Give It Time, Give It Effort

What do we as a church bring to the table?  What can we contribute that will be significant in His Mission?

Give It Time

Such questions about adding value in doing the mission are asked by many church leaders eager to make a focused impact for Christ in a specific part of the world. This might be in reference to a geographical area, people group, or partnering with an ongoing ministry or ministries.

Most likely, none of the potential partners will know the answers for a while.  So don’t be in a hurry.  Begin by focusing on relationships and doing a few small projects together.  Commit some time to encourage and develop leaders among all partners, praying for them and with them.

These value-added questions should be asked at the beginning when considering levels and types of ministry engagement.  But, the answers will not be readily apparent until some level of engagement begins.  

As things start moving forward and more definition is needed, the questions need to be asked again.  Answers to the questions will start emerging at this stage, and it will become much clearer whether God is putting together a partnership.  

Be prayerful, patient and active in trusting the Lord.  Give it time.  And if He keeps building a valuable partnership it becomes even more important to ask these value-added questions often to keep increasing ministry effectiveness together.

Give It Effort

Mission partnerships are not easy to start or sustain, and they rarely follow a straight path.  Finding and developing quality partnerships requires patience and perseverance.  The uncertainties will be demanding, and demanding of much prayer effort.

Don’t be cheap by trying to save money or find shortcuts; many churches hurt themselves and their potential partners and their ministries by doing such things.  Be faithful and make the investment of energy, people, and resources that is necessary.  It will be worth it in the end, whether a partnership forms or not.

Enjoy the on-site visits and the process of learning and doing ministry together.  Schedule plenty of down time to get to know one another well, and of course debrief the work, but especially to dream big and pray larger together.  This will help answer the value-added questions and help to better plan for the future.  It really does change all our lives and ministries to think bigger and think cooperation.

Not All Have What It Takes

Ultimately, we have to ask whether can we truly add value to the on-site ministry and do more together than we could separately, or whether it would be best not to partner but simply bless one another.  Regardless of the outcome, all the time and effort will have been valuable in the process for everyone.  And the relationships themselves may still continue. 

Many churches need to give more time and more effort to the process.  I have seen some churches jump in too early only to become discouraged.  I have seen other churches jump out too early only to become disheartened.  

We can’t “bottom-line” it so quickly.  And our congregations need help understanding this, and they need to be given opportunities to get further involved in the process. 

Does your church have what it takes to get to a focused mission partnership?