By Mutua Mahiaini
I’m often surprised by how easy it is for human beings, myself included, to overlook opportunities that are right in front of them.
Perhaps we don’t recognize the unique opportunity that God has given us to reach the nations. Think about this: By God’s generational faithfulness, The Navigators has become a Worldwide Partnership. We have culturally organic ministries in 112 nations led by people who speak about 60 languages. Within this diverse movement, God has raised up thousands of men and women who serve college students, secular business professionals, people in rural and urban settings, the poor and oppressed, and those who follow major religions such as Islam and Hinduism.
This access to the nations is complemented by our unity. God has joined us together in Him, in the Scriptures, and in our Navigator Core (our Calling, Values and Vision). At numerous international forums and missions consultations, hundreds of Navigators from around the world have bonded in sincere friendship and a shared commitment to our Navigator Calling—as true brothers and sisters in the faith.
Do we recognize how this God-given cross-cultural network of friendships can greatly increase our capacity to reach the nations?
The Power of International Partnering
Partnering is at the heart of God’s design for his followers. In John 17, Jesus prayed “that [we] may be one as [He and the Father] are one” (vs. 11). Jesus said that unity is vital for us to make Him known in the world (vs. 21-23). God’s love for the nations, therefore, compels us to actively serve one another in love, to collaborate as true partners.
Likewise, in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul emphasized that we are members of the same body, given gifts to serve one another in partnership. We are called to demonstrate our unity in Christ (the head) by using our diverse gifts and experiences to serve one another. Just as the physical body functions best when all the diverse parts are working well together, we gain tremendous capacity to reach the nations when we serve one another and build each other up; that is, as we partner with each other in love.
I encourage you to watch two short videos about the power of partnering on the “Videos” page of this site.
How and Where to Serve
There are many good examples of cross-cultural partnering among Navigators, but I believe we can do more to help one another. We often don’t know about partnering opportunities outside our immediate sphere of influence. Without that awareness, we miss out on ways to strengthen our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world.
To help overcome this obstacle, we have launched a new international partnering page. Every month, we will post new partnering opportunities from around the world. If you subscribe on that page, you’ll automatically receive this information by email as soon as it’s posted online.
The partnering page also displays our annual “Missions Sending Priorities,” a list of our most strategic long-term missionary needs in each region, and our annual prayer guide, which is designed to help us partner in prayer with one another throughout the year.
I believe that we will all be blessed by learning how to partner more and better. I envision stronger relationships, increased financial and prayer support, and more people working to help us fulfill our Calling. Are you ready to take the next step?
