Partnering with the Global Church

Nikki A. Toyama-Szeto, Femi B. Adeleye

• Publisher: IVP
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9780830834600
• eBook ISBN:
  9780830866618
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

In our globally interconnected world, mission depends on healthy partnerships across the globe. Many talk about wanting to partner with the Global South, but we're not always sure what that looks like on the ground. Too often North Americans haveacted as if we don't need others to do what we think God has called us to do. And our witness overseas has suffered as a result.We need to live out a more humble posture of missional partnership, marked by true mutuality and service. Nikki Toyama-Szeto and Femi Adeleye look at how we can partner well across cultures. People on mission together from diverse perspectives are a picture of how the body of Christ works together in the world. Addressing tricky issues like power, finances, transparencyand trust, the authors provide best practices and models for ministry that reflect the servant heart of God.God invites us all to engage in his work, and he gives us partners for the task from around the world. Discover how we can do more together than we could ever do on our own.Includes questions for group discussion.

Contents

Partnering with the Global Church

Problems with Partnership

One Body, Many Parts

Why Do Partnership?

Partnership Takes Practice

Some Practical Steps Toward Becoming a Better Partner

Power Undermines Partnership

Practicing Partnership, Before It Happens

Fruits of Partnership

Questions for Reflection or Discussion

Resources

Notes

About the Authors

Nikki A. Toyama-Szeto

Femi B. Adeleye

About Urbana

Urbana Onward Series

Spiritual Warfare in Mission

Pursuing God's Call

Partnering with the Global Church

The Mission of Worship

Your Mind's Mission

Deepening the Soul for Justice

Endorsements

Partnering with the Global Church

The body of Christ is as dynamic as it is alive in most contexts of the world. It is as vibrant as it is contemplative and as resilient in silence as it is outspoken. God in his wisdom and generosity has not entrusted all the riches of Christ to any one particular culture—lest anyone should boast. Rather he has impacted all nations with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the outcome is what we see expressed in different contexts. How then should we benefit from this and maximize the impact of these riches of grace for the advancement of the kingdom? Even if the word has been overused, the best way is through partnership. Not just partnership in ministry or mission, but partnership in fellowship.

Problems with Partnership

Partnership is a common word, but remains an elusive practice. When practiced well, all parties involved find themselves making meaningful and significant contributions, and the mission is undeniably moved forward. It is African church pastors bringing vibrancy to a spiritually latent London neighborhood church. The combination of prophetic faith brought by these missional pastors and the relational invitations of local members mixes to create a vibrant faith community. But practiced poorly, the result might be ineffectiveness, broken relationships and short-lived vision. A local large church and smaller church decided to merge—the larger church had people, money and resources; the struggling church had a strategic location and buildings. But in the process, the larger church made assumptions that their money dictated the direction, and they acted in a way that alienated the smaller church and a mutually bene­ficial union became a dysfunctional mess.

Both of us have experienced partnerships in a variety of contexts. As a Nigerian who worked in the United States, Europe and Africa, Femi brings a unique perspective. He brings observations from his work as the associate general secretary of partnership and collaboration for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students—IFES is a partnership of student movements in about 145 countries. In his current role he works crossculturally with IFES member movements worldwide to nurture and enable partnerships within the global fellowship. He also works to build bridges for mutually beneficial collaboration between IFES and churches, as well as like-minded organizations such as the Langham Partnership, the Lausanne Movement and the Global Christian Forum.

Nikki works as an Asian American woman building partnerships with individuals, churches and organizations in the United States. She directs the development of the Urbana Student Missions Conference in partnership with various groups—church leaders, campus ministry workers, missiologists and artists. She researches and observes various groups and missions movements trying to understand best practices and trends. She has served in various national boards and international settings, including the Lausanne Movement.

“I can tell you what partnership is not,” said Antonio to Nikki on a recent visit to Latin America. “A group comes down to visit us. We take them into a favela, they take pictures of the kids and use it to raise money that we never see.”

Another chimed in, “Sometimes groups come down with a project that they’ve created, and then just do it. They don’t ask us.”

A hospital in Kenya received the gift of a new, state-of-the-art hospital. But because of the lack of partnership, this modern hospital was rendered useless. The designers, donors and organization never talked with the people who would use or run the hospital. So while there was a heart and coronary section comparable to the best found in Western hospitals, the doctors were unable to do any procedures because they didn’t have paper to document basic medical records. The modern equipment for x-rays stayed unused because there wasn’t film for the x-rays or even basic medicines to treat wounds. Items found in a first-aid kit in the United States were not available, though there were stations to prep for complicated surgeries. The lack of local partnership resulted in good intentions becoming a waste of resources.

Partnership is often misconceived in two ways. One is the idea of partnership as exchanging resources such as funds or skills. The other is going into other people’s communities to do projects. As good as these may be as aspects of partnership, they may become the primary motivation, and the very essence of partnership is lost. We make the mistake of equating partnership with going into other people’s context with skills and resources, and doing projects. That in itself can become an obstacle to what God is already doing or how he wants to work in any given context.

