God and Nature Summer 2022
tentmakers |
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By Kennel J. Touryan
The Christian term tentmaker is taken from Acts 18:3, where we read that the Apostle Paul meets with Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth. The Apostle stays with them because they too were tentmakers—they made their living making tents.
“Tentmakers” are Christians who share their faith in Christ while engaging in their professional activities, as many ASA members do. The tentmaker may be a businessman, teacher, nurse, medical doctor, engineer, or scientist. He/she is a full-time professional but intentionally engages in talks, discussions, and visits to share their Christian faith, wherever and whenever the occasion allows. The big advantage is that the tentmaker can access places or communities in his/her normal activities which are often unattainable for the full-time Christian worker (e.g, pastors, priests, or missionaries).
The Christian term tentmaker is taken from Acts 18:3, where we read that the Apostle Paul meets with Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth. The Apostle stays with them because they too were tentmakers—they made their living making tents.
“Tentmakers” are Christians who share their faith in Christ while engaging in their professional activities, as many ASA members do. The tentmaker may be a businessman, teacher, nurse, medical doctor, engineer, or scientist. He/she is a full-time professional but intentionally engages in talks, discussions, and visits to share their Christian faith, wherever and whenever the occasion allows. The big advantage is that the tentmaker can access places or communities in his/her normal activities which are often unattainable for the full-time Christian worker (e.g, pastors, priests, or missionaries).
While working on this project, I would spend lunch times and evenings sharing the good news of the Gospel with my local colleagues... |
As a humorous example, when I was working as an applied physicist on weapons systems in a government laboratory (Sandia National Labs), I felt that as a Christian I should instead be working on peaceful and beneficial projects. So I changed my specialty to renewable energy technologies. A colleague of mine, who was following my career, called me one day and bemoaned that I had stopped working on advanced physics problems and was now working on simpler technologies, like wind turbines. When I told him I was now a tentmaker, he could not believe me. He said you went from advanced physics research to simpler renewable technologies, but I never imagined you were going to design and build tents?
Many religious leaders or clerics find it hard to reach professionals with the Gospel, whereas a committed Christian tentmaker can easily access members of his or her profession. For example, after the breakup of the Soviet Union (USSR), the US Department of Energy (USDOE) established a program called Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (IPP) to create direct communication between USDOE laboratory experts and former USSR Institutes of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The goal was to bring teams together and find ways of changing weapons technologies to constructive uses; a modern fulfillment of what God said in Isaiah: “They will beat their swords into plowshares….” (Isa 2:4). I joined the US team and we visited almost every WMD Institute in the former Soviet Republics. We would spend our days working on compatible projects in an effort to change WMD technologies into peaceful applications, wherever possible.
While working on this project, I would spend lunch times and evenings sharing the good news of the Gospel with my local colleagues, most of whom had never heard the good news of God’s love. As a tentmaker, I used these conversations to create a safe atmosphere where I could share my science along with my faith in a loving Creator—something less accessible to priests and clerics.
In 1989 I was invited to participate in the second Lausanne Conference in Manila, in the Philippines, which was organized for full-time Christian workers and professionals, such as ASA members, who are also “tentmakers.” When the Conference chairman asked the 400 participants how many had been led to the Lord by a secular person, over 80 percent of the attendees raised their hands.
Shortly after that, a conference attendee, a stockbroker from Hong Kong called Lee Yih, described two animals, a frog and a lizard, that catch their prey in two different manners. Frogs usually wait for the prey to come close and then catch it with their tongues. Lizards, on the other hand, seek out their prey wherever they go. From that time on, we started introducing each other either as frog or lizard, depending on our witnessing strategies!
Such evangelism is especially important today, as more and more countries refuse to offer visas to full-time missionaries, but are wide open to businessmen, medical experts, engineers, and scientists; what a wonderful opportunity for a tentmaker!
To summarize the advantages of being a tentmaker as opposed to a missionary:
1. The tentmaker can penetrate countries that have closed their doors to full-time Christian workers.
2. The tentmaker can share his or her technical capabilities with local experts, to help develop the infrastructure of the country, and at the same time be able to share his/her faith in Christ, often encountering a ready listening ear.
3. The tentmaker is able to provide his/her own expenses, without requiring efforts to raise funds for travel and lodging.
Blessed be the tentmakers!
Kenell (Ken) Touryan retired from the National Renewable Energy laboratory in 2007 as chief technology analyst. He spent the next eight years as visiting professor at the American University of Armenia (an affiliate of UC Berkeley). He received his PhD in Mechanical and Aeronautical Sciences from Princeton University with a minor in Physics. His first 16 years were spent at Sandia National Laboratories as Manager of R&D projects in various defense and advanced energy systems. He has published some 95 papers in refereed journals, authored three books, and co-owns several patents.
Many religious leaders or clerics find it hard to reach professionals with the Gospel, whereas a committed Christian tentmaker can easily access members of his or her profession. For example, after the breakup of the Soviet Union (USSR), the US Department of Energy (USDOE) established a program called Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (IPP) to create direct communication between USDOE laboratory experts and former USSR Institutes of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The goal was to bring teams together and find ways of changing weapons technologies to constructive uses; a modern fulfillment of what God said in Isaiah: “They will beat their swords into plowshares….” (Isa 2:4). I joined the US team and we visited almost every WMD Institute in the former Soviet Republics. We would spend our days working on compatible projects in an effort to change WMD technologies into peaceful applications, wherever possible.
While working on this project, I would spend lunch times and evenings sharing the good news of the Gospel with my local colleagues, most of whom had never heard the good news of God’s love. As a tentmaker, I used these conversations to create a safe atmosphere where I could share my science along with my faith in a loving Creator—something less accessible to priests and clerics.
In 1989 I was invited to participate in the second Lausanne Conference in Manila, in the Philippines, which was organized for full-time Christian workers and professionals, such as ASA members, who are also “tentmakers.” When the Conference chairman asked the 400 participants how many had been led to the Lord by a secular person, over 80 percent of the attendees raised their hands.
Shortly after that, a conference attendee, a stockbroker from Hong Kong called Lee Yih, described two animals, a frog and a lizard, that catch their prey in two different manners. Frogs usually wait for the prey to come close and then catch it with their tongues. Lizards, on the other hand, seek out their prey wherever they go. From that time on, we started introducing each other either as frog or lizard, depending on our witnessing strategies!
Such evangelism is especially important today, as more and more countries refuse to offer visas to full-time missionaries, but are wide open to businessmen, medical experts, engineers, and scientists; what a wonderful opportunity for a tentmaker!
To summarize the advantages of being a tentmaker as opposed to a missionary:
1. The tentmaker can penetrate countries that have closed their doors to full-time Christian workers.
2. The tentmaker can share his or her technical capabilities with local experts, to help develop the infrastructure of the country, and at the same time be able to share his/her faith in Christ, often encountering a ready listening ear.
3. The tentmaker is able to provide his/her own expenses, without requiring efforts to raise funds for travel and lodging.
Blessed be the tentmakers!
Kenell (Ken) Touryan retired from the National Renewable Energy laboratory in 2007 as chief technology analyst. He spent the next eight years as visiting professor at the American University of Armenia (an affiliate of UC Berkeley). He received his PhD in Mechanical and Aeronautical Sciences from Princeton University with a minor in Physics. His first 16 years were spent at Sandia National Laboratories as Manager of R&D projects in various defense and advanced energy systems. He has published some 95 papers in refereed journals, authored three books, and co-owns several patents.