TI's today and tomorrow

    In this gigantic world where most countries closed the doors for missionaries, Tentmaking is a commonplace today. Whenever I met mission leaders and missionaries at the mission fields, I felt one thing; in this rapidly changing global mission environment, especially in Asia and in Africa Tentmaking goes into the mainstream.

    Even the traditional missionaries whom I talked with in the last few years seriously considered to change their conventional mission works into Tentmaking. And many mission agencies and denominations in many countries began to think tentmaking as a key mission strategy of the future. I believe, it is still a new wave and moving into the global tentmaking movement fast.

    After several decades of this global movement, we now stood to review and evaluate this TM movement in the past.
 
1. Evaluation

    We began Tentmaking in terms of an effective and creative mission strategy as well as a platform for missionaries in the closed countries.
Therefore, just sending some good Christian professionals or business people to foreign countries is not the purpose of Tentmaking mission. We send tentmaking professional missionaries to do more effective ministry in this changing global mission fields and environment.
 
    We all know that Tentmakers are the kind of missionaries who actually do Christian ministries in their workplaces. Their priority is like other missionaries to serve the Lord sharing the gospel and making disciples.
Therefore, tentmakers should be prepared for new approaching skills and strategies to win the lost souls and make them as disciples of Christ at their workplaces.
 
    We easily can be satisfied and deceived because we sent some tentmaking Christians to foreign countries, but they can do nothing unless they are well trained and equipped like other conventional missionaries.
In reality, many of them are not deeply involved in mission work and they are busy doing some other jobs. They did not realize that tentmakers are the ones who should do both jobs at the same time.
 
    In the last three decades, we were told that many tentmakers serve at their market places, but tentmakers around the world still struggle with a lot of problems and obstacles for God’s Kingdom.

    We need to evaluate the mission works done by tentmakers in the last three decades since Global Tentmaking Movement began. Until now, we were busy sending tentmakers. And in the last couple of years we paused because of the COVID 19. Now is the right time to evaluate the works done by them and build some new and excellent TM mission strategies for effective tentmaking missions tomorrow. We all need to know how effectively the tentmakers were working in their mission fields (work places) in the past. After that, we can build new and effective mission strategies for today and tomorrow’s tentmakers everywhere.

Tentmaker or Missionary?
– What’s the difference?

by Phill Sandahl from tentmaking today

    Aren’t traditional missions and tentmaking the same thing? What difference does it make what we call it? This question comes up when explaining what tentmakers do in a mission’s conference. Let’s look at it.

    Generalizations can be dangerous. There are always exceptions. But it helps understanding to identify common characteristics.
 

SIMILARITIES

    Both traditional missionaries and tentmakers have these things in common:

• They seek to bring God’s love to the lost. They are motivated by love for God and obedience to the Great Commission.
• They are sent out by the church to make Christ known to the ends of the earth.
• They teach the Gospel.
• They instruct people on what God says in the Bible.
• The work can only be done by Christ-followers.

    In the most important ways, they are all doing the same work. They are all on the same team – building the Kingdom of God. 1 Cor 12:12 “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.”

DIFFERENCES

    There are some significant differences in their methods and approach to accomplishing the task. This is because of the different roles the Spirit has given them to serve the King.

    These practices allow them to connect with different kinds of people and introduce them to the Kingdom of God.

    1 Cor 12:4-6 “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.”
 

RESULTS

  As a result of different methods and styles we note the following.

• Approaches to making the Gospel known are different. They use different styles and methods to pursue to goal.
• Therefore, the accountability systems will be different. Many times, their preparation will be different. The way they engage the community will be different.
• In some cases, the care and support for them is different.
• We cannot treat them the same way.

When we understand the differences, it is easier to understand why it hard for traditional mission organizations to work with tentmaking.
 

CONCLUSION

    1 Cor 12:12 “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

    All Jesus’ followers have a place in fulfilling the Great Commission. Like the body ALL the parts are needed so that ALL may have an opportunity to come to Jesus. None are superior nor inferior to the other. Let us celebrate each other and work together for Christ and His kingdom

    What would you change in this model?