew, and more came to Jesus. They baptized the new believers and discipled them as they grew, working together with and mentoring leaders within the group. Even before they left, the group sent one member to Tibet to reach people. After two years, “Alan” and “Rachel” left the group as a small house church in the hands of the leaders they had been developing. That church reproduced at least six more house churches over the next five years!
Were “Alan” and “Rachel” full-time missionaries? No! They were everyday working Christians. They both worked as teachers. But they were determined to call Chinese people to Christ. The people in their Bible study came mostly from people they met at work. They simply integrated work and witness, and God used them powerfully.
Ruth Siemens did the same thing while teaching in international schools in Peru and Brazil. She reached colleagues, students, and school service staff through natural on-the-job contact. As her life and words awakened spiritual hunger, she invited them into her home and into Bible studies. She geared these studies just for them to investigate Jesus. In her spare time she did similar things at the nearby university, and started the Christian university student movements in Peru and Brazil. These were student-run, and Ruth coached the students in reaching other and discipling them.
This story is being repeated over and over by Christians who are dedicating their professional skills to work overseas in order to reach the local people. “Mark” worked with a company in Central Asia to arrange for new sites to operate their business. He quietly demonstrated his faith and shared when people asked. And they did ask. He repeatedly met Muslim warlords and tribal leaders. One of them demanded that he tell a religious story as a “holy man.” With trembling, he told the story of Jesus. It moved the leader and his men and he invited him to tell more about Jesus every time he returned. Out of this a new church sprang up among this unreached people group.
God is using workplace Christians willing to give their professional skills and their hearts to reaching lost people around the world. He can use you, and he will, if you are willing.
Have you wondered if you could do more for Christ’s global mission? Longed to see more people come to Jesus? And be transformed into his image? Wondered if God could use you more powerfully without switching to full-time ministry?
Do you want to know more? To find out how you might do the things these Christians did? Then Global Opportunities’ free Tentmaking Seminar is designed especially for you. In three to four fast-moving hours you can learn all you need to know to start down this path:
- Why tentmaking is so powerful Biblically and globally
- How to integrate work and witness naturally
- How to find a job in the global job market
- What steps to take to pursue tentmaking