One thing that I hear too often are marketplace workers from North America who live and work abroad but their home church does not see this as an mission endeavor. They believe somehow that unless they are sent by an agency then they are not true missionaries. What an incredible opportunity for the church to extend it’s mission reach through their marketplace people.

We need more marketplace people living intentional abroad.  How can you as a church mobilize, equip and commission your members?

Look beyond people who sense a calling to vocational missionary service. We need these people as well.

But, look at the possibilities of your college study abroad students, artists, teachers, second career people to live abroad in a strategic way. These people need to be seen as missionaries without using that title. They may not be able to be put on the church’s website or on the church’s wall of fame but they can be prayed for, supported in a variety of ways. They can be involved in your church’s mission strategy. They can partner with on the ground workers as opportunities present themselves. I believe it is going to take a shift in thinking of many pastors to see this pathway develop. It is going to take a shift in mission agencies and their leadership to make clear avenues for marketplace ventures to develop.

Just last week I had a great phone conversation with a young man who works for a global company. He and his wife are talking with their church about overseas service. They are praying about where that could be. Their church is walking with them in this process of sending. They are not looking towards the traditional mission sending route. He is asking for a transfer. Awesome!

If your church has marketplace people living and working overseas and being the salt and light then please remember them also!

Once I felt God leading me to pursue a teaching job, I learned I needed a masters in education in order to qualify for the job and I had my eye on one specific school. I began working on my masters online before my term ended and knew I would have to go back to the states for 6 months for classes. I had the idea of asking if I could do my required student teaching in the targeted school in Milan. This would be a benefit to both them and me and would also allow me to get my foot in the door for a position next year. Three days before my term ended and I got on a plane to go back to the states the school accepted me as a student teacher and prepared everything for my visa to come back. During my 6 months in the states I took intensive classes and raised support for the first year as an unpaid student teacher. I came back to Milan in August of 2011 absolutely stunned by the faithfulness of the Lord and the ways he provided for my every need. After a very difficult first year of teaching, I found myself not only facing the challenges of the first year and learning a completely different system but also being thrown into an entirely Italian environment in which I had to operate all day long as a professional in another language. I can say I have seen yet another depth of the Lord’s sustaining faithfulness. I was told several months ago that they are happy with my work and want me to stay. They are giving me a work contract with a sustaining salary and are taking care of all of the requirements for the work visa!

Because of all of this, I have loved my life as a “normal person.” It has changed everything both for me personally and in my ministry. For me personally, being legitimately and authentically on the same “rhythm” as everyone else has completely changed my view of “contextualization.” Contextualization is no longer something that I have to be intentional in doing I AM part of the context. I feel their pain and joy. I am one of them — not just pretending to be or trying to be.

I feel like it has been an answer to prayer for me spiritually as well. Though I do see a place for vocational ministry and know that God calls us to different things, I noticed in my personal walk with Christ as a missionary that the gospel became my job. It tragically became something I “sold.” If I were a banana salesmen who focused all day on selling bananas, the last thing I would want to do at night would be to sit down and eat a plate of bananas. Though I knew it should not be like this for a missionary — and with many I know it is not — I found that the lines between my categories of work and the truth that changed everything in me often got blurred. Now I live in Milan, Italy as a person who has been radically changed and transformed by the gospel of Christ, placed in community with others, and has the privilege of being part of God’s mission to glorify himself on the earth. I cannot help but testify, NOT because it is my job, but because it is my life.

My work is a means in which I can pursue excellence and glorify my creator who does all things well. It is a place where I have both influence and connection with many people on a daily basis. I cannot express how much easier building relationships has been. The first question someone asks you after “what is your name” is almost always “where do you work.” When I say I teach high school history and philosophy at a Collegio they immediately understand, identify, and connect with me. My relationships have easily doubled both in number and in depth since becoming a tentmaker. God is also moving inside my school as I have two colleagues specifically that I am having intense conversations with on a daily basis and in whom I see a deep hunger. One of them is very close to coming to the Lord!

With my free summer this year I will be taking a group of 5 young people from my Church back to the states to do an internship in my Church. We are going to use the time to glean, be encouraged, and grow both individually and as a group. We will also be discussing how we want to implement what we learn for the project of a daughter plant that will come out of our Church here in Milan.

By his grace and not my own merit, abilities, or strength, God has given me the blessing of living a transformed life that is daily dependent on the cross amongst the Milanese.

If you are like Amber and want to be in community with people in the global marketplace, consider joining the Skybridge Community. It’s a great place to talk about common issues one faces as they work abroad and live for the Kingdom.

I really like what I read about  Aquila and Priscila in scripture. God used these marketplace workers in some special ways.  They were tentmakers. Paul writes about them several times. Luke also mentions them in the book of Acts.  The key for me in how these marketplace workers lived their lives was that they lived with intentionality.

