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Partnerships: Spaces of Authenticity and Inclusion |
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During the month of November
members of the Word Made Flesh team share reflections on partnership and
challenge us to move beyond our current understanding of what it means to be
partners with one another to the glory of God and for the advancement of the
Gospel in word and deed.
 Most of us want to be in partnerships and like the idea of
it. It may have worked well for us in the past, and may still be a significant
portion of our work. However, the pressing question for us is, are the
partnerships liberating for those involved, and not just accomplishing the
objectives of association? It’s obvious to all of us that partnerships are
rooted in relationship, which is the base of this spirit-led initiative.
The gifts of partnership embolden alliances, inspire
creativity and encourage collaborative progress, but its essence is nurtured in
sustained egalitarian relationships, confessing domination, mutual empowerment
and embodied love.
In light of the above, the critical challenge for us in the
mission community is finding ways of how we can wade through the legacy of
colonialism, keeping in mind how it has defined these basic relationships that
are so essential to life giving partnerships. The distraught it has brought in
relationships make firm the institutions of nationalism, militarism,
patriarchy, and racism that stand as a stronghold working against the
partnerships we hope nurture.
The legacy of colonialism challenges our “good and right”
intentions. Those of us who find ourselves working tirelessly alongside the
worlds most vulnerable can sometimes find ourselves living in tension – the
tension of assimilating into the very systems of domination that maintain the
status quo of poverty, racism, and war, or learning to live into a new, whole
reality of flourishing life free from domination. What is the alternative that
we alongside our most vulnerable friends can imagine? Do we still hold onto the
“colonial image” of Christ as the one who lifts our friends up from the margins
of society, who integrates them into mainline society, that they, too, can then
find there place within the status quo and benefit from it?
Sustaining egalitarian relationships in love are
challenging, and are continually heightened by our inability to place our story
within the layers of stories that uphold power dynamics of oppression. The oppressions
of race, sex, class, and privilege need to be rattled and undone to begin our
work of confessing domination. Harry Brod makes a very important point
regarding privilege which I think is applicable to understanding our role and
place. He writes,
We need to be clear that there is no
such thing as giving up ones privilege to be ‘outside’ the system. One is
always in the system. The only question is whether one is a part of system in a
way that challenges or strengthens the status quo. Privilege is not something I
take and which therefore have the option of not taking. It is something that
society gives me, and unless I change the institutions that give it to me, they
will continue to give it, and I will continue to have it, however noble and
equalitarian my intentions. (Work Clothes and Leisure Suits: The Class Basis
and Bias of the Men’s Movement,” in Men’s Lives, ed. Michael S. Kimmel and
Michael Messner, Macmillan, 1989, p280).
I point this out not to shy us away from the challenges of
relating to strengthen partnerships, but to invite us to the other side of coin
i.e. mutual empowerment. Mutuality removes from the equation hierarchy, and
brings in solidarity. It not only empowers those who are beginning with lesser
power, but also creates a greater sense of shared responsibility and trust in
the act of confessing domination.
Partnership as a Spirit-led initiative is an act of embodied
love, and it is only in this spirit -this posture - that we can find the space for
whole partnerships. These are the spaces of inclusion out which partnerships
flourish in the authenticity of the partners and not out of a dominating
normative paradigm.
Caldwell Manners serves as the International
Partnership Coordinator for World Made
Flesh. Give him something to climb, he most likely will.
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During the month of November
members of the Word Made Flesh team share reflections on partnership and
challenge us to move beyond our current understanding of what it means to be
partners with one another to the glory of God and for the advancement of the
Gospel in word and deed.
 When God called me to begin
serving with Word Made Flesh (WMF), I made my first visit to Romania. It was my first trip outside of Peru, and I
spoke almost no English. I spent long
hours, daily, speaking to God in Spanish. I saw many things, so many realities
that not only filled my heart, but that also set my heart on fire. The best way
to describe it is, I wanted to “burn” everyone! I wanted to return to my church
and start a huge fire; I wanted my friends to burn as I did. I am thankful to
God for the dream when Jesus nudged me along and spoke to me in ways I could
understand. Jesus placed this message in my heart.
