Phill Sandahl
 

Mary was a successful professional pursuing her career. But there was a restlessness in her soul. There was a sense that God wanted her to be involved 
in overseas missions. What should she do? At a conference she heard about tentmaking, and that looked like it made more sense considering her skills and career. She felt like she needed some specialized training. She could not put her income on hold for a year or more to return to school. Besides, what would she take? She already had a degree in her profession.

The Lausanne group studying tentmaking/business as mission highlights the lack 
of training options as one of the obstacles to the development of the tentmaking movement.

One of the weak spots within the tentmaking movement over its recent history 
has been the question of training. People involved (in tentmaking/BAM) have generally been highly motivated, often well trained professionally and rarely in a position to undertake extended training comparable to that of career missionaries.
    Lausanne Occasional Paper #39

 The solution is training to supplement professional preparation that is:

•     Biblical
•     Focused
•     Practical and Actionable
•     Short duration
•     Foundational for further self-study

Mary found the solution in a 4 ½ -day intensive GO Equipped! course which prepared her to share her faith in the marketplace and live in a foreign culture.

She was able to take the course without interrupting her regular work and then begin the process of seeking placement overseas in the area to which God had called her. One year later she was living self-supported in a country that does 
not issue religious worker visas.  

She writes, “Thank you Global Opportunities for this invaluable course! I am now serving as a tentmaker in an unreached country. Truly, there is no other course out there that is specifically designed by and for tentmakers”  “Mary”

“God began to open my eyes to new areas of service to Him. GO Equipped prepares the Christian to fulfill the great commission not only on the foreign field, but right here at home.” Patricia

Steinar Opheim
 

“Christians in many skills, trades, businesses and professions, can often go to places where traditional church planters and evangelists may not,” concludes the worldwide Lausanne Movement in the recently published Cape Town Commitment. The document may bring tentmaking into a new era in the global mission work.

For nearly 40 years the Lausanne Movement has been a major source of inspiration and a substantial contributor in the worldwide mission work. The Lausanne Covenant that was worked out during the world congress in 1974 has been a point of reference for nearly everyone involved in mission. The Manila Manifesto written in 1989 also contributed in forming a common understanding of the mission task among global leaders. It is therefore good reason to expect that also the document that was made during the world congress in Cape Town last fall will make its impact on the mission work in the years and decades to come.

The Cape Town Commitment concludes that tentmaking is a vital strategy if we want to reach the whole world with the whole gospel. The document therefore advises church and mission leaders to implement tentmaking in their strategies.

“We urge church leaders to understand the strategic impact of ministry in the workplace and to mobilize, equip and send out their church members as missionaries into the workplace, both in their own local communities and in countries that are closed to traditional forms of gospel witness. We urge mission leaders to integrate ‘tentmakers’ fully into the global missional strategy,” reads the document. You can download the full version of the Cape Town Commitment in several languages from Lausanne’s website at www.lausanne.org.

“The Whole Church taking the Whole Gospel to the Whole World” has been a motto for the Lausanne Movement. In Global Opportunities and Tent we have seen how the teaching on tentmaking is empowering the whole congregation to take part in the global mission task.

When we run seminars on tentmaking in the churches, people usually respond in two ways. One groups says that for the first time they will really consider to move to a new country in order be ambassadors for God’s kingdom. They have never thought of becoming missionaries. But applying for a job where they can continue to use their professions in a new culture sounds like something they could do. The other group says that they will still not consider moving abroad, but they’ve got a new vision on how they can serve God in their workplace at home.

Global Opportunities and Tent are ready to serve churches, mission agencies and private persons who want the gospel to be known in the whole world.  Don’t hesitate to contact us to find out how we can work together to fulfill the Great Commission.