As marketplace workers, their intentionality was crucial. No matter where they lived, they were engaged in the work of the gospel.
They were coworkers with Paul in Christ Jesus. (Romans 16:3)
They risked their lives for Paul. (Romans 16:4)
The church was extremely grateful for  them. (Romans 16:3)
They assisted Paul in Ephesus.  (Acts 18:18-28)
They hosted a church in their own home.(1 Cor. 16:19, Romans 16:3-5)
They instructed Apollos privately to help him to learn more about Jesus. (Acts 18:26)

John Polhill writes in the The American Commentary of Acts “Here is a perfect example before us – by Christians like Aquila and Priscilla traveling the routes of trade and commerce and carrying their faith wherever they went,” (p. 283, The New American Commentary, Acts)

When you get a chance today say a prayer for these men and women who work internationally. They have awesome opportunities to share their faith as where they work, live and play.

Thinking of going into missions? Why not pray that God will open the doors for a transfer with your company to live abroad.

Recently I was having a conversation with a Skybridge Community member (www.skybridgecommunity.net) who served effectively with a mission organization in Europe. This person transitioned from being a full time Christian ministry worker to a marketplace worker. Here is what they said that really stuck with me.

“I  am part of Skybridge because I  am completely sold on encouraging and empowering this kind of “non-missionary missionary.” Marketplace professionals who are fulfilling their call to missions through their careers and choose to live in Europe, on purpose.”

I believe there are thousands of marketplace workers like this. People whom God has strategically placed in this world.

In her book, Tentmakers, author Ruth Siemens writes this about life on the mission field:

”The secular job is not an inconvenience, but the God-given context in which tentmakers live out the gospel in a winsome, wholesome, nonjudgmental way, demonstrating personal integrity, doing quality work and developing caring relationships.” (Siemens, Tentmakers, D-247)

Turks moving to Germany
Algerians to France
Moroccans to Spain
Chinese students to the USA
Iranians to Sweden

The list could go on and on and on.

This year one of my blog themes will be to discover people like this and tell their story. I hope my readers will do a few things with these post.

- Share these stories with their pastors. Pastors need to hear stories like this so they can empower and release their congregation to the marketplace here and abroad. They need to see how these marketplace workers are a strategic part of proclaiming the gospel to the nations.

- Most importantly I hope these will be an encouragement and challenge to you as the reader that as a follower of Christ you can be salt and light as this worker is, and you can do it in a any where in the world.  As we process a call to missions, we often think that we have to quit our day jobs. What if we first thought about how we can keep our jobs and get a transfer?

As I watched this one transpire I had a thought.

The pastor was talking about their future. He was talking about how these kids could just be the next Billy Graham or Lottie Moon. Okay, it was a Southern Baptist Church. Lottie Moon was a famous missionary to China, The pastor told how “how we need people like that in the generations to come.”

I hope some of those kids do just that.

But we also need godly, Christ following, Holy Spirit obedient business people, teachers, athletes, artists, engineers, scientists, etc.. We need to raise our kids to be salt and light in whatever they do and wherever they happen to live. Both are vitally important. We need to be sure in the church that we empower our students to think about mission in this way as well.

I do not think you need to be a fully funded Christian worker to live overseas. God can use you in a variety of ways vocationally in a global way.

I want to propose another thought on this.

What if instead of coming to teach something or put on a seminar to help nationals be better leaders that they simply come and be present in the culture? Be intentional travelers.

They move about from place to place. They work for multi -national companies. They often have to travel to the same cities several times a year with their jobs. What if they sought to be  intentional as they travel and do business abroad?

One businessperson that I know stays at the same bed and breakfast each time he visits this large European city. He plans ahead to be sure the owners of the hotel can spend one evening with him. He frequents the same restaurants. Goes to the same news stand each morning to get his paper. Goes to the same coffee shops. He makes sure to spend time with people from his company. He goes out to eat with his co-workers. He gets to know them as well as possible. He is trying to learn the language in order to communicate better in that country. He is meeting other Christians and Christian workers to develop his network there. He tries to make the most of his opportunities and if the Lord opens the doors for deeper conversations then he is ready. Over time he has indeed had opportunities to share his faith and even disciple a few business people.

Live out your life as salt and light no matter where you wake up in the morning.

You do not have to lead something to serve abroad. You can simply be yourself.

Follow Jesus. Talk to people whom the Lord puts in your path. It can be quite natural.

Are you an intentional traveler?

One of the initiatives that I work with is called Skybridge Community which focuses on helping expats live intentionally in Europe.  You may want to check them out.

• We are pastors looking at this as a viable way to send workers to the field.
• We are marketplace workers looking for a job in Europe.
• We are workers already living in Europe.
• We are cross-cultural workers who are trying to plant churches and disciple people who want to integrate marketplace place workers into our strategies.

I see these five components essential in our community.  In the words of a European businessman who is a follower of Jesus recently told me: “Please tell them to find jobs and come to Europe. We need this type of worker here.”

