Go and make disciples of all nations!

- Matt 28:19 NIV -

                                                                                                                                                                                       ∴ Date : 2019-01-01

​

Tentmaker is at the work place. Johnny Chun / Executive Secretary of TI    “Without lay people involved in world evangelism, the task will never be completed.” -William Kerr-    Someone said, " if we don't work, no workers!" We Christians need to pray for and seek workers.    A missionary writes about her field of service: " We have been forced to close some of our stations because of lack of funds and lack of missionaries.“ Although this sounds like it could have been written yesterday, this plea for help was written in 1926 by Johanna Veenstra, a missionary to the Sudan.    About 90 years later, we still struggle with the same problem. In fact, it has not changed since Jesus declared, " The harvest truly is plentiful, but the workers are few. And this is the cry everywhere today. Denominations, mission agencies in many countries faced with a growing deficit in their missionary effort will have to call home a great number of workers from the different fields.    God wants all men to hear the gospel but they will never hear it unless there are those who are prepared to cross the seas and the mountains and bring the good news to them. Martin Luther had a friend. He was also a monk. They came to an agreement. Luther would go down into the battle for the Reformation in the world and his friend would stay in the lonely place and uphold Luther's hands in prayer.    So, they began that day. Then, one night the friend had a dream. He saw a vast field of corn as big as the world. And one solitary man was seeking to reap it - an impossible and a heartbreaking task. Then he caught a glimpse of the worker's face; and the worker was Martin Luther; and Luther's friend saw the truth in a flash. He said " I must leave my prayers and get to work." And so, he left his place and went down to the world to work into the harvest.    I believe It is the dream of Christ that every Christian should be a worker. There are those who cannot do other than pray and their prayers are indeed the strength of the workers. But that is not the way for most of us for those of us who have strength of body and health of mind.    Not even the giving of our money is enough. If the harvest of men is ever to be reaped, then every one of us must be a worker, for there is someone whom each one of us could and must bring to God. For the reason, we serve as Tentmakers.    Happy New Year!    May God continue to bless you, your family and your ministry this year 2019!

       Professionals instrumental in Chinese church growth

      By Steinar Opheim / Tentmaking Today

        Christian professionals have been instrumental in the tremendous church growth China has experienced the past decades. But now many

       expatriate workers are forced to leave the populous,Asian nation.

        Brent Fulton, the founder of the ChinaSource news agency, has followed the church in China closely since the mid-1980s. In an interview with

      World Magazine done in October, he underlines the important role Christian professionals from other nations have played in the Chinese church

      growth.

        You can find many Chinese Christians today who trace their faith journeys back to the witness of foreign Christians who came to teach on

       university campuses and start businesses, says the ChinaSource founder.

       < Difficult times>

         Tentmaking Today (TMT) has previously written about the new and more difficult situation for foreign workers in China. The past month TMT

       has received several reports on expatriate professionals who have had to leave the nation on short notice. This picture is confirmed by Fulton.

         Foreigners used to be a real novelty in China, so if you went to teach, you would be considered an attraction. That´s changed. A Chinese church

       with foreign connections is becoming more of a liability as China continues to become more anti-foreign, says Fulton. He believes that foreign

       Christians who want to reach people in China with the gospel, need to redefine their role.

         Instead of asking “How do we serve the church in China?” we need to ask, “How do we serve with the church in China?”. Today, it’s the believers

        in China who are on the cutting edge of new ministry initiatives, as they should be. There’s a role for foreigners to serve as mentors to Christians

        who are doing things that the Chinese church hasn’t done in the past, such as journalism, counseling and education.

        < New opportunities>
 
        Fulton warns against painting a too dark picture of the situation for Christians in China.

        Certainly there are restrictions on the church, and the last couple of years we´ve seen the potential for even greater restrictions. But when I talk

      to believers in China about their challenges, that’s usually not the first thing they talk about. I think that by homing in on that one narrative, we

      miss a lot of complexity of what’s going on with the church in China, says Fulton to World Magazine.

         He believes that the new restrictions on the churches in China,may change the way the Christians operate. The megachurch model that has been

       applied in the cities, may no longer be viable.

         They may need to go back to the home church model, says Fulton.

        < Communist-led multiplication>
 

         His views are supported by Joann Pittman who is a senior associate with ChinaSource. She also thinks that the bigger churches may have to

        divide into smaller units.

         Dividing into smaller congregations, distributed over a wider geographical area, may actually provide opportunities to affect more communities.

        Or, as I like to call it, “Communist-Party-led church multiplication, writes Pittmann in an article published by The Gospel Coalition.