By Randal Dick
Superintendent of missions
Here's how your church can join in a sister church relationship.
Something noteworthy is happening in our fellowship. We are experiencing a marked increase in the number of congregations or groups of brethren who have expressed determination to show love and support to other brethren.
In our fellowship the concept of brethren helping brethren is nothing new. We are a giving church.
However, the increased desire for one group of brethren to walk in a sister church relationship with another is a manifestation of the spiritual transformation that Christ is accomplishing in us.
We have received enough inquiries that I am devoting this segment of Windows on the World to explain sister churches. This article will also explain how to get started in a sister church relationship.
Our congregations are already sisters through the blood of Christ. Many times in family life, one family member comes alongside another in a supportive role.
The same is true in a sister church relationship, which may vary from walking alongside a sister and talking to her to picking her up and carrying her for a while.
Following is a description of different types of sister church relationships:
* Encouragement--Brethren from one church area communicate regularly with brethren who need contact and encouragement.
An example of this type of sister church relationship is that of Kibirichia, Kenya, and Elkhart, Indiana.
Kibirichia is isolated, and brethren there rarely see other brethren. The Elkhart congregation considers Kibirichia its sister church and regularly fellowships by correspondence.
This ministry of encouragement is especially effective in areas where there are active groups who regularly gather for intercessory prayer. Please note--this relationship works whether the sister church is far away, or next door.
Maybe some of our rural or suburban churches could adopt the inner city churches and intercede for the safety of the young. Just a thought.
* Assistance--Members in one congregation come alongside their brethren and make it possible for them to surmount an obstacle.
The type of assistance provided may take many forms. Money is often the most efficient in that it is useable anywhere and is most versatile. But sometimes knowledge or skills are what is needed in order to enable a group to overcome a major obstacle.
* In 1993 most Rwandan brethren fled for their lives and ended up as refugees in Zaire. They lived without food or shelter for a time.
Eventually we managed to locate them in Goma, in eastern Zaire. The Australian brethren, upon hearing of their plight, rallied around the Rwandan brethren and provided the means to secure safe water, decent shelter (tents) and adequate food. This act of love saved lives.
* The brethren in Montreal, Quebec, made a lasting difference in the lives of brethren in Haiti. They provided the means by which the Haitians produced vanilla extract.
The brethren in Montreal then sold the vanilla on behalf of the Haitians. This was a sister church program before there was a sister church program.
* The Wichita, Kansas, congregation wanted to make a difference in the lives of some less fortunate brethren. They contacted us.
We made them aware of brethren in Mindanao in the Philippines who are trapped in an unending cycle of poverty.
The Wichita brethren realized that education would help some of the sharecropping farmers make a better living.
When they found that about $300 would provide a year's quality university education, they formed a sister church relationship and committed to help three individuals a year for a minimum of three years.
One of the first Filipino members helped by the Wichita church is Rey Collamat, a farmer who must support five children as well as elderly relatives. He is graduating from a university this year.
It's hard to tell who is benefiting the most in relationships such as these, the receiver or the giver. The Filipinos are encouraged and inspired and are praying for the Wichita brethren.
The Wichita brethren are appreciative that their gift is doing so much genuine good! God is awesome in his ability to get the most out of little efforts.
Sometimes the sister church arrangement is about helping brethren gain the skills to either improve their quality of life or to help spread the gospel.
* The Kenyan churches have been working for more than two years to develop a magazine that can be used by the members to help expand the reach of the gospel in Eastern Africa.
However, they lacked the skill and experience in desktop publishing to produce the magazine.
We inquired at Ambassador University whether any students might have the skills and willingness to self-fund a trip to Nairobi for three months volunteer work. The task was to train Kenyans in desktop publishing.
Adam Powell, a graduating senior, put his career and marriage plans on hold, came up with the money and headed for Kenya. He provided a tremendous boost to the church in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Malawi.
I visited his home congregation, Orlando, Florida. When I told them what Adam was doing, they adopted Adam's service as their own. They committed to contribute their loose change between Pentecost and the Fall Festivals to defray Adam's travel costs.
The other day, I saw the fruit of the generosity of Adam and the Orlando church. The first issue of a simple, but effective magazine arrived. The Orlando brethren, through Adam, helped breathe life into that ministry.
This points up the fact that a sister church arrangement may be long-term or short-term. Some will want an ongoing relationship. Others will help for a specific time and purpose.
It's a simple yet profound program. Paul said that in such a ministry we "glorify God" by our "obedience to the gospel of Christ." He said that our ministering to the saints not only supplies their needs, but overflows with many thanksgivings to God (2 Corinthians 9:12-13, NRSV).
It pleases Christ when one community of Christians comes alongside another and makes certain that they never walk alone.
Won't having a sister church program, especially with headquarters involvement, just create another bureaucracy? That's a valid question. There is also a valid answer.
Brethren in sister churches need to enjoy a direct relationship. They need to know each other s names. They need to pray for one another--by name--on a regular basis.
We want the receiving church to know exactly where their help comes from. The assisting brethren need the encouragement of knowing that they are making a significant difference in the lives of brethren.
But several problems tend to crop up and undermine the process. This is where headquarters is there to help.
* Assistance tends to be concentrated in areas that receive publicity. Several years ago, places where Westerners attended the Feast, or places that were featured in Feast films got help.
But many did not realize that some brethren off the beaten path had needs every bit as great or greater.
Headquarters helps ensure effectiveness with a list of the needs of our sister churches around the world and makes this information available.
* Unrealistic expectations are a cause of conflict. Across distance and cultures the potential for misunderstanding increases dramatically.
Mutual accountability is the best prevention. So, we have produced a simple document that serves as a covenant, known as a Walking Agreement. This formalizes a specific purpose, over a specific period of time, with mutual accountability.
We have found that when any of these accountability issues are ignored there is a high risk of disappointment, disillusionment and occasionally, bitterness.
In order to help ensure the success of a sister church relationship, we will confirm that the key accountability issues have been considered. Then headquarters will step back and the two sister churches are ready to walk together.
1. Consider whether you should be a sister church. A congregation or segment of a congregation should feel deeply moved to become a sister to another congregation. It is not obligatory, and it is not for everyone.
2. Talk with one another and with God about how your congregation can make a difference in the lives of another.
3. Choose a relationship that is both meaningful and realistic for the size and resources of your congregation.
Susan Dick, in Church Administration, maintains and updates a list of potential sister churches. We will set priorities on the needs so that help can go where it will have the most long-term benefit.
If a congregation already has ties to a certain part of the world, or already has a worthy cause in mind, we encourage that relationship.
4. Direct contact should be made between responsible parties representing both sister church congregations. The arrangements should be discussed until both the assisting and the receiving sisters are satisfied and committed, and the arrangements are clear.
5. Once arrangements are finalized, both sister churches complete a walking agreement. Each retains a copy and reviews it periodically.
Nov. 19, 1996, Worldwide News, page seven
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