Tentmakers Network Volunteers wholeheartedly embrace the following commitments:
I will nurture my relationship with God through the reading, believing and applying of God’s word; through prayers of thanksgiving, repentance, and intercession for myself and for others; and through active engagement in the local and global church.
In the power of the Holy Spirit, I will be a witness, through my words and deeds to Christ’s mission of restoration. All that is broken in the world – our relationship with God, with others, with ourselves, and with God’s creation - is restored by Jesus Christ. I will humbly proclaim and demonstrate this message of restoration with grace and truth. As I respectfully interact with people of various faith backgrounds or no faith background at all, I will be prepared to respond with gentleness and respect, providing a thought-provoking explanation for the hope that I have in Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:15). I will often lead with questions and seek to understand others before seeking to make myself understood.
I will celebrate the diversity and cultural beauty of each ethnic group, looking forward to that day when the “glory and the honor of the nations” (ESV Rev 21:26) will be brought into God’s eternal kingdom. I will humbly share the resources at my disposal remembering that, like Abram, I’ve been blessed by God so that I will be a blessing to the nations (Gen 12:2,3). My wealth of material, knowledge, and spiritual resources isn’t just for my benefit. These abundant resources aren’t for me to hoard. God has entrusted his church with a wealth of resources so that we will share them with others. The greatest resource at our disposal is God’s message of reconciliation in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18). We’ve been entrusted with this message so that we will proclaim it to others (1 Peter 2:9).
In that same spirit of generosity, I will intentionally invest in the lives of others to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). I will follow the example of Jesus Christ who came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
Even as I openly share what I have received, I will also gladly receive the resources, teaching, and example of others around the world. I will heed the admonition of the apostle Paul to, “Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves” (NLT, Philippians 2:2-4). I will embrace the pattern of partnership that Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 1:24, “Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith (2 Corinthians 1:24). I will actively create opportunities for true partnership in the gospel (Philippians 1:3-5) characterized by unity and common purpose: “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents” (Philippians 1:27,28). This humble partnership results in bonds of love that the apostle Paul experienced and eloquently expressed in these words, “You are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.” “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.” (2 Cor 7:3; 2 Cor 12:15)