In missions, relationship building should be our passion. Missionaries should make developing relationships a priority, because ministries are not only about church growth, constructing facilities (schools, seminaries, churches, etc.), creating field projects and programs and others, but also about the daily build up of relationships with people.
Relationship building takes time and most of it happens when we visit homes, understand their culture, dine with the locales and join them in their village meetings. We usually become closer when we sit accross each other, and enjoy God’s grace and fellowship. Criticisms and comparisons are big hindrances in building up closer alliance. Listening is also important in Relationship building. How many times did our Lord Jesus Christ listened to His disciples, to those seeking healing and forgiveness? Our Savior always lent a listening ear to others and built His relationships within the three years of His life here on earth.
We hope that for our 57th issue, our readers will learn about relationship building. We have prepared four articles about different relationships. We pray that you will all learn from them as much as we did.
First is Dr. David Lim’s “Strategic Missions Partnership with Churches for Christward Movements.”. His article focuses on how the sad state of relationships between church and missions can be turned into effective partnerships. He shared his experiences with our readers both as a recipent and a giver in the Philippines. Second is “Christian Transformation of Ru (Confucian) Leadership:A Historical and Comparative Analysis” by Dr. Diane B. Obenchain. This paper asks the question: What does Jesus Christ give to Ru (Confucian) leaders that enables these leaders to re-envision, reform and revive their role as stewards of the Chinese people and to exercise their important responsibility of bringing the people’s concerns to the awareness of those working at the political center who establish and promulgate instruction/policy for every sphere of human life? To find the answer, read on!
Dr. Reid Kisling gave us a case study on the Haitian church’s partnership with American Church to enhance understanding of mission partnership in his paper, “Partnership: A Case Study of How a Haitian Church Impacted a U.S. Church’s Understanding of Missions.” While Dr. Yong Cho wrote about NGO work in relationship with churches, missionaries, government and private corporations in his work, “The Need and Possibility of a Missional NGO.” Lastly, Dr. Lim gave us a meaningful book review. Be sure to check it out so like him we can enjoy a good read!