Now after many years in the WMF
community in Lima, Peru, I have seen this same passion
begin to burn in many people. This is how I see the process as we invite new
people to serve with us in community:
Watching from the window: At first, one gets to know what is happening in the city. One begins to
understand and say, “Wow! Look at all of
the things happening here.” Themes begin
to awaken inside the person: marginalization, abuse, lack of identity, poverty
and injustice. However, even with these
profound themes the person is still only “watching from the window.” All the
while, their heart is starting to burn.
Watching from the doorway: With time, one decides to come closer to the situation and responds to a
call that God placed upon them. One
decides to do something, to love, to embrace and sometimes to speak out on
behalf of those who have a voice, but are not heard. Sometimes we call them the voiceless, but
they do have a voice! The problem is
that they are not heard. This is the
second step, to be in the doorway. The
person may be part of a servant team or a local or national volunteer. They are no longer watching from the window,
they are standing in the doorway, watching even more closely and beginning to
feel even more deeply.
Entering the room: Coming into the room signifies the decision
to live in close proximity. One decides
to let themselves be touched by others’ life experiences. Sometimes this is painful and sometimes this
brings joy.
Those inside the room are a prophetic
voice, and it is their voice that MUST wake up a national conscience and social
action in our international contexts. It must come from those who know what
they are talking about, who have felt the pain, who maybe have known hunger,
who have felt the same joys as their fellow people. Those who are in the room can best
contextualize the message because they seek to understand those they serve, and
who are choosing new ways of living with the assurance that the message will be
shared and will stand the test of time.
How can we unite the
communities? How can we share
experiences? If there are nationals in our
communities who do not have confidence in the worthiness of their voice, we
should help them make it heard. It is
possible they are still afraid to speak up because of the presence of the
foreigners, because the culture of the conqueror and the conquered is still
present. We can change this! I believe we can!
Truly, we can do it! If we want to have a truly shared experience,
if we want to have a shared partnership of prayer, of staff members, of tools,
and if we want to affect change, we must contextualize the message, understand
the culture, and empower nationals, as we stand inside the room together.
Anna
Monteviller serves in the Word Made Flesh community in her hometown of Lima,
Peru, as Director of Programs and as President of the Board of La
Palabra Hecha Hombre (WMF Peru).
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During the month of November members of the Word Made Flesh team share reflections on partnership and challenge us to move beyond our current understanding of what it means to be partners with one another to the glory of God and for the advancement of the Gospel in word and deed.  Let’s understand a
little more about the topic of partnership in mission, examining the true
essence of why we serve the Lord. There exists a necessity to speak of Jesus to
all those who don’t know him.
John 3:16 says, “Yes, God so loved the world as to give the
Only begotten One, that whoever believes may not die, but have eternal life.”
We’ve heard this verse so many times, that we ‘re jaded by it and assume that
there is nothing new in the words, but the reality is that the majority of
people don’t pay attention to what is fundamental in this text.
God so loved the world so much as
to give the Only begotten One, that whoever believes may not die but have eternal
life. Try to imagine yourself in the same situation. Could you love someone
so deeply that you would have the capacity to give the life of your only child
in the place of the one you love? Also consider that in giving of your child,
you’re dealing with the imperfect human condition, a condition of imperfect
faithfulness and insincere promises. Yet God’s sacrifice was given to pull us
out of sin and eradicate sin from our lives and in the end save us from hell.
Are you beginning to understand the magnitude of this idea?
Obviously as humans
God’s sacrifice is beyond our understanding. God alone is able to give the life
of the Only Begotten One to save us from the snare of the enemy. We now have a
notion of the fidelity which God wants to have with us, to exercise a
partnership of faith, in our answering the call on our lives.
When God sent the Only
Begotten to die for us, we have been invited into partnership by participating
in the same practice, to send “ours” to those who are spiritually dead, with
the objective of proclaiming God and through this proclamation, reviving them.
This is a partnership which is destined for success because it is God who
guides and orients with steadiness down this altruistic path. We needn’t fear because the practice of
mission and proclaiming the gospel works in precise coordination with the established
will and plan of the Father.
The Lord explains this
very clearly in the verse following in which John writes, “God sent the Only Begotten into the world not to condemn the world, but
that through the Only Begotten the world might be saved.” This idea is more deeply
defined in the concept of the “Creator of the heavenly luminaries,” because God
is both exact and omniscient. James says, “Every
worthwhile gift, every genuine benefit come from above, descending from the
creator of the heavenly luminaries, who cannot change and is never in the
shadow” (James 1:17). Maybe we can
draw on this as the only definition of the purpose of the coming of Christ,
that he came into this world to save it and not to condemn it. Our foundational
and vital mission is to take the gospel to all of creation, without regard to
condition or circumstance, but in partnership and unity. As members of the body
of Christ, we serve so that no part of this body will be lost.
