Category Archives: Cross-cultural partnership

Partnership between, on the one hand, followers of Christ and their ministries in in the west — and on the other hand, follower of Christ and their ministries in the majority world

Does Jesus Christ have cultural intelligence?

Competencies for cross-cultural partnership, Cross-cultural partnership, Cultural intelligence, Training, Uncategorized
A formula for cultural intelligence (Brooks Peterson)
A formula for cultural intelligence (Brooks Peterson)

Knowledge about Cultures + Awareness of Self and Others + Specific Skills = Cultural Intelligence (CQ). This is according to Brooks Peterson in his book, Cultural Intelligence: A Guide to Working with People from Other Cultures (page 13).

In the interaction that Jesus has with the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4, we have the opportunity to understand Jesus Christ through this lens of cultural intelligence.

  • Jesus displays accurate knowledge about both his Hebrew culture and the culture of Samaria;
  • Jesus displays an extremely keen awareness of himself and the Samaritan woman, and,
  • Jesus displays enormous skill in relating cross-culturally to a woman with whom no Jewish man would have been seen, much less have a deeply meaningful conversation.
CHRIST with THE WOMAN AT THE WELL
CHRIST with THE WOMAN AT THE WELL

I love this story, and I love discovering new facets of the perfections of Jesus Christ. Take a look at John 4 again, and consider seeing it through this “formula:” Knowledge about Cultures + Awareness of Self and Others + Specific Skills = Cultural Intelligence (CQ). What do you see in the perfections of the Lord’s cultural intelligence?

Note: A lesson series in The Beauty of Partnership learning journey combines a study of John chapter 4 along with a reading in Brooks Peterson’s book. You may download this study by clicking on this link.

What does all this have to do with the practice of cross-cultural partnership? Simply this: Without CQ—cultural intelligence—cross-cultural partnerships are doomed to failure, or at best, very limited results. Some Christians think that only career missionaries need to actually develop proficiency in cultural intelligence, and that partnerships in the global church don’t require it. Nothing could be further from the truth! There is a need for cultural intelligence by anyone doing any type of ministry that is done cross-culturally. That is why Mission ONE has developed The Beauty of Partnership learning journey.

Don’t you want to be more like Christ—who is perfect in his cultural intelligence?

The Jie people receive fresh water—finally

Cross-cultural partnership, Global Christian mission, Indigenous ministries, Uncategorized

Below is a report by Hannington Munyao, Director, Mission to Unreached People (MUPE) concerning the event of the Jie tribe in southern Sudan receiving fresh water for the first time (May 2009). Before you read the report, take a look at the video below produced in early 2007 describing the need of the Jie people. Note the profound need for clean water.

JIE TRIP IN MAY 2009 BY HANNINGTON MUNYAO

Wonderful greetings in our savior’s name.

I just returned from Lopet, South Sudan. We praise God for keeping us safe in His arms there.

This time our team comprised of Viola, new missionary to Jie, Rachel Nyamai—on a strategic visit, Pr. Dickson Musembi—prospective missionary and myself. We had a hard start from Eldoret through Kakuma—we were delayed by a day in Ortum owing to problem of shifting gears; another delay in Kainuk and Lodwar due to replacement of spring brushes and a broken front main spring problem. After Lodwar we had four punctures, one after another.

At the border, Lokichogio, a seasonal river overflow delayed us for yet another day. 25KM before arriving in Lopet Jie, a mud hole, caused us to sleep out in the bush two nights. After seven days of a hard journey we victoriously arrived to a warm welcome by the Jie.

My main mission was threefold;-

  1. Build two mission houses at the new station
  2. Evangelize through Jesus film
  3. Research on the strongholds that have kept Jie from the Gospel and development. It was supposed to take six weeks.

Through a very hard schedule we managed to finish the first house in almost three weeks and set frame for the second. Then fate struck! One late afternoon I heard a motorcycle sound – it was Pr. Nzungula and Pr. Odoyo. The Presence of Odoyo made my nerves to stand! I knew something drastic must have happened. And it was.

After receiving the gentlemen, as we took a cup of hot tea, they shared their news—that the wife of Pr. Kamwara had died—and that efforts to get a vehicle to transport the body upcountry had become fruitless. Every vehicle owner contacted charged too much money – e.g one school bus was charging Kshs.200,000/= while another man asked for Kshs.160,000/= and another Kshs.120,000/=!

All these unrealistic charges prompted Odoyo to think of the MUPE Land Cruiser—but it was in Sudan. While this seemed an easy option Pr. Odoyo forgot the logistics of a trip to find me in Sudan and bring back the Land Cruiser given the emergency at hand.

I really contended with the Lord about the whole issue and it was with a very heavy heart I ascended to this emergency call. Obviously we all missed the funeral which took place on Saturday 30th, the day Pr. Odoyo and I arrived at Lokichogio, Kenya.

