At Global Mission Partners, we say that we “know the locals.” It’s one of the things that distinguishes us. Although we are spread across the globe, we forge deep relationships, and we partner with people and projects through more than funding.
This is a Christ-like characteristic. Jesus had a grand, big-picture mission to save the world. But he did that through talking to and relating to people individually, as well as with crowds of people. Just open the Gospels and you’ll see Jesus taking notice of the people the crowds passed by: women, children, those afflicted by leprosy, disease, demonic activity, poverty or marginalisation because they were considered ritually ‘unclean’.
Jesus ate with them, shared with them and he sat with them. He knew the locals, and the locals knew him.
GMP takes this seriously. Paul encourages us to model our ministry after Jesus, and to notice and value individuals: “Now, you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27). If we are the body of Christ, we will notice individuals who the rest of the crowds pass by.
Each of us has a role to play in showing the love of Jesus, and that can be expressed differently: whether that is financially supporting the training of evangelists (ICP), the provision of safe water (COCOA and embody), or building the strengths of Indigenous youth (IMA). It can be by praying for our partners, or embarking on a partner visit to one of our partners, here in Australia or around the world – places as diverse as tropical Fiji, sub-Saharan Zimbabwe or the bustling streets of Vietnam.
We all have a part to play. GMP has the privilege of walking with a diverse range of people, and one of the gifts we have is to know them and to be known by them, to be Christ to them as they are Christ to us. We invite you to explore how you can partner with GMP to represent the body of Christ to the individuals who the crowds pass by.
Craig Brown,
Deputy Executive Officer and Director of International Church Partnerships