The Call to Collaboration

by Cindy Wiles
Executive Director, GCPN

Want to travel fast, travel alone. Want to travel far, travel together.

-African Proverb

There's never a cookie cutter answer to any missions question. You know from your own experience that every mission frontier requires unique vision, unique strategies, and unique relationships. When asked by churches or cross-cultural workers how to do something - as if there is some standard book of guidelines or rules - I usually respond by saying, "There are as many ways to get people into places as there are people whom God calls there." God is not strapped by our methods and strategies. He is God.

But He is a God of community - triune in his own existence - he never seems to suggest alone is best. Even when calling his people into isolation it is usually for a meeting with Him. The Scripture suggests over and over again that collaborative investments not only result in stronger and more effective systems, but that the journey together meets an innate human need for community and love. In Exodus 18, Moses, overwhelmed by the task of judging disputes for the people of Israel from morning till evening, was able to lead more effectively because his father-in-law, Jethro, understood the value of collaboration. By increasing the capacity of the judicial system as a whole, Moses was freed up to play the leadership role God intended for him to play while others were effectively incorporated into positions of influence as God had gifted them. The resulting health and sustainability brought order and peace to the community as a whole.

Collaboration has its challenges, requiring communication, processing, sharing, consensus-building, time, patience and a surrender of power (God forbid!) For those who need to receive credit, be recognized, own it and move at their own pace, collaboration can be a test. But when collaborative partners grow into a state of interdependency, considering the goals and success of all partners, the maximum benefits of collaboration can be felt. Although slow in its beginnings, the long-term effects of collaborative partnership can enhance the corporate gifting of churches, organizations, networks and other partners so that the power of the united whole is much more effective for the Kingdom than any one of them can be on their own.

From its beginnings, CGPN has identified itself as an all things in common network. Following the model of the 1st century church in Acts 2:44 which states, all the believers were together and had everything in common, some churches in this network have been willing to make great sacrifice for the benefit of others. There are some who have been beneficiaries of the collaborative spirits of others. There are a few who are just learning to spell collaboration. Collaboration is available but must be embraced.

In this new era of church-based mission, my prayer for you as a missions leader is three-fold. I pray that you . . .

• won't wait on someone else to do it for you


• will be willing to seek wisdom from those who have done it before you


• will search for the partners God has ordained to take this journey with you

May God be glorified as you unite your efforts for the Kingdom!

Cindy

Thoughts on Global Leadership

by Cindy Wiles,
Executive Director, GCPN

Have you noticed how many academic programs have begun including degree programs and concentrations in Global Leadership the last few years? I've spent a lot of time thinking about, reading about and looking at models of organizations and leadership in recent days. What I've realized is that many of the new and thriving organizations are less organizational and more ideological in nature. They are more organism than organization. They more resemble movements than structures. And it also appears to me that leadership has much more to do with tapping into the potential of the adherents than empowering a designated few.

Another thing I have noticed is the shift from hierarchical organizational structures to emphasis on community within mild structure. In a world characterized by wireless voices, text messages and global conferencing, the emphasis on community has become a huge factor in determining the success or failure of any movement. Depending on the measure of connectedness experienced by adherents, loyalty to a movement or organization can intensify or fade.

I think that's why the community aspect of GCPN has been such a drawing card for churches and organizations who are involved. The last facilitator training for GCPN was a warm reminder of the strength of community in mission. In a two-day conversation between the seven churches represented in the room, not only did we find camaraderie and friendship, but we also discovered the strengths of each mission leader and the corporate giftedness of each church that would benefit the movement as a whole. I left the training experience enriched by the people who were there and my ministry enhanced by the resources in the room. I knew when we walked out the door that the world Christian movement would in some way be strengthened by the fact that we had all come together.

As a missions leader I am challenged at this point in my calling to focus a lot less on what I personally possess in terms of leadership skill and to focus a whole lot more on what adherents to the Jesus movement have to offer to the Kingdom at large. If we want to tap into the power of God, then let us tap into those who possess His Spirit. If the Spirit reveals the mind of God to those who possess His Spirit (I Cor. 4:5-16), we as leaders have failed if we do not seek out the mind of God through the people of God. The key to Global Leadership is to seek to harmonize and implement the collective wisdom of the church which possesses the mind of Christ.

