As missionaries plod and persevere, we must hold the rope and pray.

Fred was a tentmaker in Asia for ten years before returning to the US, where he has been for eight years. Still in IT and a tentmaker at heart, Fred reflected on both experiences.

Fred was 17 when he immigrated to the US. He became a Christian in his mid-30s and felt called to return to his home country as a tentmaker.

The assumption is that tentmakers who work forty or more hours a week don’t have as much time as donor supported missionaries for the “real” ministry of teaching, preaching, evangelism, and discipleship.

While Part 1 provided information on the missionary journey in general and Part 2 focused on common concerns, this article will highlight job-related issues that send tentmaking missionaries to the field overseas. 

While Part 1 provided information on various aspects of the missionary calling and journey in general, this article will zero in on some common concerns of relocating to the missions field. 

This article will focus on the first category of the overall missionary journey.

If you’re interested in tentmaking missions in Asia or the Middle East, we have grouped some of our stories and articles into three categories to guide your exploration.

Accepting God’s call is putting one foot in front of the other to begin your adventure of faith. God did not only give us stories from Scripture about how He rewards obedience. Today, many others have accepted the challenge, stepped out in faith, and proven Him trustworthy.

Drawing from Rev. Mack Stiles’ message at the 2013 Cross Student Missions Conference, here are the fundamentals of a missionary calling.

Piper suggests ten ways that the missionary calling is awakened in you. The Bible is infallible. All the other ways are relative, and they are not exhaustive.

God impressed upon Nancy’s heart to be more intentional about bringing her students to his feet. Some of her former students met with her regularly to practice their English. Sometimes they would introduce her to their friends and questions about spiritual matters would come up. Nancy has also kept in touch with others through social media and emails. Government bans could not stop Nancy from speaking God’s love and truth into her students’ lives.

Through her changing attitude towards work and mission, Emma came to realize that being involved in fulfilling God’s mission wherever she worked not only contributed to God’s Great Commission, but also brought her fulfillment as a child of God. When she abided in relationship with him and took the opportunities that he provided along the way, she would be fruitful wherever she lived!

A Christian having an international career does not automatically make him a tentmaker. A tentmaker is a Christ follower with a missionary calling to serve others cross-culturally through his/her profession and make disciples of people who have yet to know Jesus. Preparing for a tentmaking career overseas will therefore have a professional and a spiritual aspect to it.

Professionals and business people, who look nothing like traditional missionaries but live cross-culturally to make disciples through their work, are missionaries. We call them bivocational missionaries or tentmakers after Paul, who used his day job stitching tents as a way to share the good news about God.

Lacey’s story is a story of learning to say “yes” to God on the unexpected, yet beautiful journey of following His call.

We address a few common myths people hold about “calling,” particularly when it comes to work and vocation, through what Scripture has to say.

If work is an integral part of a tentmaker's life and witness, and not just a "passport" to get to the field or a "platform" for ministry, then getting the right job is important. But what constitutes the right job? How do you find that job overseas?

Cherry longed to return to East Asia with her American husband and children. She was a high-performance salesperson in her company, so her boss agreed to create a position for her in to grow their business. Then the unexpected happened: Cherry's position fell through. Would they still go?

Bob and Sabrina went to Asia with a heart to serve young people. At the university where Bob teaches, some of his students are from Muslim countries where economic hardships and even civil war are part of life. Quite a few of these bright young people are suffering PTSD symptoms from the violence and loss of loved ones back home. Bob and his wife Sabrina reached out and became their unofficial host family.