EMQ » October–December 2018 » Volume 54 Issue 4
[memberonly folder=”Members, EMQ2YearFolder, EMQ1YearFolder”]Kärin Butler Primuth
The Desperate Need for Collaboration
After more than two hundred years of modern missionary efforts, we have much to celebrate! Many people groups that had previously never heard the name of Christ now have a thriving, indigenous Church. The global picture of the Christian movement today is astounding:
- More than 2 billion Christians worldwide
- 5 million churches
- 43,000 denominations
- 5,000 mission agencies
- 12 million Christian workers
- 400,000 missionaries
However, in spite of the tremendous growth and resources of the worldwide Christian movement, the goal of world evangelism remains yet unfulfilled.
- Billions of Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists who don’t know Jesus
- More than 300 million people with no missionary among them
- Thousands of languages with no Bible
- Millions of villages and cities with no church
Surely if God has called us to make disciples of all the nations, then he has given us everything we need to accomplish this task! What is preventing us from accomplishing God’s mandate?
Over the centuries, one of the most significant barriers to the advance of the gospel has been division and lack of cooperation in the Church. Far too many Christian ministries have not worked together. The result has been massive duplication of effort in some areas and massive gaps in outreach in other areas.
The Rise of Mission Networks
The good news is that in recent decades, a major shift is taking place. Even as the world has become increasingly complex and interconnected, God is doing something unprecedented in these days to mobilize and unite his people like never before.
Less than forty years ago, there were few field-based networks of mission agencies partnering together for evangelism among the unreached peoples and places of the world. Since then, that situation has changed dramatically. Today, there are hundreds of mission networks rallying thousands of ministries together around shared goals in dozens of different mission fields. To get an idea of the amazing range of operational mission networks, take a look at the web directory Linking Global Voices (http://linkingglobalvoices.com) managed by Eldon Porter (Consultant for Global Engagement with Missio Nexus) which currently tracks more than six hundred mission networks across the world in more than ninety different areas of ministry!
These mission networks (in all their various forms—partnerships, alliances, coalitions, etc.) are bringing churches, ministries, mission agencies, field workers, and funders together around common areas of ministry to share information and resources, learn from each other, and collaborate in joint projects to accomplish together what none could do alone. In so many parts of the world where Christ is not yet known, networks are making gospel advance possible where the challenges are too big, the situations are too complex, and the resources required are too great for any one organization or strategy alone.
Over the last four decades, mission networks have proven that when God’s people work together, his Spirit is unleashed in remarkable ways that catalyze spiritual movements in parts of the world where individual missionary efforts have had limited impact on those living in darkness for generations (Isaiah 9:2). For example, in the 1980s there were more than one hundred thirty language groups over one million in size with no indigenous church. Over a period of about twenty years, more than ninety field partnerships were launched with a focus on these different groups of unreached peoples. Hundreds of different ministries and agencies collaborated together on a wide variety of outreach efforts and, as a result, nearly half of these language groups now have communities of believers numbering from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.[1] No period in Church history had seen such breakthroughs in such a brief time period.
One of the most significant changes in the world that has contributed to the rise of mission networks has been the rapid growth of the Church in the Global South. In the early 1900s nearly 90% of the world’s Christians lived in Europe and the Americas. Today a majority of the world’s Christians live in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. What was once the “harvest field” has now become the “harvest force” with half of the top twenty mission sending countries now in the Global South.[2]
New mission sending movements in Africa and Asia are seeking to mobilize tens of thousands of missionaries to the unreached in the next decade.[3] For the church in the Global North of Europe and North America, this means that the future will be less about pioneering and more about partnering as the Church in the Global South plays an increasingly significant leadership role in the world mission movement.
As God is raising up the largest mission sending movement from every corner of the Earth, networks are fast becoming a vital connecting point for the global Church. Through networks, many churches, ministries, and mission agencies from different cultures can meet, build trust, learn from one another, and work together as equal partners contributing their unique gifts and perspectives. Networks are enabling Western mission leaders to partner with national leaders and near-culture churches which have greater access and affinity to unreached peoples and places that may be difficult or impossible for Western workers to reach.
Until recently, the scope and influence of these networks has been largely invisible to many Christians around the world, including many mission agency leaders who remain focused on their own organizational priorities and have not understood or valued the role that networks are now playing to shape mission strategies. But any agency or church that wants to be part of God’s plan to reach the nations can no longer ignore the influence of networks since they are shaping the future of the mission movement.
The Vital Role of Network Leaders
Mission networks are intentional efforts. They don’t form spontaneously, and they don’t operate by themselves. At the heart of all effective networks are one or more collaborative leaders who have a dual calling—not only to see breakthroughs in their particular area of ministry, but also to see God’s people working together in partnership.
Just as God has put the globalization process in motion which has led to the rapid rise of networks, he also seems to be calling more and more people into the unique role of network leadership and empowering them with the gifting needed to fulfill this unique call.
