Article from G.O.

Article from Calvary Chapel St. Pete's G.O. (global outreach) Newsletter.

Paul was a tentmaker missionary: He worked a job and taught people about Jesus. He actually was the original tentmaker missionary--he really did make tents.

We, too, are tentmaker missionaries--we who tell others about Jesus and work a job are just as “spiritual” as the Apostle Paul himself! Middle School Youth Pastor Josh Harris talks about why he started Team Hope: “I was motivated to start Team Hope by a vision and a passion that the Lord put on my heart to reach the lost with the gospel through organized street evangelism. The vision was to help equip believers who had a heart for evangelism and empower them to be more effective by teaming them up with other like-minded evangelists. I started it with the hope of handing the leadership over to Gabe Graham when he returned from Barbados, which the Lord worked out wonderfully!”

Gabe took over in 2004, after spending two years in Barbados - two years which he would later call the “hardest time of my Christian walk, but also the best” because of the growth the Lord brought about in him. Since taking over Team Hope, Gabe has seen many people come and go, many promising people fizzle out, many nonchalant people get on fire, and several people come to Christ!

Yes, things are unpredictable on the mission field, but that’s part of the fun! Team Hope meets every Friday evening, usually in the Family Room, at 6:30 p.m., for prayer and fellowship. We must have the prayer. Gabe says that he feels “naked” if he doesn’t pray before hitting the streets, and several regulars agree that going to witness without praying is like taking a knife to a gun battle. Interestingly, everyone acknowledges that they have fears even though they go out almost every week. Fear doesn’t go away, but it doesn’t keep them from coming back, either.

Someone once said that fear brings us closer to the Lord, because we pray when we are afraid. It reminds us of our inadequacies so that we can depend on the One without Whom we can do nothing anyway (John 15:5). It also reminds us that this battle isn’t really physical--it’s spiritual! And that means that our cleverness, our abilities, our qualifications, or the lack of any of these things, really doesn’t count on this field. The only thing that matters is our willingness to be obedient to the Lord of the Harvest and to become laborers for His harvest (Matthew 9:36-38).

Which brings us back to prayer: We can’t know what God wants us to do unless we ask Him. We can’t minister effectively unless we ask for His Holy Spirit to empower us. And we can’t see souls saved unless we pray for them, too. (He may save them, but we won’t have any part in it) So, let’s pray for local missions--and be local missionaries and tentmakers, too.