Neuquén in a nutshell

Ever since our recent unexpected meeting with Edgardo, we've been learning all about the place in Argentina we are now (Lord-willing) moving to: Neuquén.

A year ago we sensed that the general area of Argentina that God was calling us to were the three southern provinces of Neuquén, Rio Negro, and Chubut. We were trusting the Lord to make it clear which one it was. He has. And it's so funny to think that the city of Neuquén, in the province of the same name, is the place we are going - since we barely knew it existed, let alone knew anything about it.

But, Neuquén it is, I guess!

So, since we are moving there in a couple of months, we want to find out as much as we can about it now. This is what we've learned so far...

The city of Neuquén is located in the south of Argentina, at the northernmost tip of Patagonia. Neuquén is the largest city in the Argentine province of the same name (see if you can find it below).

Map of Patagonian Provinces

[from printable-maps.blogspot.com]

Neuquén province is about the size of Indiana, with about the same population as Wyoming (500,000). Three-fifths of the province's inhabitants can be found in the city of Neuquén.

Neuquén is located in the great Patagonian desert. Yes, desert. Didn't know there was a desert there? Well, don't feel bad, neither did I. It rains a whopping half inch a month - and reaches almost a whole inch in June. So if you want green grass instead of brown dirt, you have to water your lawn every day.

Edgardo informed us that there are four marked seasons: winter, spring, summer, and fall. It gets hot in the summer, but the humidity is very low (hallelujah!), and Wikipedia tells me there are strong winds from the south, making it feel cooler (hallelujah again! sidenote: my emotional well-being is way too wrapped up in the weather forecast; it's a sad reality.) Winters are mild (compared to the Northeast, that is), and snow can occur (again, a whopping one inch in June).

The city of Neuquén has sprung up over the last century from a population of 5,000 to almost 300,000 today. It is located at the confluence of two rivers: the Limay and Neuquén rivers. The city has an extensive irrigation system, which allows for an abundance of apple, pear, and peach tree plantations. Much of Argentina's petrochemical industry is also found in and around Neuquén, providing many jobs to the area.

Outside of the city, the rest of the province is made up of desert and mountains punctuated by smaller towns and remote mountain villages.

Click on the following for pictures in and around the city and province of Neuquén:

downtown skyline and here
storm over the city
poverty
little boy in the slums
houses
people
west of town towards Andean foothills
funky fauna
funky flora (and gratuitous rock shot - look at the columnar jointing in that basalt!)
Mapuche territory
volcano
northeastern foothills
the beautiful Andes

Also check out Google Earth. You can zoom in on hundreds more photos taken in and around the city (or anywhere in the world for that matter).


:)

a face for the name

Edgardo, in the white shirt

Here is a picture of our pastor friend in Patagonia. His name is Edgardo Sanchez. He's just one of those genuinely nice guys. Humble, approachable, real, normal, human - and on fire for the Lord. He is a full-time civil engineer, a pastor, and a missionary. He is also the leader of the Mennonite Church in Argentina (but he didn't tell us that, we had to read about him somewhere else.) That's just the kind of guy he is. We just marvel that God keeps hooking us up with so many amazing people. UPDATE: 4/21 Turns out Edgardo represents all Latin American in the Mennonite Conference. God, really? You amaze me.

We are also friends with the leader of Campus Crusade for Christ in Argentina (I went to his church when we lived there 10 years ago - another humble guy - I didn't know who he was until months after meeting him). He is also the leader of CCC for all of Latin America. Again, amazing.

Not that I'm boasting - how could I? We didn't hook ourselves up with these people - God did. We're just amazed now when we look at how God has set us up with some pretty amazing connections. He has done it all. 

We're looking forward to working with anyone and everyone we can in Argentina. The idea of working across denonimational lines appeals to us. Argentina is not a place where you can pick and choose between denominations and secondary doctrinal issues. They don't have that same "luxury" (if you want to call it that) to be so choosy. If you want to do the Lord's work, well then, "Welcome!" is the general consensus.

"There is one body and one Spirit... one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all..." ~Eph. 4:4-6

:)

Suffering, risk, and laying your life down

That is the way of Christ.

Where's the LOVE button for this? Another excellent sermon jam by John Piper... WATCH IT.

