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.

One of the ways Webster defines niche is “a specialized market”

I think there are 100′s of what I call mission niches. These are specialized ministries that are a vital part of missions.

We tend to think of people involved in missions as being on the front lines or in support roles. I know that seems black and white but it is what I hear a lot. Are you involved in strategy or support? Both are equally  important.  If you serve in a support role you are not “less important” than someone who is in a hard to get to place working with hard to connect with people.

When is the last time you read about a support role in missions?  Not as many stories are written about support roles in missions. Not as glamorous? A worker in a support role once shared with that me they were told to be sure and talk about “the real work” when giving the mission talk at church. They wanted to hear “front line” stories. Another person was having a conversations with a mission intern  at their home church regarding this intern’s potential future service overseas. As the missionary talked about what their role was, this intern piped up and said. ” I do not believe I am being called into ‘baby missions’ “.

These are some unfortunate extremes to the problem. But if you ever have served in a support role you probably can relate to this at some level. If this is not the case with you, then you have a great group of people who have a good understanding of the kingdom. Count yourself blessed!

I have run into some pretty cool people who have a unique niche in the mission world. I want you to meet some of them this year. Stay tuned for our first one who is involved in a mission niche where they maintain and repair airplanes for missionaries.  I hope you will be able to see the hearts of the people involved and understand that God calls all of us to play different parts.

What about you? If you’ve ever served as a vocational missionary, how were the people in support roles a blessing to the work God was doing in your area?

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?

Due to the nature of my job I am traveling constantly. I feel like I actually live between two continents. So as I read the news and listen to people talk I am troubled by something. I know that illegal immigration is an issue. I am all for being legal. It is something that I highly value as I live overseas. We go to great lengths to stay current and legal. It is important for a lot of reasons.

Here is a thought though. I feel like I need to love our immigrant population just as much as I am concerned about their legal status here.

Silence fell in the room but I think the point was taken. If we let the media influence us we can become dangerously close to having hatred stir up in our hearts against foreigners who live among us. I do not think this is something that should happen. If we do then we miss opportunities to live out the Great Commission in our own neighborhood.

One of the thoughts that I had was this. “I was more concerned about the production of our new church than I was  about the reproduction of disciples.”

This comes from some reflections that I have had over the last months in speaking and teaching in various venues. I feel that when I was planting churches here in the states back in the BIG 90′s that I became quite proficient at planting church services. Sunday came around every 7 days and we had lots to do in order to pull a Sunday service off. I wanted the production to be excellent.

The problem with that is that the Great Commission does not say go out and plant churches services.

It says: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them inthe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28.

Sometimes we get far too worried about the church plant and forget a couple of things that are important on the front end.

Planting the Gospel

Making Disciples who make disciples

I believe when these two elements occur healthy churches emerge (church planting).

If you have ever lived overseas and you are trying to learn a new language then you know what I mean.

going to the bank

going to the doctor

going to government office building

not being able to read the labels at the store

when the phone rings and it is a local call

All of these can be stressors in a foreign setting.

They can create anxiety in the life of the foreigner.

I also have much more compassion with the person who is from another country that now lives in the states.  Have you ever offered your help to them in the store or in another situation?  This type of love for our neighbor can go a long way in gospel presence.

I always learn a lot when I am involved in this interaction. Two quick thoughts that stick out to me as I listen to their stories.

These guys really desire partners that will be willing to commit to the long haul. They have seen more success when churches send teams to work along side of them over and over again.  Most workers do not desire a  one-off type trip. They want sustaining partnerships.

The second thought  is that the North American church should seek to find ways to engage the same people group here.  I believe the Great Commission is both here and there.  Thanks to globalization many of the people groups throughout the world live here in North America. What an awesome opportunity.  Read this post about what we call “reverse mission trips”. If you are engaging a people group 5000 miles away why not seek ways to do the same here?

We are headed to this part of the world next year. Please check out www.jetset.theupstreamcollective.org

Let us know if you can come along.

I bought Metaxs’ biography of Bonhoeffer before I left. I have enjoyed getting a good start on the 608 page book. It definitely put extra pounds on my baggage limits and I bought the paperback edition. Unfortunately it may take until Christmas to finish it.

He writes this about a time he visited the Sacre Coeur Church in Paris. He attended a mass there and most of the people attending were prostitutes.

“It is much easier for me to imagine a praying murderer, a praying prostitute, than a vain person praying. Nothing is so at odds with prayer as vanity.”

Webster defines “vain” as having or showing undue or excessive pride in one’s appearance or achievements : conceited.

Do you think that one’s vanity affects our prayer life?

I am thinking much.

HOUSES, CARS, CLOSETS, SIZE OF SERVINGS AT RESTAURANTS, ETC..

I must admit in some cases it does not always take a long time to readjust.

In fact some of these make it quite easy. Here are a few.

The size of parking spaces seem so much larger here. I like the extra room to park.

It is much easier to clean the kitchen with such a large dishwasher. Easy to hide the dirty dishes. Out of sight out of mind.

The large refrigerators  and cupboards allow you to buy a week’s worth of groceries and store them.

It is much easier to do all of the clothes in one load with the large washing machines. At least that is what my wife tells me. grin.

Not to mention taking a nap on a large couch. I personally like that.

Beds in hotel rooms are larger so that makes travel a little more comfortable. As much as I travel that is a nice change.

Granted I have not found the extra large cup of Hot Chocolate that I found near Brussels but I will continue to search.

more re-entry issues later.

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.