Advice for local churches forming mission partnerships with overseas mission agencies and churches. Although written for the Board for Mission Services of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, these principles apply in all denominations.

Principles 7-9

7. We respect established relationships and channels.

8. We inform and encourage our sending churches.

9. We stay in mission for the long haul.

7. We respect established relationships and channels.

Question: Why is this important?

Before you begin to work with a church or mission agency in another country, determine the existing ecclesial (altar and pulpit fellowship) relations your denomination has with them. Failure to do this can lead to embarrassing and painful situations. For example a district of the LCMS enthusiastically did many projects with the Lutherans in a Latin American country. They sent down teams, held events, raised lots of money in support. The only problem was, the LCMS was not in fellowship with that Lutheran synod! We were in fellowship with a different synod in the same country. But the District never thought to ask.

So, if you are LCMS, please clarify the altar and pulpit fellowship status of churches you would like to work with, before you get entangled. If there are established channels to use in doing something (like starting an orphanage, school, or seminary) please use those channels. The channels exist for a reason. They are safeguards. Please don't circumvent LCMS World Mission, Lutheran World Relief, the President's office, the Synodical convention, or whatever.

Question: But we want to swing into action as soon as possible. Won't this cramp our style?

Actually, it will help you avoid cramps. In athletics, often the difference between an injured athlete and a healthy one is thorough stretching before strenuous activity, because muscle cramps and pulls occur when you fail to stretch your muscles properly before you take the field. Similarly, even though clarifying church relationships takes time, it actually will help you avoid injury.

A pulled muscle can have long-term effects, placing an athlete on the sidelines for months. A strained relationship between mission organizations also has long terms effects. Distrust. Division. In the case mentioned above, eventually our partner church in that Latin American country approached the LCMS and asked, "Why do you send money and manpower to help the other synod, and ignore us, when we are in fellowship with you and they are not?" Yes, building and maintaining solid relationships takes time and effort. But healing strained relationships such as this one will require much more attention.

View 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4 from this perspective. Both texts use the imagery of a body moving smoothly and efficiently. We tend to view Paul's comments on a parish level. However, his counsel about unity also applies to inter-denominational, international, multi-ethnic groups of believers. Paul wanted all these churches to learn to pull together, not pull apart.

8. We inform and encourage our sending churches.

Question: What dangers might befall a mission agency, regarding their relationship with sending congregations?

1. A mission agency can become so busy doing its ministry "over there" that it forgets its "right here" responsibility to inform and encourage sending churches. The individual congregation should not be undervalued. Because each individual church has the life-giving Word and Sacraments, each church should be viewed as the center of missions. Because every missionary grows up, physically and spiritually, in a local congregation, each church is the womb of future missionaries.

2. A mission agency tends to attract people who have a gung ho heart for the lost. As they pour themselves into the work, they may be appalled by the apathy they find in some Christians and congregations. When this occurs, it is easy for a mission agency to write off such people and churches as hopeless cases. Although we might become pessimistic about self-centered or ethnocentric congregations, our God is always in the business of renewing people. Therefore, we can expect the Holy Spirit to be working when we share mission needs and challenges with even the most self-absorbed churches.

Question: What responsibility does a mission agency have toward sending congregations?

1. A mission agency should provide churches with mission interpretation and education. Printed information, and best of all, visits from missionaries will raise the church's vision beyond itself. The purpose is not simply to raise financial support. The mission agency must view itself as a mediator between the local church and the national church, seeking to develop strong bonds of fellowship, love, and mutual concern between Christians in different corners of the world.

2. Paul modeled this role at all times. In Acts 14:26-28 and Acts 18:22-23, we find him returning to Antioch to report the marvelous things the Holy Spirit had accomplished through him and his co-workers. In Ephesians 3, Paul reports that God gave him a two-fold grace: (a) "to preach to the Gentiles" (v. 8); and (b) "to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery" (v. 9). What does that mean? Paul had defined the mystery earlier: "That through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel" (v. 6). Thus Paul's two-fold gift and duty was to be a missionary and to teach all Christians about mission work. If Paul, the greatest and busiest missionary of his era, gave priority to both these duties, so should we.

Question: What can my mission agency do?

1. Include the responsibility of mission interpretation and education in your official purpose statement and annual plans. Then delegate time and resources to do the work.

2. Provide your leaders with opportunities to learn the how-to of mission education. A seminar or two on this topic will go a long way.

3. Teach your missionaries, whether short-term or career, to write regular mission letters, to record their work in photos and videos, and to give informative reports to congregations when they return. Don't just order your missionaries to do these tasks. Allot them the time needed to accomplish them.

4. Develop printed materials such as missionary prayer cards, bulletins inserts, newsletters, etc. These items will keep churches updated on mission developments and prayer needs.

5. If possible, establish electronic connections with congregations and with people in the field, so that news can be as current as possible.

6. Teach people to be dedicated and wise senders of missionaries. A good resource is Serving as Senders (Neal Pirolo, ACMC), which describes six kinds of missionary support: moral, logistical, financial, prayer, communication, and reentry.