Homeschooling on the frontier, more books, and geeky SAT Prep

I've been busy this week looking at what we have to take to Argentina in order to homeschool for the next couple of years. It's good to have at least a skeleton outline of where we're going educationally, even if I end up changing things later.

From what I can gather, we'll pretty much be homeschooling on the frontier. Homeschooling in Argentina is about what it used to be like homeschooling in the United States 30 years ago. It almost doesn't exist. And, although it's not illegal, there aren't any laws that protect it either. When we mention to people in Argentina that we homeschool, we get about the same reaction you would have gotten here in the US 30 years ago if you mentioned that you homeschool: "Huh?", "What's that?", and "But what about friends?"., etc., etc..

Homeschooling on the frontier also means no other homeschooling families to get together with, no homeschool co-ops, no homeschool classes, no homeschool field trips, no homeschool anything. We'll have to get creative with it, I guess. It doesn't bother me, though, and hopefully won't bother the kids. I think it'll be fun! And, for us, it also means no homeschool law to cramp our style - YIPPEE!

So, since we are planning to continue this home education venture for the next couple of years, and since I know I have to take everything with me (Amazon don't delivah, folks), I've been hitting the thrift stores and library sales. I LOVE used book sales!! I figure if I surround my kids with good books, they'll be fine.

And, in case college is part of the future that God has for my kids (I couldn't tell you if it is or isn't at this point), I have to start thinking about how on earth we are going to "do high school" (assuming I am brave enough to tackle that, which I can barely even visualize surviving, let alone doing well).

So, since I have NO CLUE how I'm going to prepare my kids to take their SATs being so far away and so far out of the loop, I found this fun SAT Question of the Day site. It's been good to see what is actually on the thing, so I can make sure we cover the content somewhere along the way.

And, of course, now I'm following this site in Blogger. GEEK.

And if you're geeky like me, you can follow it, too, or have it mailed directly to your email inbox. There's some strange satisfaction I get from seeing how many I can answer correctly. Geeky fun. And since we are taking a deliberate step to go from "poor" to "poorer", it's good to know that, with just a good Internet connection, I can maybe prep my kids to ace their SATs and get free ride scholarships. At least in my mind, right?

:D

A little bit about Argentina

For those of you who are geographically challenged, this post if for you.

Argentina is the 8th largest country in the world (in size). It is located in the Southern Hemisphere, bordered by the Atlantic coast to the east and Chile to the west.


[photo credit: WelcomeArgentina.com]

The population is about 41 million (as of 2011). Just ask the CIA - they know everything.

(I find this fascinating. My first time in Argentina, in 1998, the population was 33 million. That's one incredible growth spurt in just 13 short years. Many, many young people. It's not uncommon to see teenagers walking down the street with babies. Everyone's having babies.)

Anyway, Argentina is considered to have a "temperate" climate. The CIA World Factbook says it's "mostly temperate; arid in southeast [that would be the Patagonian desert]; subantarctic in southwest". It's not super tropical, like Brazil, and yet palm trees are a common sight in the northern half of the country. The capital, Buenos Aires (no, it's not Rio, although I've heard that one before... and no, Argentina is not the capital of Brazil, either... I've heard that one, also) is located at the same exact latitude as North Carolina. That means it's HOT in the summer. And humid. And they have palm trees to prove it. And no air conditioning. It's fun (that's sarcasm). I still say the Spaniards named it "Buenos Aires (Good Airs)" to trick the people into emigrating there. It's stifling in the summer (not good), and I don't recall much of a breeze (so much for the "airs" part).

The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is about $14,700. To offer some perspective, it's $47,400 in the United States.

The people are about 90% descendant from the Italian and the Spanish. It's mainly a Roman Catholic country (90%+), but nominally practicing (that is, few go to Mass, but everyone is going to heaven because, "I've never killed anyone!". I know, I've asked. A lot.)

So that's Argentina in a nutshell. If you'd like more information, check out the rest of the Argentina's country profile on the CIA World Factbook.



Fools for Christ

I was reading 1 Corinthians this morning.

"We are fools for Christ's sake..." ~ 1 Cor. 4:1.

Yeah, I'll say (waving hand). Tony and I are really feeling this way lately.

This morning we both woke up at 5am, eyes wide open, feeling anxious, the first thought to come to mind being, "What are we CRAZY!?!"

We are feeling really crazy, and even foolish these days. I mean, who picks up and takes off half way across the world at 40 and with three kids? For Christ?