Some use partnership as a code word for “money” or “splitting the cost between two groups of people.” “I can’t afford to do this great idea, but that group has a lot of money—let’s invite them to be ‘partners.’” My idea, their money. Is this partnership?

But partnership that God calls us to is so different from these previous examples. We take our very cues from God himself, who could accomplish everything on his own but gives us the privilege of being included in his work. Partnership, as provided by God, is an opportunity to pursue his purposes as a family of God. It’s a chance to recognize the great ways God is working through others nearby, and to work in complement with them. It purifies our motives, our methods and our very selves as we pursue God’s purposes.

Being with must precede any doing. It is in being together that we begin to understand what God is already doing with people in any given place. Our primary goal must not be to go and provide resources or do things for other people. It should be to strengthen relationships by being with and becoming part of what God wants to do with us together in any given context. God is already at work in every cultural context, including “unreached people” or “access restricted” contexts. That understanding should free us of any misplaced concept of being messianic interventionists.

One Body, Many Parts

Partnership begins when we realize that we are all part of one body. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 Paul paints a picture of what partnership or fellowship in Christ looks like. It’s a picture of various parts of the body working together and functioning in unity.

Paul writes that while the body is one, it is made of many parts. It is the baptism in the same Spirit that gives us unity despite the distinctions the world places on each of the parts (v. 13).

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One Body, Many Parts

(1 Corinthians 12)

• Each is part of the body (vv. 15-17).
• No part should disdain its role; God placed each in its place (v. 18).
• Each part is needed—no part can say, “I don’t need you” (v. 21).
• Do not be divided.
  • Parts that seem weaker are essential (v. 22).
  • Treat parts that are less regarded with more honor (v. 23).
  • Treat unpresentable parts with special modesty (v. 23).
  • Special treatment is not needed for the presentable parts (v. 24).
• Have equal concern for each other—suffer together, rejoice together (vv. 25-26).

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Paul makes the case that all parts belong to the same body. The foot says that because it is not a hand it does not belong (v. 15). But these distinctions do not give any part an excuse to not be a part of the body. He says that a body full of all the same parts would miss out on other essential functions. God placed each part in the body where he wanted each to be (v. 18).

In the one body certain parts do not despise other parts and decide to live separate from the body (v. 21). Paul addresses the possible distinctions that may exacerbate division and discord. He states that the perceived “weaker” parts are essential to the body (v. 22). The parts that are considered less honorable are treated with special honor. And the unpresentable parts are treated with modesty (v. 23). The presentable parts need no special treatment (v. 24). God has put together the body, and it—the one body—has one purpose.

Paul’s final exhortation calls all the parts to participate in the suffering of the one part to rejoice in the honor of another (v. 26).

This picture challenges us to ask whether we have assumed that we were “doing” things for our potential partners. Is the foot trying to solve a problem for the hand? We need to reorient our thinking to one-body living: how can the hand and the foot work well together? How can we live out being a part of one body?

Why Do Partnership?

I (Nikki) worked for John Deere, a major American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment. I noticed an intriguing dynamic. This company made large machines for both construction and agriculture. In a discussion with both departments I noticed a switch. In the agricultural field, this company was number one. As they talked about other companies, there was no need or interest in working with them. But in the construction area, this company was third or fourth in the field. As they talked about their competition, there was a lot of interest in “partnerships” and “working together” so they could “collaborate.” It was striking to me that where they were strong they were not interested in working with others and in effect sharing that expertise. But in the areas where they knew they needed help, they were very interested in partnering.

Could this same dynamic be happening with North Americans as we think about partnership? If we feel we have the answers, perhaps we also feel that there is no need to include others to proceed. If we can buy our own supplies, make our own arrangements, we feel that we don’t need and don’t involve others. Is it only when we feel we need help that we think about partnership? Or perhaps we disqualify people as potential partners because we don’t think they have something to add.

By a.d. 600 Christianity had spread to North Africa and southern Europe. The heart of Christendom was largely Rome and Constantinople. Yet the gospel was not meant for the Mediterranean world alone. After another dispersal from a place of comfort (and theological debates), as well as the difficult challenge of the rise of Islam, Christianity declined in North Africa and the Middle East, and spread throughout Europe by a.d. 1000. With various revivals in England, Wales, Germany and so forth, Europe then became the cradle of Christianity. The gospel was also not meant for Europe alone. Hence there was a further dispersal from the comfort zone of civilized exclusiveness. The spread of Christianity to North America was marked by Great Awakenings and social impact that largely redefined Christianity as a predominantly Western faith or religion. But God was not finished yet. The gospel was not meant for the West alone. It had to move on to the ends of the Earth.

Recent developments in missions trends and Christian history have confirmed time and again what Andrew Walls has described as “the passing ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Contents
• Partnering with the Global Church
• Resources
• Notes
• About the Authors
• About Urbana
• Urbana Onward Series
• Endorsements