Partnership in Global Mission

Opening Prayer: 

Our Lord, partnership in mission is not only about efficiency. It is the strategic and practical outworking of our shared submission to You as Lord. Too often we have engaged in mission in ways that prioritize and preserve our own identities (ethnic, denominational, theological, etc), and have failed to submit our passions and preferences to You. Your supremacy and centrality in our mission must be a confession of faith, and it must also govern our strategy, practice, and unity. Amen.

Reflection:

We rejoice in the growth and strength of emerging mission movements in the majority world and the ending of the old pattern of ‘from the West to the Rest’. But we do not accept the idea that the baton of mission responsibility has passed from one part of the world Church to another. There is no sense in rejecting the past triumphalism of the West, only to relocate the same ungodly spirit in Asia, Africa, or Latin America. No one ethnic group, nation, or continent can claim the exclusive privilege of being the ones to complete the Great Commission. Only God is sovereign. 

We stand together as church and mission leaders in all parts of the world, called to recognize and accept one another, with equality of opportunities to contribute together to world mission. Let us, in submission to Christ, lay aside suspicion, competition, and pride and be willing to learn from those whom God is using, even when they are not from our continent, nor of our particular theology, nor of our organization, nor of our circle of friends. 

Closing Prayer: 

We accept that partnership is about more than money, and unwise injection of money frequently corrupts and divides Your church. Help us finally prove that the church does not operate on the principle that those who have the most money have all the decision-making power. Let us no longer impose our own preferred names, slogans, programmes, systems, and methods on other parts of Your church. Let us instead work for true mutuality of North and South, East and West, for interdependence in giving and receiving, for the respect and dignity that characterizes genuine friends and true partners in Your mission. Amen.

Ask God to pour out His Spirit to stir us with a vision for an evangelical church for every people.