Several decades after it was written, one specific article still has a massive impact in calling professionals and businesspeople to serve God through their work.
“The church needs thousands of Christian professional people to finish evangelizing the world – like engineers, scientists, businesspeople, health care workers, athletes, agriculturists, computer technicians, media specialists and educators of all kinds – tentmakers who can integrate work and witness in the twenty-first century as the Apostle Paul did in the first century.”
This is the opening paragraph of the article that has called many people to go as tentmakers throughout the years. It was written several decades ago. Still, it appears among the most read, and most impacting, articles on tentmaking even today. The title is “Why did Paul make tents?” and the author is Ruth Siemens, the founder of the organisation that today is known as Global Intent. Siemens became a pioneer in mobilizing tentmakers after she started the organisation in 1976 – then under the name Global Opportunities. Ruth Siemens stumbled into seeing tentmaking as a vital strategy that God is using.
Call to tentmaking
“I never chose tentmaking – I knew nothing about it. Rather, God unmistakably called me into tentmaking, and then oriented all the rest of my life around that ministry approach. But first, he drew me to himself, and gave me commitment to missions,” she writes in the article titled “Ruth’s Story – The Story Behind Global Opportunities”.
Through her job as a teacher, she ended up in Lima in Peru in 1954. Her stay there opened her eyes for how it is possible to reach out with the Gospel through your profession. Soon after her arrival she met with her colleague Marta. A few weeks later, Marta received Jesus as her saviour.
“I also audited classes in San Marcos University, to improve my Spanish. I met Maria, and she started coming three times a week to teach me Spanish. The language lessons turned into Bible studies and Maria put her trust in Jesus Christ,” shares Ruth Siemens. After the time in Peru she continues to serve God through her profession in Brazil and in Europe.
Tentmakers needed
In “Why did Paul make tents?” she lists several reasons for why tentmaking is needed in today’s world. Here are the three first:
1. It gives entry into hostile countries. About 80 percent of the world’s population, including most unreached peoples, live in countries that do not allow Christians in as missionaries.
2. It provides natural, sustained contact with non-believers in restrictive and open countries. This is essential for winning them. Tentmakers relate easily to their professional counterparts abroad.
3. It conserves scarce mission funds for missionary ministries that must have full support at time of rising costs worldwide.
Read the entire “Why did Paul make tents?”-article here: https://www.tentinternational.org/why-did-paul-make-tents
Read Ruth Siemens self-biographical article named “Ruth’s story – The story behind Global Opportunities” here: https://intent.org/ruth-siemens-story-how-one-woman-started-a-tentmaking-movement/
By Steinar Opheim