THE CROSS-CULTURAL PARTNERSHIP

• A, B, and C are partners in a partnership—and represent any organization or ministry entity; for example, a western mission agency, an indigenous majority-world ministry, and a local church.
• God’s grace—each ministry partner operates inside of the sphere of God’s grace (the large light green circle)—secured through the finished work of Jesus Christ.
• The vision—is central to the partnership; it’s what has brought the partners together, and is far greater than what any partner can do alone. Each partner brings unique resources to work together toward  the vision.
• The Cross—represents the finished work of Jesus Christ, and God’s passion to gather worshipers from among all peoples; this is what ultimately holds the partnership together.
• The advocate—is an individual from one of the partner organizations who serves as a “champion” or ambassador for the partnership, and applies cultural intelligence as he/she serves the partnership toward the vision.

THE PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS

• Character: Each partner has leaders with godly character (represented by the yellow circle) who live as followers of Jesus Christ. The principal thing is humility.
• Culture: Each partner devotes resources to acquiring cultural intelligence (represented by the smaller green circle) in order to develop cultural awareness of self and others along with the ability to adjust behavior and attitudes. The principal thing is deep understanding.
• Competence: Each partner has developed organizational competence (represented by the blue circle) with appropriate systems and accountability. The principal thing is wise practice.

If you are interested in developing godly character, cultural intelligence, and organizational competence for your cross-cultural partnership, consider joining The Beauty of Partnership learning journey. Or contact me, Werner Mischke at werner@mission1.org.