We have rested a bit and now are planning on visiting Pr. Kamwara and the children in Tharaka district, his birthplace and where the funeral took place. Though I feel my mission was gravely curtailed we trust God for another quick trip whereby I could complete the strategic research. Vehicle repairs plus fuel is the hurdle.

Nevertheless, we achieved the following:

  1. Missionary House
  2. Teachers house(the roof)
  3. Showed Jesus film in two villages
  4. Met water drilling people
  5. Met Jie elders

I must report on an interesting phenomenon that took place the day the Borehole drillers came.

  • We welcomed the team to put up in the mission station and treated them to a cup of tea.
  • I joined them to go to the village elders who are the authority.
  • I joined them as they started their survey.
  • I went aside to pray in order for God to guide into finding a suitable location to bore.
  • I requested the team if I could pray for them before they started. They accepted I prayed and broke the stronghold that blocked efforts to get the Jie clean water.
  • On reaching home rain clouds formed and very severe thunderstorm begun. A continuous lightening hit the region with such brightness as I have never seen in my life. Wind began to blow – it blew the thorn bush which we had set around the station. It even blew off the canvas of our pick up where we had stored our food stuff – all our flour went wet.

The thunder and lightening grew so worse that a few Jie men who came to shelter in our station yelled “oh great God—don’t destroy us—please save us—it is enough—cause this wind to cease! Oh God help!” Rachel and I held hands together in prayer. She too was terrified. My eyes could see clearly on account of the bright glare. Rachel asked me, “Pastor Munyao, what did you tell God when you prayed about the water situation.” I responded, “I told God to release the Jie from their ancestral curses, and to raise the water table for the drillers to find and drill.

Amazingly, after it calmed down water filled our little house. It was all mud! In the morning when the surveyors went seeking they found three spots and they promised to return after a week and begin drilling. I could hardly believe my ears to hear the surveyors state that at one spot water could be found only sixty meters!

It was a day of great joy and will be greater when one day in Jie there will be clean borehole water! I want to believe God did a miracle to raise the water table. Strange as it may be the following day when Pr. Odoyo and Pr. Nzungula came in they reported that this massive rain thunderstorm extended only to the outskirts of Lopet village!

Please remember the Kamwara’s in prayers for comfort and provision to handle this time of sorrow and grief. They incurred some debts in the process.

May God bless you richly.

Hannington Munyao
Director, Mission to Unreached People

My prayer is the God will raise up a Mission ONE Ambassador to serve as an advocate for Mission to Unreached People (MUPE), and to help the dreams come true of Pastor Hannington Munyao. Who do you know who might be a candidate to serve as the Ambassador for MUPE? … Someone with Christian character, a love for adventure and great challenge, an entrepreneurial spirit, a track record for results—plus good health and good humor, and the willingness to learn the knowledge, skills and attitudes to serve effectively? We will train you to be successful! If you or someone you know might qualify for this kind of ministry, please let me know. –Werner Mischke, werner@mission1.org

Three trends that point to partnership with indigenous ministries as a vital missions movement

Cross-cultural partnership, Global Christian mission, Global trends, Indigenous ministries, Training, Uncategorized

The three trends are: 1) Globalization, 2) Non-Western missionary movement, and 3) Short-term missions movement (STM).

1) Globalization: Globalization has had 
a huge impact on the practice of world missions. [1] It is marked by the widespread use of digital technology and the Internet, low-cost international travel, dramatically lower cost for global communications, the growth of global markets, and financial interdependence. While globalization offers many benefits that have accrued to Christian world missions, there are also aspects of globalization, which, when used uncritically, can undermine the growth and mission of the church. [2]

Non-Western and Western Evangelicals2) Non-Western missionary movement: The chart at right [3] compares and projects 
the growth of the number of non-Western evangelicals relative to Western evangelicals from 1960 to 2020. This growth is in part a testimony to the success of missionaries sent from Western nations to Africa, Asia and Latin America, as well as to the receptivity of the gospel among harvest nations. It also gives witness to the transforming power of the Word of God when translated into the heart language of any people group. [4] The Lord has raised up countless new churches and Christian mission structures in hidden or obscure communities all over the world.

3) Short-term missions (STM): The dramatic growth of short-term missions in recent years represents both amplified opportunity and amplified threat. It is estimated that some 1.5 to 
2 million laypersons from North America visit the mission field every year. Whether the human and financial resources being expended are making a long-term difference is questioned by many. One non-Western Christian leader speaks of such mission trips as the “elephant dancing with the mouse.” [5] More often than not, “the mouse gets hurt.” Others point to the many accomplishments of STMs on the field and renewed enthusiasm for missions for the Western returnees. Care must be taken that STMs and cross-cultural partnerships do not foster another form of colonialism. [6]

So the movement of partnership with indigenous ministries—or partnership with nationals—is concurrent with these major global trends. It is one reason that cross-cultural partnership is not just a missions fad, but a vital mission strategy for the church in the world today. Furthermore, we believe at Mission ONE that training is essential in order to realize the full potential for accomplishing global Christian mission through cross-cultural partnership … and this is the purpose of The Beauty of Partnership learning journey.