David Bennett, Global Associate Director for Collaboration for the Lausanne Movement, made a powerful presentation at the 2017 Synergy Summit affirming the unique calling and gifting of network leaders. David explained that while the Bible doesn’t refer to networks or network leaders, it provides numerous examples “of people who linked other people together for a larger goal. Some believers seem especially good at what all of us are called to do, so we may describe them as being ‘gifted’ for that role. God wants his people to work together in unity and love, but some are especially good at facilitating those connections. Network leaders are like ligaments in the body, joining muscles to bones. Without the ligaments, neither the muscles nor the bones can work together properly”.[4]
Network leaders have a different skill set than organizational leaders. They function as neutral facilitators within a flat structure where decision-making is by consensus rather than authority. Network leaders work across organizations, bridge cultural and theological divides, and call everyone to work together toward a larger vision than could be accomplished separately. They facilitate connections, encourage participation, manage conflict, and keep communication flowing so the network can grow and achieve its goals. What’s especially remarkable about these leaders, is that most often they have no training and little support from their agencies, yet they voluntarily give hundreds of hours in challenging leadership roles because of what they believe the network can achieve if people will commit to working together.
Chandan Kumar Sah is an example of one of the remarkable leaders of a network in one of the most unreached places on earth. He comes from a Hindu background in Bihar, India, a state in Northern India long known as the “graveyard of missions.” Chandan came to faith in his late teens and soon after became a church-planter. God gave him a vision for seeing Bihar reached with the gospel, which seemed an impossible task for one church planting organization with such limited capacity.
Over the next ten years, Chandan received partnership training and coaching and was transformed by what the Bible teaches about the Body of Christ working together. He was captured by the model of networks and realized that if he started a church-planting network which trained and resourced its members, he would see a greater harvest than what could be accomplished by his own ministry. Today, that network includes sixty-five church planting organizations which have collectively planted more than three thousand churches and transformed the lives of thousands of people through transformational health and economic development projects.[5]
There are hundreds of leaders like Chandan around the world providing critical leadership to the increasing number of collaborative efforts. Some are working at a regional level like Chandan, while others lead multinational networks with ten to over one hundred agencies focused on specific people groups, countries, or mission issues.
Unfortunately, few of these leaders have the support of their agencies to give the time and resources needed toward the networks they serve. More often, those who have a vision for working beyond their agency’s goals are seen as renegades to be managed, rather than assets with skills to be deployed toward building important Kingdom connections that might enable their agency to achieve its goals more quickly or effectively.
As a result, most network leaders are left wearing a volunteer-leader hat by night, while putting on their official organizational hat by day, unable to give the very best of themselves to either role. With limited leadership capacity, most networks fail to achieve the enormous potential of their vision because they simply don’t have the people power and resources needed to keep things moving forward.
Just as mission strategies must adapt to our changing world, so must leadership roles. Network leadership can no longer be a second (or third!) hat leaders put on in their “free time.” Imagine what Kingdom breakthroughs might be possible if the global Church recognized and validated this vital role of network leadership and released these uniquely gifted leaders to fulfill their calling for “such a time as this.”
The Future Leaders of the Mission Movement
As networks continue to grow and shape the future of the mission movement, network leaders will have a critical role to play in the advance of the gospel—just as important as disciple-makers, church-planters, or Bible translators. Hundreds of mission leaders are now participating in networks as a key aspect of their ministry roles—some by appointment, some by passion. It is crucial that mission agencies and churches take a proactive role to identify, equip, and empower these leaders to develop the collaborative infrastructure needed for the global Church to work together for the advance of the gospel.
There are three things churches, ministries, and mission agencies can provide so that network leaders can thrive in their roles and be an asset to the organizations and networks they serve:
Recognition and Validation
Often, leaders who are naturally wired to see the potential of partnering have to justify why they are investing time in networking with other ministries. It may appear they are working beyond the boundaries of their defined role or agency’s priorities. Christian organizations can develop such a myopic view of their own priorities that they don’t intentionally explore whether other ministries might share a similar vision and have valuable information and resources to share. This is where a paradigm shift is needed. Rather than trying to confine collaborative leaders to traditional ministry roles and boundaries, it is time we adjust our leadership framework to acknowledge the specialized leadership that is needed to effectively facilitate inter-organizational collaboration.
We need to recognize the value of the unique skills that network leaders have and validate those who are called to be the ligaments of the Body of Christ. Rather than having to juggle between their real job and their network role, these leaders would be much more effective if they had clearly defined roles that enable them to give their full time and attention to the primary task of developing networks. Appointing people to roles such as Pastor of Church Partnerships or Regional Network Facilitator, would release them to fulfill their calling, utilize their gifts, and become a champion for their ministry to connect with others to potentially accomplish much greater Kingdom impact.
Questions for reflection:
- What value does your church or agency have for those uniquely called and gifted for collaborative leadership?