Wisdom is not the only resource the church possesses. What about the Spirit gifts and the skills of individuals and corporate bodies? I like to think of leadership from a Wild Bill Hickok point of view - we lasso the wind of the Spirit of God among his people not to control it but to ride upon it. If we have determined the strategy of our church or organization without assessing the gifts and skills of our people or without looking at our corporate giftedness as a whole, we have grossly miscalculated our potential and our end goals are nowhere near the mark God has set for us.

God has recently led my church into a very complex partnership in which each corporate partner has a unique giftedness that can be utilized to transform lives and nations. Within each partner organization lays the unique gifts and skills of multiple people with a heart for the same cause. The realization of the gifts and the encouragement of the collaborative partnership to use our gifts has been a magnet to draw in new partners. The beauty is - nobody owns it. Well, God owns it. But each of us realizes that the system as a whole would be much weaker and less effective if not for the contributions of each partner. In the end, the God of all resource will get credit for that which only He could have orchestrated.

Leadership is not about me. It's not about you either. Leadership is about being a part of us - whoever your us may be. So you want to be a global leader? Start by dropping your bucket into the deep wells of the lives that surround you and draw out that which may be hidden in the depths. You will be empowered by what you find. Your mission will be strengthened and the Global Kingdom will expand. Trust God and trust those He has placed around you.

Together in the Kingdom,


Cindy

Please click on the links below to explore these training options:

Pastors’ Vision Trip (West Africa)

October 2009

A teaching tour/vision trip for pastors and missions leaders.

Contact Cindy Wiles or Jerimiah Smith for more information.

Healthcare Missions Conference

May 7-9, 2009

Sevierville, TN

Sponsored by Baptist Medical Dental Fellowship

http://www.bmdf.org/

Join the Restore Hope Partnership

Project Restore Hope is intended to bring hope and sustained health

to the nation of Sierra Leone through unified strategies with

Sierra Leonean and other international partners that result

in transformed lives, stable infrastructure, social

responsibility, and capacity for development.

Current partners include: Buckner International, Evangelical College of Theology,Sierra Leone, FBC Arlington, Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone, GCPN, Louise Herrington School of Nursing, UTA Dept. of African Studies, UTA College of Engineering, UTA College of Liberal Arts, UTA School of Nursing, UTA School of Social Work.
For more information contact the GCPN office at (817) 276-6494.

Sahara Challenge Training Conference

June 6-13, 2009

Sahara Challenge takes place June 6-13 in Atlanta, GA.

Following the training, visit the Muslim world abroad

in Lebanon, Turkey, Indonesia, London or North Africa.

Or spend a week in a Muslim community stateside

in Atlanta, Minneapolis or Detroit.

Sponsored by Crescent Project

2009 Muslim Background Believers Conference

October 2-3, 2009

Sponsored by Gospel for Muslims (GFM)

http://mbbnetwork.com/

GCPN Facilitator Training

May 22-23, 2009

First Baptist Church of Arlington, Texas

Led by Dr. Mike Stroope

http://www.gcpn.org/facilitator_training.html

God's Plan, My Plan

by Dr. Dennis Wiles
Chairman of the Board of Directors, GCPN

God has a plan. Isaiah describes the intentionality of God's faithful plan in chapter 25 as marvelous things, things planned long ago. Isaiah's prophecy about God's future plans declares-

On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples...
on this mountain he will destroy the shroud
that enfolds all peoples,the sheet that covers
all nations; He will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will Wipe away tears from all faces. (Isaiah 25:6-8)

Yes, God has a plan. Therefore, any plans you or I have must be painted against the backdrop of God's eternal plan of redemption for all peoples. This is the joy and the challenge of leading our churches to be missionally formed. There is no higher call or purpose than to participate in God's plan and to lead our churches on that journey. The temptation we often face is to limit our plans and dreams to our own abilities and our own resources. We must pause to realize that God has already painted the future and our role is to fill in the fine details. He places the brush in our hands to fulfill that portion which he has pre-ordained us to do. Thus, we paint with freedom and with the blessing of God as we join him in what He has already planned. The only limitations on the gospel are those we place on it. While painting, we do not gaze into our own resources or ingenuity, but we gaze into the mind and heart of God.

