Reflection
What unites Pioneers across the globe?The Pioneers International mission family has eight core values, one of which is the local church. The core value states:
The local church is central to God’s mission thrust. We seek to establish partnerships with sending churches and, where possible, with local Christians in indigenous churches and with other mission organisations.
To read a brief description of all our core values visit: www.awm-pioneers.org/our-vision/core-values
Most often, agencies are an extended arm of the church that provides avenues and networks for churches to partner together in gospel advancement beyond themselves.
Editor: One thing we seek to do as a mission agency is to partner with sending churches to mobilise and develop people for effective service.
But what does this mean in practice?
Denny: Healthy partnership between churches and agencies, such as Pioneers, is paramount for the advancement of Great Commission obedience in our time. We need each other more than ever! When more churches and agencies respect each other’s intended roles, and grow in collaboration, partnership, and interdependency, we will reflect the oneness that Jesus prayed for in John 17 which is so needed within the mandate to go and make disciples of all nations.
Editor: In what sort of ways can we get things wrong?
Denny: Well, sometimes agencies, such as Pioneers, might decide to advance in ministry without the partnership of local churches. They see the local church as an impediment to their processes and timings, because the church might be hesitant, slow, or unresponsive. It is almost as though the agency is saying, ‘give us your people, give us your money, and get out of the way.’ And that is dangerous. We should neither write local churches out of God’s mission nor forget that local churches are also recipients of the Great Commission. Churches will lose ownership and gradually abdicate their role – or go it alone.
From the churches’ point of view, I have heard it begrudgingly stated – and I’ve even said it myself a few times! – ‘the Great Commission is the exclusive mandate of the local church’. Or to put it another way, that mission agencies are somehow ‘illegitimate squatters in the Missio Dei (Mission of God)’. Some people in church have an even more extreme view and think that mission agencies should be disbanded and taken back by the church! And that too is dangerous.
Editor: So how can agencies and churches work together in partnership with trust and respect?
Denny: I think Steve Beirn got it right in his book Well Sent. He said:
The church is to be the sender of missionaries, and the agency is to be the facilitator. The church has most (but not all) of the resources, and the agency has most (but not all) of the expertise. It makes sense to bring these parties together for productive ministry. It is important to know that ‘going it alone’ often results in a duplication of efforts and a lack of expertise. When attempting to bring the church and the agency together, it is important to understand their intended roles.
I would say that for churches and agencies to view and posture ourselves as separated, independent, or competing over who is ‘the real church’ is disastrous!
Editor: So how can we understand our roles better?
Denny: I think that agencies like Pioneers need to be aware that churches who attempt to function without us are often influenced by what they see as agency processes that are bulky, burdensome, or devoid of inclusion. Agencies must wake up to the reality of more decentralised and flexible structures that welcome churches who seek greater ownership and engagement in the sending process. We should praise God for this! They must communicate the high value of the local church which includes a true appreciation for how important churches are as partners in the sending process.
Churches need to embrace the legitimacy of agencies as worthy partners who are also part of the church. Most often, agencies are an extended arm of the church that provides avenues and networks for churches to partner together in gospel advancement beyond themselves.
My experience is that most churches going down the ‘going it alone’ path that Steve Beirn mentioned duplicate efforts and reinvent wheels. Sadly in extreme cases, the resources and vision of those they send overseas are dashed on the rocks of ‘what they didn’t know’.
Editor: In practice, how could the partnership work?
Denny: The sending church is the starting point and partnership is what we aspire to. Both in the sending process and on the field, we want to work closely with the church. We want to be a valued partner in facilitating the overseas ministry of sending churches.
But partnership with sending churches is only half the story. The other half involves partnership with national churches in the region the workers are working in, if they exist. Sadly, at the moment in parts of the Arab world, these national churches do not exist…yet.
Not yet in a position to send a worker?For another way your local church can participate in sending workers out to the nations, why not make a gift to the Church Appeal.
