Partnering with the Global Church

In our globally interconnected world, mission depends on healthy partnerships across the globe. Many talk about wanting to partner with the Global South, but we're not always sure what that looks like on the ground. Too often North Americans have acted as if we don't need others to do what we think God has called us to do. And our witness overseas has suffered as a result.We need to live out a more humble posture of missional partnership, marked by true mutuality and service. Nikki Toyama-Szeto and Femi Adeleye look at how we can partner well across cultures. People on mission together from diverse perspectives are a picture of how the body of Christ works together in the world. Addressing tricky issues like power, finances, transparency and trust, the authors provide best practices and models for ministry that reflect the servant heart of God.God invites us all to engage in his work, and he gives us partners for the task from around the world. Discover how we can do more together than we could ever do on our own.Includes questions for group discussion.



Femi B. Adeleye (M.Th., University of Edinburgh) is a Christian minister and ordained priest in the Anglican communion. He is associate general secretary for partnership and collaboration for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES). He previously served as regional secretary for the IFES movement in English-speaking Africa. Adeleye has also been a featured speaker at the Urbana Student Missions Conference and spoke at the Cape Town 2010 Lausanne Congress.He is the author of Preachers of a Different Gospel (Zondervan, 2011). He is currently pursuing a doctorate in African Christian history from the Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology in Ghana.



Nikki A. Toyama-Szeto is senior director of biblical justice integration and mobilization at International Justice Mission (IJM) in Washington, DC. She provides strategic leadership to the IJM Institute for Biblical Justice and IJM's Global Prayer team to ignite passion for biblical justice among the global church. Prior to joining IJM, Nikki worked with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for twelve years, including serving as program director for InterVarsity's Urbana Student Missions Convention. She is the coauthor of Partnering with the Global Church and More Than Serving Tea.

Problems with Partnership


One Body, Many Parts


Why Do Partnership?


Partnership Takes Practice(s)


Power Undermines Partnership


Practicing Partnership Before It Happens


Fruits of Partnership


Questions for Reflection


Resources