That's just religious lunacy. Foolishness.

But then I read this (the small things that encourage):

If we are afraid to be different from the world, how can we make a difference in the world? ~Rev. John I. Jenkins

Humph. And Sigh. I wish this were easier. It's not easy.

Yesterday both Tony and I were having serious misgivings about this whole missions move thing. Tony has been talking on the phone all week with friends and connections in Argentina. Things are bad there. Rough. Hard. Difficult. Expensive. Uncertain. Dangerous. Argentina has a history of that.

SIGH.

All the anxiety and uncertainty has pushed us to read God's Word more and pray hard. Harder than we usually do. We feel like we're about to jump off the side of the pool into the deep end and we're just babies who can't swim. Do we trust God to catch us? When is it trusting and when is it foolishness?

We'd really just rather stand on the edge and talk about jumping. That's safer. No risk there! I could yap my big missions mouth and not actually do anything. And if that didn't make me a big, fat hypocrite, I would. And call it "encouraging others to missions".

In talking about it, both Tony and I agree that if it were just us, we'd go. If we didn't have kids, we'd have left already. It is SO different when you have kids. SO, SO different when you have kids. We don't worry about ourselves in this, we're adults and can handle it, we worry about them. We don't want to ruin their lives. We don't want to make a mistake that takes years, or a lifetime, to recover from.

Now we get it. Now we understand why not many go. Or why there aren't more missionaries. It's HARD. Super duper serious HARD. I almost think missions is for the young. Do it while you have nothing to lose and still don't fear anything. Or have mouths to feed and protect and educate.

(sigh ~ again)

Well, on a brighter note. There is good news. Tony called up an old friend from his previous life as a television cameraman in Argentina. His friend said he would talk to some people for him about a job. And he did.  He really did. Turns out he is the president of the Television Union of all Argentina. I didn't know that. I knew he had some pull, but I did't realize how much. So Chavo (that's his name, well, nickname) had a meeting this week with all his guys from all the TV stations from all the provinces from all over Argentina. He talked to his guys from the city we are looking to move to; they are not hiring right now, but expect to be in maybe a month or so (Latin time). He said when they do start taking people he's going to (how do I translate what he said?) "bust some body parts" for Tony.

Which basically means that he may just have a job. Because if the president of the national union asks you to hire someone, how do you say no? Well, you wouldn't. If you're in Argentina, that is.
This scares me. So does that mean we have leave?? (yikes)

But, truth be told, we have no idea if it will happen. Everything is so uncertain right now. Tony could get a phone call in a month saying, "You have a job, come on down" - or nothing could happen. He may never find a job. And we stay here. And that's that.

So we press on, not knowing what tomorrow brings. The only thing that has helped us lately to be strong, believe it or not, is Japan. Japan, one of the strongest most technologically advanced societies in the world - thousands of "secure" and "safe" lives wiped out in minutes. And many thousands upon thousands more affected deeply and irrevocably by unforeseeable and unpreventable disaster. Life is so uncertain.

Living here in the "safe" and "prosperous" United States is really no more safe and prosperous than God allows it to be. Our whole lives could be wiped out in a second, without warning - like in Japan. That is one of the few things that has continued to encourage and push us to not give up. That going may just be good.  May just be God's will. May even be okay. That the risk is worth it. Christ is worth it. We are not guaranteed tomorrow anyway, so we are just leaving an illusion of future security. Everybody knows this country isn't what it used to be. What do we have to lose when we could lose it all in a second anyway? Just yesterday I heard another story of someone who lost it all. She lost her entire business of 20 years almost overnight. So much for a secure future. She's ruined. At 50.

Could it be God's will to be so foolish and go? Could it be? Really?? I don't know. But I know what my Bible says,

"...the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men." ~ 1 Cor. 1:25

Thank God for that. Walking on.

Moving right along...

Things are snowballing around here.

Tony began looking for a job - in Argentina. Which means lots of phone calls. Down there, it's who you know, not necessarily what you do. Or how good your resume is. Since Tony worked in television when we lived there, and has kept in touch with all his former co-workers and friends, they are right now looking into seeing what they can do for him. So nice!

