prayer

Strategic Hospitality

/ Phill

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“Hospitality is the key to evangelism in the 21st century,” according to Steve Childers, an evangelism trainer for North America. He was speaking in the context of North America, where people no longer gather in stadiums and street corners to listen to preaching.

He may well be right. Hospitality as a strategic approach actually reaches beyond the shores of the western world. It is at least one of the keys to effective sharing of the gospel for tentmakers everywhere.

Hospitality refers to the friendly and generous treatment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Scripture has a lot to say about hospitality. It is not a peripheral theme in the New Testament. In fact, it’s a qualification for being an elder:

                 An elder “must be…hospitable” 1Ti 3.2

                 An elder “as God’s steward, must be… hospitable.” Tit 1.8

                 An elder “must be well thought of by outsiders” 1Ti 3.7

We are taught that it is not an option, but is commanded as lifestyle for followers of Christ. Heb 13.1-2 commands, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers…”You say it’s not your thing? Get over it!

It should be a natural outflowing of the love that we experienced from God who, “shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We are to love others as Christ loved us.

In Scripture hospitality goes well beyond the “fellowship-type-thing” and reaches out to show love to strangers and those outside our inner circle.

Strategic hospitality asks:

How can I draw the most people into a deep experience of God’s hospitality through the use of my home and relationships? Hospitality is often seen in the context of visiting in a home, or over a meal. Certainly, that is a part of it. But it should not be limited to the home. Our whole life should be characterized by a spirit of caring and generosity, whether at home, or the office, or on the street.

Here are some simple steps to take to begin building the habit of hospitality:

1.       Be intentional in pursuing relationships, including with non-believers

2.       Put it on your calendar

3.       Build relationships with people in places where you spend a lot of time and have natural contacts -neighbors and co-workers

4.       Build relationships through connections in your children’s activities

5.       Take up a hobby that opens up relationships with non-believers

6.       Pray for unbelievers in your life by name

One does not have to go overseas to start practicing strategic hospitality. Start developing the skill now and it will serve you well in the future.

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.

A praying woman’s vision for Africa

/ Ari Rocklin

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The All Africa TI Tentmakers Congress brought together people from many African nations. Some traveled for days, by air, road, bus and sometimes walking great distances. 

We heard encouraging if not surprising reports of how tentmakers trained in Africa have gone to neighbouring countries and beyond, bringing the Gospel with them while looking for work or starting small businesses.

What is a small business?

How about a shoe shine stand or a crate full of Coke, mobile phone service or vegetable stand. God’s merchants in the marketplace.

What is different about this kind of mission?

No foreign money, no expectation of remuneration or assistance from the so called “West”. Could this be the start of a new wave of missions not dependent on the western church?

I see the church of Africa taking a leadership role for world evangelism, and proclaiming a simple but not watered down version of the Gospel. It is my personal hope to see African style worship coming to the west, and perhaps calling it “Africa Song”.

Why would this work?

A story was told of a shoe shine man, in front of a very large church building, shining the shoes of business people. As he started building his clientele and building relationships while serving them, the conversation always led to Jesus. One businessman asked, what is different about your religion compared to the large church behind me? The shoe shine man responded, I have come here from another country to work for a living and share the message of Jesus while working. You see Apostle Paul integrated his work and faith by making tents, I am only following in his footsteps but as a shoeshine man.

In a matter of months the shoe shine man had started a bible study in a nearby park with people who had never considered attending the large church.

Back to the congress.

At the rear of the main meeting room hung some paintings. The story behind one of them was told to me through an interpreter. An elderly woman had been praying for the congress for a long time and during those prayers she had seen a vision. It was so powerful that she thought it should become a panting. Not being an artist herself, she went to a local painter who then proceeded to paint her vision from her words and instructions.

The vision is of a woman symbolized as Africa, who is in distress, without hope for the future. On the right hand are two African tentmaker wheat merchants heading her way with the hope of the Gospel. She saw hundreds of these tentmakers from Africa going across Africa spreading the good news of Jesus as a result of this congress and the work of the All Africa Tentmaking Movement.

It is the conviction of this editor that Africa will train and send more tentmakers who will disciple more new believers and plant more house churches than any other continent in the next decade!