- How might you more intentionally identify, validate, appoint, and release these kinds of leaders to be more effective in the ministry of network-building?
Training and Coaching
At visionSynergy, members of our team have worked with hundreds of network leaders around the world over the last thirty years. Even those who may be naturally wired for this kind of role often struggle to know how to facilitate practical collaboration that moves from talk to action. Whether they’re naturally gifted or not, no one is born having a clear roadmap for how to develop a multi-organizational network for Kingdom breakthroughs! Since most mission leaders come out of hierarchical organizations, it can be a major shift to understand how to facilitate collaborative work in a consensus-based, flat structure where all partners have an equal voice. Just like any skilled leadership role, network leaders also need training and coaching to develop the specialized skills needed to develop networks that will be viable, healthy, and fruitful.
Agencies that have a genuine value for releasing their leaders to participate in collaborative efforts need to prepare them with a biblical understanding of partnership and the essential knowledge and skills needed to effectively participate in networks. Collaborative leadership is not something that can be learned in a classroom. While training can provide a framework for the stages, roles, and goals of developing a network, the real-world skills of launching and leading a network can only be learned on the job. Network leaders can especially benefit from having coaches who walk with them to problem-solve, encourage, point to best practices, and develop their skills and confidence.
visionSynergy has a variety of resources for agencies, churches, networks, and leaders with a desire to expand their knowledge and skills in this area. Many of these resources can be found on the Synergy Commons (https://synergycommons.net), an online learning community for network leaders with articles, video stories, webinars, and courses. In addition, visionSynergy has a one-day introductory workshop on networks and a two-year coaching program for mission leaders with a vision to launch a network. Contact info@visionsynergy.net for more information.
Questions for reflection:
- How is your agency seeking to equip and support these kinds of leaders?
- What kind of pre-field and on-field training might you need to develop to grow the capacity of your personnel to become effective collaborative leaders?
Participation in a Learning Community
As more and more leaders move into these kinds of collaborative leadership roles, there is a tremendous need for them to connect with one another for shared learning, encouragement, and the development of best practices. Participation in a peer learning community, whether online or face-to-face, can provide valuable opportunities for network leaders who often feel alone in their roles.
One example of a community of practice for Christian network leaders is the biennial Synergy Summit (http://synergysummit.global) hosted by visionSynergy to bring network leaders together from around the world for shared learning. In addition, the Synergy Commons (https://synergycommons.net) online learning community has over one thousand members representing seventy networks and one hundred ten countries who connect online through facilitated discussion groups and learning cohorts focused on collaboration in mission.
God is uniting his people for the greatest mission movement in history. We’ll need to embrace new leadership roles and mission structures as networks become an integral aspect of Great Commission work. As God calls and empowers men and women to serve in the unique capacity of network leadership, we need to do everything we can to enable them to serve the greater Body of Christ so that we can accomplish together what none could do alone.
Questions for reflection:
- How can your church, ministry, or mission agency encourage collaborative leaders to develop or participate in a community of practice where they can connect with other like-minded leaders to build their skills and learn best practices in this growing field?
- How does your ministry need to adjust its strategies, priorities, and resources to more effectively partner with others for Kingdom advance?
Kärin Butller Primuth is CEO of visionSynergy, an organization dedicated to developing strategic mission networks that unite the Body of Christ to reach the unreached. Kärin’s vision for collaboration has grown out of thirty years of global ministry experience, having lived in China, India, and South Africa and traveled to more than thirty countries. Kärin serves on the Missio Nexus Board. She has an MA in Urban Planning from UCLA and a BS in Social Policy from Northwestern University. She is married with three young adult children and lives in California.
Endnotes
[1] “Partnership Impact Research on UPGs” (2014). Correlation of field-based partnerships developed by Interdev from 1992 to 2002 and indigenous church growth as of 2014. Based on original research from the International Mission Board. Available from visionSynergy at: https://synr.gy/partnership-impact
[2] “Christianity in its Global Context” (2013). Report from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary including global data on missionaries sent and received from all countries. Available from: http://www.gordonconwell.edu/ockenga/research/documents/ChristianityinitsGlobalContext.pdf
[3] “Mobilization: The Fourth (And Final?) Era of Modern Mission (2018)”. Article by Steve Shadrach providing a comprehensive analysis of mobilization of the Church in the Global South. Published in EMQ, July-September 2018, Volume 54 Issue 3.
[4] “Called to Collaborate: I am a network leader” (2017). Presentation at the 2017 Synergy Summit in Chiang Mai, Thailand given by Dr. Dave Bennett, Lausanne Global Associate Director and Content Managing Editor of the Lausanne Global Analysis. Available from: https://synr.gy/called-to-collaborate
[5] New Wine Calls for New Wineskins (2017). Book by Chandan Kumar Sah describing how local mission networks are transforming lives in Northern India. Available from: http://a.co/f2ZCnRj