But, in case nothing becomes of that - we called Edgardo, our new pastor friend in Patagonia, and told him the good news - that we're taking the plunge and going! We asked him about real job possibilities in Neuquén, and he filled us in and will start talking to people for Tony. He was very happy and is eager to help us in whatever we would need. Can you believe that?? So amazing. We were also talking about all the various ministry possibilities there are. He and his wife were thinking of putting us to work with the youth. I could totally see Tony doing that. A little discipling, a little Bible study, a little soccer... yeah, I could totally see that. Edgardo thinks we have a "young look" -LOLOLOL. Sorry, but that is hilarious. We're the same age as they are. Young, yeah... I'm feeling a little bit too old to be doing crazy things like moving half way around the world with three kids and no job yet.

We asked him a million more questions and are getting a better picture of life in northern Patagonia. We called him at noon, expecting him to be back at work after their visit here to the US, but he was home!

For SIESTA.

OH. MY. WORD. They still do that in parts of Argentina?? I know in Buenos Aires they don't. But in Neuquén, everyone goes home for lunch then takes a nap. Everyone.

LOL! Wow. I think I might like that.

So things are moving right along...


I also spoke to some shipping agencies today. In case you're wondering here is a ballpark quote I got:

Shipping Costs from NY to Buenos Aires, Argentina:

• 20 medium size boxes (books, clothing, supplies, whatever) = $1300-$1500
• 1 Container = $4,000-$,5000
• container may include one vehicle plus 20-30 boxes
• vehicle must be approved by Argentine consulate before being shipped
• original title must be registered to owner a minimum of 3 months prior to arival in Argentina
• 80% duties charged on vehicle by Argentine customs (so if we buy a new used 4X4 for say, $3000, we pay $2400 just to get it through customs. So that's $3000 for the car, about $3000 to ship it, plus $2400 in duties for a grand total of $8400 just to ship a cheap beater)

We may be starting a car fund instead.

:)

Update - March, 2011

It's been a crazy and pivotal past three months!

I don't know what to say except that God has really clarified His plan to us lately. For the past year we have felt like we have been groping around in the dark for details, unable to answer people's questions of when, and how, and what.

We are finally at a place of faith to just go. We know God is calling us to return to Argentina as missionaries, so we are going. Tony got laid off a month ago, then a huge door opened up right in front of us. We have decided to walk through it and trust God with the details. Everything we do now revolves around this decision. Passports are done, no job to hold us down, and we have found a home for all our stuff. We'll be selling, donating, or trashing the rest, and we have started and should soon finish baby's short round of shots. We have called the shipping company so see about shipping a vehicle, and we have both even begun looking for work in Argentina. So there you have it. Wrapping things up and getting ready to get on a plane!

There have been alot of twists and turns since we made this decision a year ago to make the Big Move to Missions. We thought it would look one way, but God showed us His way. His way is always the better way. I don't know now what on earth we were so worried about.

We have put missions organizations on hold because we believe that this open door is the way we are supposed to go. We were willing to go to another part of the country and train with OM, but it would have put us another year away from being in Patagonia.  I have to admit we both feel almost relieved over this recent shift in direction. Being able to go, trusting only in God, is incredibly freeing. Knowing we won't be dependent on others, but on God alone, for our support feels great, too. Tony has always said he could work and why didn't we just go and he could get a job. And so could I. Maybe my English will open some doors. Ultimately we trust GOD to provide, we are no longer worried. He has never failed us. He is simply asking us, "Will you go?" We have hemmed and hawed and answered, "But, what about...?". We have not had faith. We have not been trusting. We have raised all the human objections those around us have. We know He has big things for us to do, and now we feel free to just go and do it. We want to evangelize and help the poor. We need to go to them and let God do the rest. We have prayed for faith, and He has given it. We are ready to sell all our belongings and get on a plane and GO.

What could be more exciting than that?

There are still people trying to talk us out of going, that this is "unwise". We know that the voices may get louder now as we get ready to leave, but we want GOD, not this world. We want to do his will, not the American Dream.

God has been so good and so kind lately. We are overwhelmed at His provision since joining the ranks of the unemployed. He has set everything up to facilitate us going. Everything!