God is not required to provide for my plan. But He does provide for His own plan. As long as what I am doing is contributing to the accomplishment of His plans, the resources of God are available to me. When I come to believe this, the wealth of the Kingdom becomes accessible. I can view the Kingdom as a whole and join in on Kingdom endeavors. God thinks comprehensively. In order to join him we must have grand ideas. Rarely does God think small scale. God thinks God-sized thoughts and dreams God dreams.

I am convinced we are often impressed with the wrong things. We focus on Pharaoh and not on Joseph. The power and plans of Egypt were temporal. But God was fulfilling His redemptive plan. Egypt was successful. But God's provision was not for Egypt. It was for Israel. He was not providing for Egypt's plan. He was providing for his own plan and used the resources of Egypt to accomplish His own will. When it was time for God's people to accomplish His plan, all resource was available to them.

The limitations we place on the power of the gospel are self-imposed. The church must cease thinking from our limited perspective. If we can touch our horizon, it is one we have painted on our own canvas, not the one God has painted on the canvas of his plan. Why would we want to live our lives within the confines of our own horizon? If you reach your own horizon, you have accomplished your own goals. If you are moving toward God's horizon, you and your church will go places you could have never imagined in your wildest dreams. One is chaff. The other - of eternal immeasurable worth.

It is God's plan for all peoples that keeps me from giving up on a church-based model of mission. In spite of our imperfections, I strive to maintain the same level of confidence in the church that Christ had when he said, upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. If I lose faith in the church as God's means of reaching the world, I am falling short of the mind and will of Christ. The church must be led, formed and empowered. With Christ as the head, I have no doubt these are reasonable tasks.

If you need to be reminded of the power of the gospel or the incredible resiliency of the church I pray that this will be a time when you experience a renewed vision of God's plan for the church. It is time to join in on the grand faith venture to take the gospel to all nations through all possible means. God's vision is grand enough. The church is sufficient in Christ and the gospel possesses all power for the salvation of all peoples.

The GCPN Board of Directors and staff value your partnership on this Kingdom journey. For those of you who are new to the network - welcome. For those who have been enduring through the seasons of formation and definition, thank you. For those who have given counsel and shaping guidance - we are grateful. Let us press on together with patience and endurance toward the horizon God has set before us. Let us be found faithful!

Together in the Kingdom,

Dennis

More Thoughts on Strategic Networks

Mission networks have always amazed me. You probably have had similar experiences - you turn on your computer, pull up your email to find a note from someone who was referred to you by someone else because you have an affinity for the same people, are working in the same area or because they have heard of what you are doing and want to be a part of it. I call it the God-web. When I am asked, How do you two know each other? or How did you get connected to that? - I always respond - it's the God-web. God has a way of bringing together Kingdom people who will benefit from affiliation.

It has been a dream of mine for several years to simply promote connectedness between people, organizations, networks, churches and those with common affinities. How much could be accomplished and more wisely stewarded if we had knowledge of what others in the Kingdom are doing among those we are called to reach? How can we encourage these types of connections among those who are working in various regions of the world? How much more strategic and effective might your church be in mission if you were to find out what God is already doing and join Him in it?

Case in point - my church recently got hooked into a partnership of various organizations - some of them secular and some of them Christian in nature. The magnet that drew us all together was a love for the people of a particular war-torn country. My church's interest arose out of a commitment to a particular people group in that country. However, we have found ourselves invested in a partnership that includes two major universities, a large U.S. city government, an international Christian orphan care agency, a U.S. non-profit agency, two churches and a few retired missionaries who can't get a country out of their hearts. As God drew these entities together, we learned of evangelical organizations that were already invested in the same place. After a couple of emails and phone calls, our network merged with an existing network with similar goals. They had more recent experience in our target area. What I learned in just a few conversations will save me hours and volumes of research. From interaction with others, we will develop an informed strategy that meets real needs and focuses on what God is already doing.

Stan Parks initiated a conversation about strategic networks in the last GCPN Communiqué entitled, The Body of Christ United for the Great Commission. I would like to continue that conversation from the church's perspective. If your church is asking any of the following questions, you will understand the beauty of strategic networks:

• How do I know where to send my people who feel called to mission?


• We can't just send someone out by themselves. They need team and community. Who is going to provide this for them?


• How do I make sure that my church is doing strategic mission?


• We feel called to work among the X People, but where should we begin?


• What can the North American church do to fuel other nations who are doing mission?


• How can we foster networking among the various individuals, groups and churches working in a specific region?

