Jesus wept over Jerusalem, but what about Mecca? And how might He feel about Pyongyang, North Korea? And how does He feel about the other 39 cities on our globe with a population of 1 million or more that have no Seventh-day Adventist witnesses living in them? 
Here is the “Zero List” (see sidebar) compiled by the General Conference Missions Department—cities of a million or more with no Adventist presence.
Some of these cities have a population of 2 or 3 million or more. Unless you are a student of geography, you likely have never heard of many of them. Can you imagine that the story of Jesus’ second coming is as unknown to the residents of these cities as their city names are to you? It’s all just a blur of foreignness.
I randomly chose Hengyang out of the list and gave myself a quiz: When was the last time Hengyang crossed my mind? Never. What do I know about the place? Hmm. Nothing. Where in China is it located? I am sure it’s either in the North or South. Is it mountainous or flat? Hmm. No picture comes to mind. What do I know about its people? I got this one—they are Chinese! What do I know about the city’s history? Well, it has a history. That I am sure of.
How did I score? Zero. It’s all just a blur of foreignness.
According to the encyclopedia, there are 7 million people living in Hengyang! That’s 7 million people that hardly exist to me. What do you suppose those people in Hengyang know about the Seventh-day Adventist church? Likely nothing. Our precious message is just a blur of foreignness that likely has never crossed their mind. A zero. 
Now here is an amazing question whose simple answer both reveals our church’s weakness and each member’s individual strength.
Question: What would it take for a city to be removed from the Zero List?
Answer: One Adventist family moving there. 
Last year, my family moved to a city that was on the Zero List. And guess what? That city isn’t on the list anymore! By God’s Spirit, I baptized one woman, found another Adventist at a university and brought a young man to an appreciation of the three angels’ messages. He is now teaching other people. As a result of our four months there, a small Adventist group now meets, and there is one less city on the Zero List. 
Two other Turkish cities vanished from the Zero List last year. My teammates and I have been working with people in one eastern city off-and-on for about four years. But this year, for the sake of refugees there, our union sent a man to work full-time. We now have a community of about 40 Adventists there. No, they aren’t Turkish, but the group is strategic, and it is growing.
The other Turkish city of about 5 million was wiped off the list when an Adventist couple from South America moved there. The man doesn’t work for the church, but he serves as a “tentmaker” missionary. As he engages in his secular employment, he and his wife privately work to build up a home prayer fellowship. Now, a year later, he has about 15 people meeting on Sabbaths where last year there were none.
Did you notice what most of the countries on the Zero List have in common? They are places that aren’t exactly friendly toward Christian missionaries. In fact, if you state your vocation as “missionary,” you will be refused entry at the border. However, almost anybody could go to one of these countries to work as an English teacher, engineer or scientist. Doors that are closed for missionaries swing wide open for skilled, educated professionals. Additionally, these places are eager for trade and export. All that is needed are skilled people who are willing to share their occupational talents along with the Gospel. Maybe you or someone you know could go as a tentmaker businessman, doctor or teacher. 
Esther and I feel that tentmaking is such a promising direction for mission expansion that this July our family will be leaving Turkey to begin a new ministry with AFM to train and send out tentmakers to the most neglected places on earth. In a real sense, our new mission is to eliminate the Zero List.
Yes, we are leaving Turkey after almost 10 years. It is hard to go because we have come to love this place and people. In many ways it feels like we are leaving home. Mr. Fervent and Brother Servant have lived here their whole lives. But we have established a strong beachhead here, and now it seems prudent and strategic to move on. Our aim is to expand and multiply the workers in Turkey and elsewhere through our new role. Others will build on what we have begun.
I will begin building AFM’s tentmaker ministry this September. My job will be to organize the tentmaker ministry and recruit, train and coach individuals and families who are willing to use their secular career somewhere else on earth for the glory of God. Their salary will come from secular companies—unusual jobs for people willing to live unusual lives. They won’t ever call themselves missionaries, but they will speak often about their personal love for Jesus. Where there is no tolerance for churches, they will make their homes into secret churches. Their lives will bring the aroma of Christ into places where the Gospel fragrance has never been smelled before.
We are deeply grateful to those of you who have supported our family’s part in the momentous frontline work in Turkey. Now we hope you would like to continue partnering with us in our next venture. If you are currently supporting the Hope/Turkey Project, you are automatically part of our new tentmaker support team.
If you have not been part of our team but are excited about helping tentmakers topple the Zero List, I invite you to join our Hope/Tentmaker team! We need to expand our team and get more people on board to help grow this new work.
Can you see the power of penetrating these Zero List cities with lay workers and establishing beachheads in Satan’s last major strongholds? Tentmakers will establish islands of holiness that will grow, just as Adventist Mission did years ago. It’s hard to imagine, but places like Seoul, Korea and San Paulo, Brazil were on the Zero List not too many years ago. But someone went, and it made all the difference.
If you have never signed on as a monthly mission supporter before, this is your invitation to be part of Satan’s undoing and help someone come to know their Redeemer.

• Twitter