Several nights ago our son gave his life to the Lord. We weren't expecting it, never saw it coming. But the Holy Spirit has been moving in his life, preparing him for what God has in store for him. Which includes Argentina. I was a little concerned about how he would handle it - he is our "doesn't like change" child, and we didn't know if going to Argentina would get him saved or further harden his heart. God has been so kind, so good, so gracious and caring to touch our boy's life now. After he accepted Christ, Tony and I just hugged and cried and thanked God. Now it will feel like we are serving Him as a family, not just dragging our child half way across the world without his consent or approval.

Isaiah 55:12 has become so true for us:

"You shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace..."

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus..." - Hebrews 12:2

Names and Titles of Jesus Christ

His is our Advocate.

Our Apostle, our Bishop, Our Captain

The Consolation of Israel 

Our Counsellor

Deliver

The Desire of All Nations

The Express Image of God 

He is Feeder, Foundation, and Fountain.

A Friend of Sinners

The Head of the Church

Heir of all Things

High Priest

Hope

He is Leader, Light, and Life.

He is Lord, Master, Mighty God, Merciful.

He is the Prince, the Power of God, the Propitiation. 

He is the Ransom, the Redeemer, and the Resurrection.

Savior, Servant, Shepherd.

He is Spirit, Surety, Truth.

He is the Way.

The Wisdom of God.

WORTHY!

To see the full list of "A Collection of the Names and Titles Given to Jesus Christ" in Cruden's Complete Concordance click here.

Another very strange and quite unexpected turn of events

It all started on Sunday when we came home from church and noticed a phone message from an obviously (by the accent) Argentinian man we don't know. Tony, curious, called him back. It turns out that he is a friend of a friend who had been in Argentina a few years ago. Turns out this guy is a pastor. And from Patagonia. He was in our area for a week and called us up.

Now what are the chances that we would meet a pastor... from Patagonia? Around here??

So, since they were staying only an hour away from us, he, his wife, and son, came over Monday for mid-morning mate. (little cultural note: What really impressed me immediately was that they were on time. I couldn't believe it. I told Tony that that was only the second time in my 13 years of experience with Argentinians that they actually arrived at the time they said they would.).

We had a great time getting to know them. Edgardo [here's a picture] earns his living as a civil engineer, and his wife is an English teacher. Edgardo is also pastor and a missionary. They have three children and live in Neuquén, the largest city in Patagonia. So, of course, we immediately bombarded them with a million questions. Edgardo then proceeded to tell us the history of their 20-30 years or so of evangelism and church planting ventures in Argentina.

He, along with a group of three other pastors from (sort-of) nearby cities in northern Patagonia (distances in Patagonia are pretty far), had a vision 15 years ago to plant one church a year in Patagonia. To date they have planted 30 churches. They said 10 of the churches do not have anyone to lead them and most of the younger churches are still meeting in houses. So what they do is travel hundreds of kilometers several times a month to disciple these small groups of young believers that they have won to Christ through their own labors and evangelism.

This is a guy that has a full-time job during the week. And pastors a church. He does not receive a salary or live from the tithes of the church. He supports himself!

When I remarked how dedicated he was, his answer was simply, "The thing is, when you have a call, you can't ignore it."

I guess they're not watching much TV down there in Patagonia.

Tony and I then shared our story and our call to Patagonia. We were honest and said we don't have seminary, and we're not trained in church-planting - we're called more to evangelize and help people. That's what we want to do.

They said, "There is so much to do. We are looking for people who want to work. There is a lot of work, but the laborers are few."

I looked over at Tony, whose eyes had gotten noticeably wider and whose leg was bouncing up and down a million miles a minute and I thought, "Oh, no, this is it. Is this it??"

The conversation went on. We mentioned how we'd like to work with the Mapuche.

Edgardo said, "We work with the Mapuche," and then proceeded to tell us about the work they do.

Tony said, "Wow. But my heart is really in the north of Argentina. I would really love to go work in the north eventually."

Edgardo said, "Funny you mention that, we have been planning to expand into the north for a while now. We'd like to buy some land and build something like a missions center in the North, a place that would serve as a kind of a missions base for evangelism to the North."

I think Tony's eyes got even a little bit wider at this point.

We totally hit it off. I started to chat homeschooling with his wife, and Edgardo turned to Tony and had a conversation that went basically like this: "Listen, what do you want to work in? I know a lot of people, just tell me what you would like to do. I can help you get a job. Even if you come down and don't have a job or a place to live, we could help you with that. We've done that before for people in the church. As a matter of fact, we have a pastor who just relocated to another area of Patagonia and left his house and said if there was anyone that needed it, they could use it. And don't worry about expenses. We could help you out for 2 or 3 months until you find a job. We've paid people's rent before."

