Partnerships
    - Partnering with Nationals

Partnership: the New Direction in World Evangelism Expectations

Abridged from documents by Lorry Lutz and Luis Bush

Expectations of the Western Agency
Partners International, one international partnering agency, reviews the expectations of its national partners through an established monitoring process. Four "confidence factors" are part of this regular monitoring process.

1. The partner ministry must have a governing board that is informed, involved and responsible.
2. The partner ministry must have goals and objectives that are clear, measurable, and achievable.
3. The partner ministry must have policies and procedures which guarantee that the funds are being spent for the purpose for which they were given. They must include appropriate accounting and financial management procedures.
4. The partner ministry must have the personnel necessary to put into practice its policies and procedures.

Expectations of National Ministries
National leaders don't expect to become involved in internal affairs at Partners International, except when major decisions which affect their ministries are made. Two-Thirds World cultures tend to be more relational than western cultures are. When asked what they expect of partnership, national leaders respond:

"Partnership is not supposed to be one way. It's a two-way partnership, exchanging ideas, staff, information and resources."

"We shouldn't write off people when they do not do things the way we do them. In that we may be losing each other in the relationship. . .there needs to be sensitivity."

"People from headquarters used to come and sit down and talk with us, and make us feel like a brother . . . paperwork is good, but we believe in the personal touch."

"Folks up there—the staff and board—should listen to what we say and then ask, 'How can we get together on those ideas?'"

One national ministry hired its staff, started churches, made a loan, purchased equipment and started a small business and magazine, all without reference to Western partner. These ministry decisions are theirs to make and if the projects fail, they deal with them themselves. That's the way the nationals like it.

Click here for original documents from Partnership:<> the New Direction in World Evangelism by Lorry Lutz and Luis Bush, 1990,  InterVarsity Press.
 

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