Any journey, particularly a complex one such as when travelling to an unfamiliar place while on holidays, needs a direction and an imagined destination. Such a sense of where to go provides, even the most uncertain traveller, with a moment of satisfaction. We have made it – we are at our destination! This imagined destination, explored by research in books or on the web, once imagined, is at the moment of arrival made real. Along the way there are signs or marker points of progress. Such moments of clarification enable the ‘child within us’ to know we are almost there, and to experience the relief (joy) of having made it.
God calls the church on a journey. It is a journey of being part of the coming of the kingdom. This hope and expectation is captured in the statement in the Lord’s Prayer ‘your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven’. This is a vision of a new reality (destination and goal) and the elements of the kingdom are found in the coming together of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).
Jesus proclaims this kingdom – where those in need are cared for and where both practical needs and spiritual needs are met. This kingdom is one we work for, and hope for. It leads us to tell the story of God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ. It leads us to live out the compassion of Jesus in action.
This vision of new life led to the establishment of Global Mission Partners and affirms the balance in our work – developing and growing churches, compassion for those living in poverty and a desire to challenge the forces that marginalise people and exploit the earth.
Wherever we work in relief and development GMP has active church partnerships. Our work with Indigenous Australians invites us to be in solidarity with local church ministries and to take seriously the marginalisation of Australia’s first peoples.
We are called to name and address the forces of injustice and to point to the signs of the presence of God’s kingdom, the marker points of progress in mission.
GMP does not do this work on our own or in isolation. We work in partnership with people in Australia and overseas. We undertake what we do in the confident trust in the grace, provision and strength of God’s goodness. This partnership is practical and spiritual. Both these dimensions are vital to the integrity of our work and strengthen our Christian witness in the world and we are fully committed to both!
John Gilmore,
Executive Officer