Uhhhhh..... okayyyyy.....

It was just one of those God moments. We're still amazed that God brought this pastor, from Patagonia (of all the places in the world), to our front door, and someone who works in exactly the same thing we want to do, who then offered to help us do it.

Just like that.

What are the chances?

We later exchanged information and said good-byes.

That night Tony kept asking me, "So... what are we doing?"

I couldn't answer. (Or maybe didn't want to)

All I could think of, looking around our house, was, "What are we doing to do with all this stuff??"
----------------------

The next day, a friend came over. I told her our new and interesting news. She remarked how, if it were her, she would go, and immediately offered to help us store some of our stuff in their barn. Since I know they have also been thrift shopping for some new used furniture to replace their old sofas and rickety tables and fill up their big farmhouse, I asked if they just wanted to babysit our furniture for a couple of years. It was a match made in heaven.

So, here we are, recently unemployed, praying for specific direction, and along comes this wide open door. And now our stuff is all taken care of, too....

What to do, what to do???

We talked for several days, prayed, read God's Word, and we seem to be hearing God say "Go". He's opened the door.

Wide.

We've decided to put missions organizations on hold and think that this might be God's specific leading. Tony has already begun looking for work in Neuquen. The TV station he used to work for in Argentina has a satellite station there. Maybe he can get a job. Maybe we'll still try to raise some funds. Ultimately the only thing left to do is trust God for the finances.

Scary. And exciting!

:)

Shots versus no shots

Our two oldest kids are completely vaccinated. Somewhere between baby #2 and baby #3 I started getting more into healthy living and herbs and all that crunchy stuff. Now I'm a total freak about shots. Pendulum swung totally the other way! So much so that Peace Baby (who is now 2) has not had any shots.

They just scare me to death.

But (and this is my dilemma) I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to live in Argentina again - especially in the rough places we know we're called to - to take unnecessary risks with my kids by not vaccinating them! Argentina's dangerous enough without having to deal with a good case of spinal meningitis. I can handle colds and vomiting and diarrhea, but I don't do well with strange diseases and high fevers. I really don't.

I am not brave, just so you know. Some people think I am, but let's just dispel all the myth right now. Tony says I'm the biggest (well, I can't translate the word he uses!) scaredy-cat he knows. It's true. I discovered that while riding the hot air balloon at the Zoo several years ago. Scared. To. Death. I almost went in my pants (fortunately I made it to the bathroom in time). Yeah. Brave. That's me!

So, I've decided to go ahead and get my little schmoopie some shots. The ones that prevent the really scary, serious, can-be-fatal diseases. Reading this post scared some sense into me. Like, seriously.

So please pray for my baby! We'll be starting TOMORROW with her shots (and no, we won't be getting all of them - they over-vaccinate kids these days, if you ask me). Hopefully spreading them out over the course of this year will enable her little body to handle them better!
:)

Traditional vs. Faith Missions

Sometimes when the subject of missions comes up, and we mention that we are planning to go back to Argentina as missionaries, some people have asked us, "How do you do that?"

There are two basic ways to do missions - one, as a "traditional" missionary (also known as classical or denominational); and two, "faith missions". And maybe a third - tentmaking.

Traditional missionaries would be those who go through a missions organization or a church that already has an established missions program. There are thousands of missions organizations out there, all differing somewhat in their focus and the way they do missions. If you go through a missions organization, you raise your own financial support from family and friends, and various churches - your home church (as an entity) may or may not support you financially, depending on individual circumstances. Then you have churches that have strong missions programs, like the Baptists and the Mennonites, who send out their own missionaries through their denomination. Some examples of famous traditional missionaries are: William Carey (Baptist), David Livingstone (Congregationalist), and Lottie Moon (Baptist).

Faith missions are those that go in faith. They hear the call, and they go. They trust the God who calls to be the God who provides. Some well-known missionaries who have gone in faith and relied soley on God for their provision include Hudson Taylor, Gladys Aylward, and Jim Elliot.

Tentmakers are Christian missionaries who have day jobs. They support themselves by working and do missions and ministry as they can. Paul (aka Saul of Tarsus) was a tentmaker.