The Sending Church

One of the first things you should do if you sense a desire from the Lord to move to Europe (or anywhere for that matter) and work is to talk to some key people in your church. Maybe it is your small group leader, an elder or a pastor. I believe it is important that you have the support of your church in this endeavor. We love Acts 13 and the story of the Antioch Church. The Holy Spirit called out Saul and Barnabas for His work. The church prayed and fasted and sent them off. The church was part of the sending process. It was not an individual effort on the part of the missionary.

Just as people who serve with mission sending organizations need the affirmation, support and blessing from the church you need the same. Your sending church can pray for you. They can help support your ministry. They can provide you with spiritual and strategic accountability and they will hopefully desire to partner with you while you are here.

The Job

Another key component is finding a job. Perhaps you are already in an international company that would allow you to move to Europe. Most people find themselves trying to find a job in Europe. This is where networking comes in. What are your marketable skills? What job do you currently have? Can you find that same type of job here? Where can you look for a job in Europe? Can you find an international internship? Start a business? This can be a very tough stage in your desire to live overseas. It is rarely as simple as it sounds. It may take a year or so for this to happen, but do not be discouraged. You can take advantages of links that we may post, utilize our discussion board, talk to people already on the ground in the city you are wanting to go to.

Preparing to Live and Work in Europe

I believe the time to start preparing to live overseas is now. Start learning about your city. Start interacting with people who live there. Read everything that you can get your hands on regarding Europe and the country where you are wanting to live. Pray a lot and enlist some close friends to pray with you on this journey. There are also some excellent books and workbooks regarding living incarnationally in your city.

Try out aspects of living that are different then what you normally do. Take the bus. Walk a lot. Shop in “mom and pop” stores. Anything that you can do to put you more in touch with urban living will be time well spent. We also have a section in our site called The Reference Library. We have over 25 downloadable articles for you to read and interact with. We also would love to dialog with you on these on our site. We also can set up a Skype conversation about a topic of your choice. Just let us know how we can help you in this phase.

Local Ministry

One key success factor is for you to be connected to some sort of local ministry or community here in Europe. This could look different depending on where you will be living. We have some cities where we have other Skybridge workers where you could connect with on a regular basis in a missional community (see below). You also may find a local church where you can worship and serve. You may find some cross cultural missionaries that you can work with in starting small groups or churches. Whatever the Lord leads you to do we find this local component a essential to life overseas.

Missional Communities

While Skybridge is a virtual community in many ways, we do have some places where our members come together to pray, for accountability, to encourage one another and to work together on projects in a local setting.

We also have two retreats a year where you will have the opportunity to gather together with other Skybridgers from throughout Europe where we can share ideas, learn new skills in living missionally, pray for one another and encourage one another.

I hope you will check it out and join this community.

Normally we have four categories of members

1. Those thinking about working in Europe and looking for ways to do that and prepare for being salt and light here.

2. People who are already working in Europe and looking for ways to connect with ministries and obtain training for living out their lives incarnationally here.

3. We have some US churches who want to partner with people who are working over here in the marketplace. We believe it is extremely important for the marketplace worker to have a supporting church for prayer, accountability and potentially projects that will enable them to minister here. If your church is interested in this please let me know.

4. We also have church planters, church planting teams and people in existing mission networks here in Europe as  a part of our community.  Our Skybridge members want to connect with meaningful local ministry and this is where much of their community is found. We have Skybridge members in quite a few European cities and they are often looking for ways to connect.

If this interests you then I hope you will join Skybridge.   Check it out at www.skybridgecommunity.net

Next Week I am leading a Jet Set Vision Trip with the Village Church in Dallas. I hope you will follow along on this blog, twitter and our Upstream Site. as we travel to four different countries and look at ministry opportunities, learn about local cultures and have various missional conversations.

Paris. Athens. Budapest. Frankfurt. Rome. Madrid. Vienna. Stockholm. Basel.

The urban centers of Europe are the new frontier of missions.

Stockbroker. Artist. Lawyer. Electrician. Professor. Programmer.

And these are its missionaries.

While Europe doesn’t often spring to Americans’ minds when they hear the word “missions,” the spiritual need in the region is overwhelming. Less than 2 percent of the population of most European countries is known to follow Christ.

In societies so numbed to the institutional church, cultural rituals and historical Christendom, being a “missionary” often calls for something totally different than the traditional face of North American missions.

What if the most effective missions meant simply living life with purpose among the peoples of Europe, working in a normal job, building friendships with co-workers and neighbors?

What if churches in the United States actively participated in sending out their best church members, not as missionaries, but simply as themselves? What if churches prayed and dreamed with those workers about how to live their lives as salt and light in their new European hometowns? What if churches took back – and took full advantage of – their role in the Great Commission?

Isn’t that what it’s supposed to be about anyway?

check out – www.skybridgecommunity.net

The above post was written by a member of the Skybridge Community.