When a young woman in our church had completed her training for cross-cultural service, she clearly understood that God was calling her to a specific country. Because we have a strategic catalyst working in that region who makes it his job to be aware of the many places God is moving and working in his region as well as the needs in various areas, he was able to direct this young woman to a place of service in the country of her call. This is only one small part of the role our strategic catalyst plays in his region. He serves as a connector, networker and catalyst for workers from many nations who desire to partner with one another to reach the UPG's. What if there were 12 such catalysts in various regions around the world? What if there were 12 or more strategic teams made up of folks who were willing to share resource, knowledge, expertise and live with the commonality that should characterize Kingdom people?

GCPN desires to promote regional strategic networks by helping to identify strategic partners and provide them with the additional resources needed for strategic meeting, planning, communication and new works. In regions where these partners cannot be identified, we desire to place a catalyst to develop strategic teams. You can assist this process in several ways:

1. Pray for God to create a desire for partnership among Kingdom people in each region.


2. Identify individuals who might be willing to serve as catalysts for each region.


3. Give to provide resource for connectedness and strategic structures.

For more information on strategic teams, contact Stan or Cindy at info@gcpn.org

Let us be one in heart and spirit. To God be the glory.

Cindy Wiles, Executive Director

The Body of Christ United for the Great Commission by Stan Parks

Stan Parks
The Global Body of Christ is experiencing an unprecedented harvest while facing an increasingly complex and hostile world. An astounding upsurge in missions involvement is often counterbalanced by lack of strategy and long-term thinking. Our efforts are sometimes undermined by widespread apathy and tunnel vision as well as increasing fragmentation and lack unity in the global mission effort.

It is crucial that we create a better system of communication and cooperation for the sake of God's vision. We need to knit together a more effective "Great Commission nervous system" that will allow better coordination and cooperation as the Body of Christ reaches out, especially to the untouched ones.

Those in this nervous system are people with servant hearts who share some common beliefs:

God is both the beginning and end of missions. . .

Missions was birthed in His heart as He is a Missionary God reaching out to a lost humanity. The end of missions is the worship of God as is shown in Revelation 7:9-10 : After this, I saw a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands, as they shouted, "Our God, who sits upon the throne, has the power to save his people, and so does the Lamb."

The Body of Christ is both the source and goal of missions. . .

The gathered community of believers, often called the "local church," is the source of missions and, yet, that has often been forgotten in the last 200 years of the modern missions movement. At the same time, the "sent-out" church of missionaries, tentmakers, and mission teams/agencies are also a key part of the church, a truth often obscured by poor theology and a lack of communication and coordination between the "sending" church and the "sent-out" church.

The goal of missions is to see the Body of Christ birthed, expanded, living and serving holistically within a people, tribe, nation, language, and/or place. Ministry that does not see the church birthed is often valuable, but until the church is established and extended, the goal of missions has not been reached. By this criteria those groups having little or no access to the gospel are the heart of the Great Commission task today.

Key "strategic connectors/facilitators/catalysts" with servant hearts and a Kingdom of God agenda are vitally needed. Because the number of Christians and the number of churches and organizations involved in missions is growing rapidly worldwide, it is critical that we identify and better resource existing "strategic facilitators" and recruit new ones to help make the most strategic impact possible. These people can be funded and supported by a variety of churches and organizations and, yet, "seconded" to the Body of Christ to be neutral honest brokers of relationships and connections. A worldwide network of these "strategic facilitators" sharing information, knowledge and relationships could be the heart of a powerful "nervous system" that would help the Body of Christ more effectively address the Unfinished Task of World Missions.

One Scenario:
Ethnê is a global movement of leaders (3/4 non-Western) seeking to reach all the unreached people groups of the world - more than 4000 groups with 1.8 billion people with little or no access to the gospel.

This map shows the world's regions
for the Ethnê prayer initiative.

What if GCPN were to help create 12 Ethnê regional strategy teams focused on:

1. an understanding of the status and progress of gospel work in each unreached people/region/city/nation in their region;
2. knowing who was involved in UPG ministries in the area as well as recruiting and helping train new partners;
3. serving existing efforts and catalyzing new consensus-based partnerships committed to engage each unreached population segment;
4. a multiyear strategy for serving teams as they seek to evaluate and better implement their efforts;
5. developing country and bloc strategy teams.

