by Jonny Chun/ Executive Secreatry of Tentmakers Internatiinal

 Who are Tentmakers?
 Tentmakers are mission-committed Christians who work in secular jobs in order 

to reach another people group. They communicate the gospel by word and deed through excellence in work, caring relationships, and well-chosen comments 

about God in the context of everyday life.

   In the last one and half years, the opportunities to communicate the gospel by word and deed in our communities and workplaces are almost closed. In this frustrating and stuffy 

environment, what are we Christian workers and leaders to do? I continually ask the same question to myself.

   I was told an interesting story on a challenge many years ago. In 1983, Steve Jobs issued to John Sculley,  

CEO of Pepsi-Cola. “John, do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want 

a chance to change the world?"  

   This challenging question is well known to many people, and we are asked the same question from a different angle today. Our inner voice challenges us, saying, "Are you still waiting for the days that this crisis is over and come back to the normal days when we freely could serve and work for His Kingdom?"

   Instead of waiting for the days, we need to prepare to take action, whatever they are. I personally felt the need to prepare more for spirituality, disciplines, and ministry skills to share the gospel effectively after this COVID crisis is over. Recently, we preach, give lectures, and hold conferences via the internet. This must be a good and effective way to communicate with others. And this will be a trend for tomorrow's Christian ministry.

   What will happen to local churches and the mission world after this COVID crisis?

   We still don't know what will happen to Christian missions and tentmaking ministries. But I think and believe a totally different paradigm for evangelism will be needed for local churches and foreign missions.

   I hope and pray God will sustain His peace and joy in your heart.

Andrew Scott Analyzes Shifting Global Trends and Missions

by Phill Sandahl from Tentmaking Today

   What do shifting global trends mean for missions? Andrew Scott, author of

Scattered, connects the dots.

   Andrew shares some global facts that are a wake-up call to all Jesus followers. This is a message for all who believe the Great Commission applies to them.

  Did you know?
- 80% of least reached people live in countries hostile to missionary activity.
- The #1 reason for coming to faith is watching the life of a Jesus follower.
- 90% of Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists will never meet even ONE Jesus follower in their lifetime.

Tactical Shift

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   In order to finish the task we need to change our tactics. We need to take advantage of the opportunities these shifting trends provide. We need methods that are scalable and sustainable. The predominant model we have today was designed by, and for, the West. We need a model that works for the whole church worldwide.

   How can we give the unreached a chance to watch Jesus followers up close and personal? Scatter the believers to live and work dispersed among them in their everyday life. The globalization trends make that more possible today than ever before.

   Doors are wide open in the global marketplace. 45% of global companies cannot find the talent they need.

Many of these countries are where missionaries cannot enter. Yet, they will pay believers to come and provide the services they need.

Tentmaking – the Method of the Apostle Paul – Revisited

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   He concludes tentmaking opens the door to making a much larger impact in global evangelization in two significant ways. First, all believers are invited to participate in spreading the gospel. Second, there are opportunities to

bring the gospel to the least reached if we change our paradigms for connecting with them.In his model there are

no closed countries. When we work with the trends he outlines, we have the capacity to scale to a much larger

force of Kingdom workers.

   Some of the advantages of the tentmaking model is that the worker has a credible presence in the community

and workplace. His sustenance comes from his work and not some mysterious outside source. People in the community see he struggles with the problems they do. As such he is a model of how Jesus works for all of life.

   This becomes a natural pathway to developing the discipleship model presented in the New Testament.