7. Utilize and borrow ideas from LCMS World Mission education materials. They are based on eight activities: learn, pray, give, serve, tell, send, go, celebrate.

9. We stay in mission for the long haul.

Question: What kind of commitment does mission work require?

God has been carrying out His mission for twenty centuries. He is in mission for the long haul. The missionaries and national leaders in a given place see much work to be done, work that will require generations. They are in mission for the long haul. In previous centuries, the journey to a mission field required months of travel, and disease and violence might prevent the missionary from ever returning. Those missionaries were in it for the long haul.

But today we are in a world of rapid global travel and smaller risks for missionaries. In this context we can send short-term missionaries who buzz in, quickly do their thing, and then buzz off. Even though this is possible, it is not best. A long-haul mentality is still wise.

Question: Why does mission require long-range commitments ?

1. As you work in a place, you come to know the partner church and with unreached people in that place. These are not throw away relationships. Once they are started, they should be fostered.

2. How would you feel if you were a national believer who every year had to adjust to a new set of short-term missionaries? You might tire of always having to start over again. You would probably long for permanency, for North American brothers and sisters who would help you persevere through the years.

3. In many countries of the world, personal relationships matter more to people than they do in our culture. We need to be sensitive to their desire to put down roots and maintain ties with us.

4. Permanency in your mission relationships permits ongoing care for the national church. You are more likely to help them meet their goals of church planting and leadership development.

5. By the same token, the partner church will help you become better missionaries as they teach you about the culture and how to communicate Christ effectively to unbelievers in that land.

6. Constant short-term starts with no follow through, can bring only limited satisfaction. But perseverance brings its own rewards (Rom. 15:4-6; Jas. 1:2-4). Being in mission for the long haul means to face looming obstacles, to pray for God's wisdom and power, to work diligently toward long-range goals, to make mistakes, to seek solutions, and to try again. Such ministry builds spiritual fortitude. When the Holy Spirit works the conversions which you and your national mission partners have prayed and strived for, the victory will be sweet indeed.

Question: But what if our relations with national believers are failing to get off the ground?

1. Honestly evaluate how much your own attitudes and policies have hampered your relations. Review the healthy missiological principles in this document, and rate your performance. If you have fallen short in any of them, it has probably weakened your relations with national believers. Consider what you can do to improve, and watch how the friendship will blossom.

2. Often cultural differences contribute to your failure to relate well to one another. If your mission agency dedicates itself to learning more about the culture, your relationship with the partner church will improve. In particular, this will occur if you humbly ask them to teach you.

3. After experiencing several "hit and run" mission relationships, national church leaders may be waiting to see if you are in mission for the long haul. When you seek them out for a second and third joint effort, your relations are likely to warm.

4. Be slow to criticize. During his first couple months in the field, a rookie missionary noted many practices and strategies which seemed inappropriate to him. He tended to look down on the national leaders. But after several more months, his attitude mellowed. As he grew to understand the culture, the people, and the context of their ministry, he finally saw the "why and wherefore" of their practices and strategies. He came to respect the local leaders and their methods. Every mission agency will benefit from this same learning process.

Question: Why focus on one area when there are so many fields and needs?

1. God may indeed lead you to new ventures. However, sending churches and mission societies should avoid spreading themselves too thin and possibly burning out their workers. No one person, church, or mission agency can reach all the world. All God requires of the individual Christian is a one-person-sized contribution to His mission. All He requires of a sending church or society is a one-group-sized contribution. We can do no more than this, and the Lord doesn't require any more. We each can do our one-person-sized-role and one mission-society-sized role, confident that the Holy Spirit will coordinate all our small efforts into one great accomplishment.

2. When you avoid flitting from one mission project to another, you grant your mission agency time to gain experience and establish a track record. You learn the particular gifts, abilities, and passions of your constituency. By this knowledge the Holy Spirit will lead you into the particular focus which your agency should adopt. In the end, you won't simply be playing a one-agency-sized role but also a you-shaped-role, one that fits your people and your national partners well.

3. Don't chase after success stories. When we hear the Spirit of God is working mightily in country X, we may be tempted to withdraw from work in country Y where Satan's control appears to be more entrenched. Perhaps you can contribute to the work in county X, but try not to do so at the expense of your present ministry where God already has called you. As Lutheran Christians we accept the theology of the cross, which says the road to ultimate victory will include numerous defeats and set backs (Mk. 8:34-35; Acts 8:1; 2; 20:22-24; Phil. 1:29-30). Faithful perseverance through defeats and setbacks is what being in mission for the long haul is all about.

Question: But might the time come when we should conclude work in a given place?

1. Yes, the time to move on may occur. This is especially so if your partner church has matured into a 4-self church. To continue beyond that point is probably not necessary.

2. When you conclude your involvement, do so tactfully. Inform both your constituency and national partners of your intention. With them plan how you will progressively down-size and then terminate the relation. Provide for proper, healthy closure by celebrating what God has done.

3. Meanwhile, your mission society will be identifying where the Spirit wants you to serve next. Here's an idea: Invite your partner church to join you in the new venture. That way you would not have to split up at all. You would be partners in mission for the long haul. Wouldn't that be a blessing!

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.