Discussion Questions

1. If you hope to serve with a mission agency, finding the right agency is very important. Choose one of the seven questions from sidebar 11.1 (Seven Questions to Ask When Choosing a Missions Agency). Go online to http://www.missionfinder.org to explore some agencies in light of that question. MissionFinder allows you to explore by type of ministry or by location (country or continent). Whichever method you choose, click through to at least five agencies and browse their home pages. Note what you learn in relation to the question you have chosen.
2. If you were to plan on joining a mission agency, what criteria are important to you in making your choice? How might you find agencies that meet your criteria?
3. Why is it important for any prospective missionary to have a solid connection with a local church?
4. What are you doing right now to establish or maintain a strong connection with a local church?
5. What professional skills might you bring to a tentmaker position? If you currently do not have such skills, how might you develop them?
6. Which of Patrick Lai’s tentmaker options (sidebar 11.2) seems to fit you best? Why?

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Bibliography

Befus, David. 2001. Getting with God's Program: Expatriates in International Ministry; A Critical Appraisal from a Missionary Kid/Mission Director. Miami: Latin America Mission.

English, David. 2002. "Today's Global Job Market: Nature of the International Job Market." http://www.globalopps.org/downloads/Todays Global Job Market.txt.

Fraser, James O. 1958. The Prayer of Faith. Kent, England: Overseas Missionary Fellowship.

Guthrie, Stan. 2000. Missions in the Third Millennium: 21 Key Trends for the 21st Century. Carlisle, England: Paternoster.

Lai, Patrick. 2001. "Tentmaking—In Search of a Workable Definition." Online: http://www.strategicnetwork.org/index.asp?loc=kb&id=9162 (cited 22 March 2002).

———. 2005. Tentmaking: Business as Missions. Waynesboro, GA: Authentic.

Lewis, Jonathan, ed. 1996. Working Your Way to the Nations: A Guide to Effective Tentmaking. 2nd ed. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity.

Moreau, A. Scott. 2010. "Putting the Survey in Perspective." In Mission Handbook: U. S. and Canadian Protestant Ministries Overseas, edited by Linda J. Weber, 21st ed., 34–95. Wheaton: EMIS.

Moreau, A. Scott, and Mike O'Rear. 2002. "Relief and Development Helps." Evangelical Missions Quarterly 38 (January): 90–94.

Myers, Bryant L. 1995. "Modernity and Holistic Ministry." In Serving with the Poor in Asia, edited by Tetsunao Yamamori, Bryant L. Myers, and David Conner, 179–91. Monrovia, CA: MARC.

Siemens, Ruth. 2002. "The Tentmaker's Preparation." http://www.globalopps.org/GO%20Papers/prepare.htm.

Wuthnow, Robert. 2009. Boundless Faith: The Global Outreach of American Churches. Berkeley: University of California Press.

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