A beginning team might include the following roles/functions:

• Prayer coordination
• Researching
• Partnership Facilitation
• Strategic Development and Catalyzation

GCPN churches could help make this happen as a gift to the global Body of Christ.

We could help by...

• working together to identify strategic team members who are already in place in each region, or placing people in these key strategic positions.
• funding the efforts of strategic teams and promoting partnership.
• building and using the prayer /communication infrastructure that will serve as a global "nervous system."
• making use of these regional teams to ensure that our own efforts are strategic as we address the unreached peoples of any given region.

We invite you into a season of prayer to consider these things.

Together in the Kingdom,

Stan Parks, Strategic Catalyst SE Asia

God is both the beginning and end of missions. . .

Missions was birthed in His heart as He is a Missionary God reaching out to a lost humanity. The end of missions is the worship of God as is shown in Revelation 7:9-10 : After this, I saw a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands, as they shouted, "Our God, who sits upon the throne, has the power to save his people, and so does the Lamb."

God is both the beginning and end of missions. . .

Missions was birthed in His heart as He is a Missionary God reaching out to a lost humanity. The end of missions is the worship of God as is shown in Revelation 7:9-10 : After this, I saw a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands, as they shouted, "Our God, who sits upon the throne, has the power to save his people, and so does the Lamb."

The Body of Christ is both the source and goal of missions. . .

The gathered community of believers, often called the "local church," is the source of missions and, yet, that has often been forgotten in the last 200 years of the modern missions movement. At the same time, the "sent-out" church of missionaries, tentmakers, and mission teams/agencies are also a key part of the church, a truth often obscured by poor theology and a lack of communication and coordination between the "sending" church and the "sent-out" church.

The goal of missions is to see the Body of Christ birthed, expanded, living and serving holistically within a people, tribe, nation, language, and/or place. Ministry that does not see the church birthed is often valuable, but until the church is established and extended, the goal of missions has not been reached. By this criteria those groups having little or no access to the gospel are the heart of the Great Commission task today.

Humble Pie, Anyone?

I’m not sure if this happens to you, but I find that I pick up life’s menu daily to find that the dessert listing always contains the option, Humble Pie. I have learned that voluntary selection of this option is a rather wise choice that keeps me in harmony with God and also with others. However, there seem to be seasons where I pick up life’s menu and find that all the entrées have been scratched through and someone has scribbled humble pie in the place of many much more desirable options. Unfortunately, I occasionally recognize that handwriting as my own. In other seasons, I feel that God is asking me to consume more humble pie than I feel any one person should be required to eat – as if I am being force-fed humble pie for the purpose of transforming me into the image of the One who was perfect in humility. But I typically find that the further I stretch myself and the busier my calendar becomes – I seem to eat the dreaded stuff more frequently and in larger quantities than I can stand.

Such was the case this week. If you received the apparently unedited version of the GCPN Communiqué that was sent out from the GCPN office a few days ago, I hope that you did not find wading through the swamp of misspellings and poor use of punctuation a total loss. Perhaps you could print this version of the Communiqué and take it with you on your next international flight as a replacement for your Sudoku puzzle book. However, if you are maintaining a tally sheet of errors – you may want to take plenty of paper along.

The truth is – buried in all of the grammatical disaster of that Communiqué were three great opportunities you will want to consider. Please click on the links below to explore these training options:

• God’s Amazing Church Planting Movements Conference
  October 15-17, 2008
  First Baptist Church of Richardson, Texas
  Sponsored by BGCT, GCPN, Impact Indonesia, Mission to Unreached Peoples and First Baptist Church of Richardson
  http://www.gcpn.org/CPM-Training.pdf
  


• 2008 Background Believers Conference
  Let Us Love One Another
  September 26-27, 2008
  Park Cities Baptist Church
  Sponsored by Gospel for Muslims (GFM)
  http://www.gcpn.org/GFM-2008-MBB-CONF.pdf
  


• GCPN Facilitator Training
  August 14-15, 2008
  First Baptist Church of Arlington, Texas
  Led by Dr. Mike Stroope
  http://www.gcpn.org/facilitator_training.html

I pray that your summer has been full of Kingdom success. Enjoy the watermelon and ice cream... and if you’ve never tried it you might want to sample a small taste of the Humble Pie.

Together in the Kingdom.

Cindy Wiles