Can you think of other trends that contribute to—or challenge—the movement of partnership with nationals?

FOOTNOTES

1. See Friedman, Thomas: The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005)
2. See Guinness, Os: “Mission modernity: seven checkpoints on mission in the modern world,” from Sampson, Samuel, Sugden, eds: Faith and Modernity (Oxford: Regnum Books International, 1992), p. 322-325. This article was originally presented at Lausanne II in Manilla (1989) and remains an incisive commentary on this issue. While Guinness does not use the word ’globalization,’ his article on modernity is completely suitable and appropriate to this subject.
3. Myers, Bryant: Exploring World Mission: Context & Challenges (Monrovia, CA: World Vision International, 2003) p. 53. Based on information from Operation World by Johnstone & Mandryk (Paternoster, 2001).
4. See Sanneh, Lamin: Whose Religion is Christianity? The Gospel Beyond the West (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003) 
p. 10–11
5.See Adeney, Miriam: “When the Elephant Dances, the Mouse May Die” (Short-Term Missions Today, 2003-2004 Issue) p. 86–89
6.See Livermore, David: Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence (Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 2006

What’s more important? Godly character, cultural intelligence, or organizational competence?

Cross-cultural partnership, Global Christian mission, Training

Inter-related competencies for cross-cultural partnership

An introduction to the three core competencies for healthy cross-cultural partnerships: godly character, cultural intelligence, and organizational competence

When it comes to healthy cross-cultural partnership, which is more important—godly character, cultural intelligence, and organizational competence?

In The Beauty of Partnership learning journey, all receive strong emphasis. There are four sets of learning lessons for each of these critical arenas. How do we define these three competencies? Here’s how:

  • GODLY CHARACTER: What is the bedrock for beauty in partnerships? Following humbly our Lord Jesus Christ 
for the glory of God. 
  • CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE (CQ): What does CQ mean for partnerships? 
Understanding deeply our diversity and unity 
for the glory of God.
  • ORGANIZATIONAL COMPETENCE: What does competence mean for partnerships? Practicing wisely the art and science of 
partnership for the glory of God.

Godly character, cultural intelligence, and organizational competence. Following humbly, understanding deeply, practicing wisely. Easy to say, difficult to achieve. Healthy cross-cultural partnerships do not naturally occur in the body of Christ. To think otherwise is so very common but naive.

The knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSAs) that are contained in healthy cross-cultural partnerships are not developed accidentally. This is why Mission ONE has developed The Beauty of Partnership learning journey: So that individuals can learn over time, in community, how to serve a cross-cultural partnership in a healthy way, to bring hope in Jesus Christ to the peoples of the world.

So they are all important: godly character, cultural intelligence, and organizational competence. Do you think one of these is more important than another? Let me know.

Entrepreneurs for Christian mission

Cross-cultural partnership, Global Christian mission, Indigenous ministries, Uncategorized

Business entrepreneurs and Christian missionaries are similarly wired. I like to say they have a lot of overlapping DNA. Both have great vision. Both have a higher tolerance for risk than others. Both understand the importance of team. Both recognize the value of creativity and innovation. Both have leadership skills that can be used to pursue a vision, a dream, a “big-hairy-audacious-goal,” or “BHAG,” in the terminology of Jim Collins.

There are also dissimilarities between the classic business entrepreneur and the classic missionary. Usually, the best missionaries, while they are visionary doers, they also have superb people skills; they are terrific at building relationships. Usually the best entrepreneurs are effective in working with people — but they’re even more effective at pulling things together and getting things done. Perhaps we can say that the excellent missionary puts relationship ahead of task, whereas the entrepreneur will usually put task ahead of relationship.

The Bible has a huge visionary goal for followers of Christ. The Lord Jesus tells his followers in Matthew 28:18–20 to “Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.” His Word (“All authority is given me in heaven and on earth”) — and his death-defying presence (“I will never leave you or forsake you”) — are the foundation for this audacious command to bring the transforming love of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. This command is called “The Great Commission” for good reason. There could be no greater goal, no more ambitious vision.

How interesting that Christ’s command reflects a perfect balance. On the one hand, there’s a huge vision which requires an almost infinite array of tasks; on the other hand, it is a command focused on building relationships (“making disciples of all nations”) which is made possible by a relationship with the One who gave the command.

Christian entrepreneurs have many of the skills that are essential for Christian global mission. The Beauty of Partnership learning journey builds on that, and equips them with additional knowledge, skills and attitudes that are essential for success in serving a cross-cultural partnership ministry.