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Ruth Marlene Friesen: Welcome!
This site is like Ruthe,
the heroine of my novel,
Ruthe's Secret Roses
Ruthe is. . .
intimate with God,
prays a lot,
a bleeding heart for the hurting,
a big sister,
rescues friends,
has creative ideas,
likes to give
surprise gifts,
loyal to friends,
dreams of love and
marriage,
dreams of writing a book
goes the extra mile
So this site offers;
good books to read!
help to become Friends with God,
The One Ideal Real Friend
a cure for loneliness
An Older Sister's Coping Secret
how to pray Panic Prayers,
& regularly/daily
devotionals,
how to grow in faith
Christian mentoring,
how to share your faith
character development
how to become a writer
te-Oh-oh!
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A Book I can Highly Recommend
Avoiding the Tentmaker Trap
by D. Gibson
Forward by Patrick Johnstone
Published by WEC International
ISBN:0-9681685-0-7
It's astonishing how many North Americans are taking jobs overseas. It has even touched my
family, in that my younger, middle sister has gone to Qatar this year to teach at the university
there, and possibly to write curriculum for that brand new institution of learning. Not until I
re-read this book just recently, did I get my head arond the idea that so many are doing this.
For those who are familiar with the Bible, we all know the expression Tentmaker is loaded
with meaning. Basically that someone goes to another country or culture and works or conducts
business there, but uses that presence as an opportunity to tell others of Christ and to win them to
faith in Him.
So our next thought might be, why don't all those people taking jobs over there, also become
tentmakers, like Paul and Pricilla and Aquila of the New Testament? Perfect! Self-supporting
missionaries. Saves us other poor Christians a lot of expense!
Hold it. Not so fast. There are some difficulties or traps such a person could fall into. This book
takes a careful look at this style of doing missions, or even just witnessing as an individual
Christian, wanting to serve the Lord.
Gibson takes the reader through a quick history of missions, then lays out two Biblical models for
missions; Pauline tentmaking (named after Paul), and Pricillan tentmaking (named after Pricilla and
Acquila, of course). Paul was an evangelist/preacher, who supported himself when necessary with
tent-making. The married couple focused instead on setting up a home and business, and then
witnessing one-on-one as they met people through their work. They did open up their home for most of
these "new church meetings."
Gibson developes six foundational stones - ways of looking at these types of ministry. He points out
their strengths and weaknesses. For the right people, with the right personalities, and the right
advance preparations, this is a wonderful way to do missions!
It gets the laity more involved, it eases some financial pressures (but not always!), it models
natural Christian living to the other culture - who may have no idea what Christians should behave
like, and it IS a foot into countries where anyone openly preaching the gospel is rejected at the
port.
I liked the way stories of examples, and of history, are woven together to make this point. Yes,
tentmaker missions can work, but go prepared!
Another blessed help in this little book, is all the helpful resources in the Appendixes. There are
self-surveys to find out if you should even be considering this option. There are long lists of
places to check for job openings, how to prepare your resumes, identify your possible obstacles, and
how to research your choice of mission, and country. Plus much more! Many books, even films and
videos lists. You will be amazed.
Considering tentmaking? This is your manual! You will need it, else you might come home, burned out
and bitter. You want to avoid things like that.
Back to index of Reviews
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