Partnership in mission
is a methodology that we must assume. Despite surmounting adversities,
partnership must be explored, and not simply observed or analyzed. We should
not only treat and bandage the injuries and pains of society, but we must seek
a cure for all people and nations, recognizing that only Jesus is the way the
truth and the light.
A servant of God, Esdrianne Cohen co-authored
this entry with her husband Alex. She selflessly serves her family, the
children at Projeto Vidinha, and Word Made Flesh Brazil’s friends on the
streets of Rio de Janeiro. She loves photography and chocolate!
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During the month of November members of the Word Made Flesh team share reflections on partnership and challenge us to move beyond our current understanding of what it means to be partners with one another to the glory of God and for the advancement of the Gospel in word and deed.
I have been ruminating on what the Word of God says about partnership
and how well we can reflect the same in our Word Made Flesh Community. As I
understand, a partnership would involve understanding, sharing of concerns,
being in agreement, including agreeing to disagree. It would require openness
to one another’s weaknesses and strengths, and facilitate dignity and self
worth.
When I glimpse through Scriptures, I can see a thread of
partnerships running from Genesis to Revelation. I have found that they focus
on two major aspects:
Essential Process in
Fulfilling the Mission of God
Partnership
is ordained by God as a mission which propels Gods will. When we look at the
life of Moses we find that when God chooses to work through an individual, God
usually chooses unusual partners in his plan for fulfillment of the mission of
God. Each of these individuals are utilized in their own capacity (with what
ever they have to offer) in advancing the mission of God.
Take for example Moses’ parents who were ordinary slaves in the
land of Egypt. By faith they hid the baby boy who was to be deliverer of the
huge nation of Israel.
We also see the sincere midwives, who feared God and therefore were not afraid
to save the Hebrew babies. The princess of Egypt, one of the most influential
and unlikely persons, is used by God in rescuing Moses and in giving him a much
needed royal upbringing which would turn out to be an asset in his role in
leading the children of Israel towards Canaan. Even Miriam, with her
intercessory role, partners in the mission by pointing out the child’s mother
as his nurse to the Princess. We then see the powerful partnership of Zipporah
who helped deliver Moses by circumcising his sons.
Therefore, partnerships are remaining faithful to our place in
God’s plan, and giving what we are capable of giving to the fullest extent
possible, to fulfill God’s mission. The partners chosen are unique in their own
ways in bringing out the beautiful blessings that enrich the relationship and
in bringing into fulfillment the will of God.
Empowering
Partnership
is empowering each other to accomplish the will of God in our respective positions.
Elijah was a powerful prophet of God, who singlehandedly managed the whole band
of heathen prophets at Mount Carmel. He stood his ground and with his sincere
prayer brought fire down from the living God. Yet, sooner than expected he is
despairing in the wilderness pleading with the Lord to take his life.
Repeatedly we see Elijah being encouraged, empowered and affirmed by ordinary
people undertaking ordinary day to day tasks.
Cherith, the widow
of Zarephath, had nothing to offer him except for a handful of meal and a jug
of oil that was almost empty, yet her provisions restore him back to strength. Mutual
empowerment is beautifully brought out in this portion of scripture. This desperate
widow, having lost her son, looks to Elijah for restoration and empowerment.
Elijah prays for the restoration of life and we see mutual empowerment in
action. Mutual empowerment does not focus on the quantity as much as the
quality, or the essence of what is brought into the partnering relationship.
We at Word Made Flesh are called to enter
into this beautiful enriching, empowering relationship ordained by God to
enable each of us to fulfill the mission of our Lord.
Angelene Samuel
is the Program Director for Word Made Flesh Chennai and the Home of Happiness.
She has been a faithful participant and support to her parents since her
childhood, and now as an adult has taken on official responsibilities.
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Part of me grows short of breath and weak in the knees (figuratively
and sometimes literally!) when I think about how few days there are between now
and then. We’ve been planning for Cape
Town 2010 (CT2010) for almost five years and it has seemed sometimes as if the
day would never come and now it’s just around the corner.
