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A lesson from the India Network
Posted by
Bill
,
08 May 2012
·
998 views
I am just coming off a two day meeting called the India Network. I am encouraged by the efforts of a local church and their district to identify individual groups working towards a common goal but in unintended isolation from each other. The isolation is not intentional but simply the byproduct of not knowing these other organizations exist. The India Network is a group of like-minded workers, church leaders and friends of India who are striving to network and connect these groups in order to maximize the effort.
This is a good model but in many ways not natural to north America and other individualistic cultures. The “working alone” mindset is an advantage in some situations but for the majority of work going on in the name of proclaiming Jesus to the ends of the earth it is an inefficient use of time and resources. As in the example above, many times the intention of an individual or group is not isolation but become an isolated unit because they have not put forth the effort to see who else is working in the same field. In this case, a group of workers concerned about the same subject went from an estimated 10-12 showing up to an animated group of 25 who could not get enough of each other’s success stories and methods of accomplishing the task.
Institutional boundaries and fabricated deterrents to increasing density within an effort go against logic, and simplicity. The point is that, time is short, resources are best used in combined efforts and not looking for others who are focused on the same line as we are is something we must examine. Our total motivation should be to serve Jesus in a way that joins him in his work. The C&MA has a long history of doing this and continues to do so today. We are intent on seeing where He is at work and joining Him.
This is a good model but in many ways not natural to north America and other individualistic cultures. The “working alone” mindset is an advantage in some situations but for the majority of work going on in the name of proclaiming Jesus to the ends of the earth it is an inefficient use of time and resources. As in the example above, many times the intention of an individual or group is not isolation but become an isolated unit because they have not put forth the effort to see who else is working in the same field. In this case, a group of workers concerned about the same subject went from an estimated 10-12 showing up to an animated group of 25 who could not get enough of each other’s success stories and methods of accomplishing the task.
Institutional boundaries and fabricated deterrents to increasing density within an effort go against logic, and simplicity. The point is that, time is short, resources are best used in combined efforts and not looking for others who are focused on the same line as we are is something we must examine. Our total motivation should be to serve Jesus in a way that joins him in his work. The C&MA has a long history of doing this and continues to do so today. We are intent on seeing where He is at work and joining Him.
- David Manske and elizabethcog like this
