It was great to be in Adelaide last weekend to launch a new partnership with Rostrevor Baptist Church, as they join us in supporting the vital, transformative ministry of our Cambodian partner Peace Bridges.

I am looking forward to being back in Adelaide this Sunday as we celebrate another Cambodian-focused partnership with Clovercrest Baptist Church.

Both partnerships highlight how our Baptist Mission Australia team is proactively working with churches to tailor participation in God’s global mission, aligned to an individual church’s strategic priorities and preferences.

To help churches navigate this space we are focusing tailored church partnerships around Four P’s.

People
Where churches give to support a specific Baptist Mission Australia intercultural team or team member as they serve in a unique local community across the world or Australia. This is an investment in long term, incarnational work. You can read more here >>

Projects
Where churches support practical ministry initiatives of team members and ministry partners through giving to specific projects, aligned with our four key causes and identified ministry outcomes. You can read more here >>

Partners
Where churches stand alongside Baptist Mission Australia as together we support partner ministry organisations. Across our rapidly changing world we see the Holy Spirit fostering a new era of global mission partnership and collaboration, and here’s our local churches can share in these global south focused initiatives >>

Places
Under this fourth ‘P’, some churches are choosing a focus location to invest in, as is the example with Rostrevor and Clovercrest above. Often this relates to a country the church already has strategic links with. This option allows the church to develop long-term links with the location and local ministries, including short-term visits.

Through this Four P approach there is wide scope for Baptist churches across the country to partner with Baptist Mission Australia in areas aligned to strategic mission priorities or locations, people they have long-term connections with or a preferred type of project or partnership.

Increasingly we see that partnership will flow from tailored relationships, and so we’re working hard to connect with pastors, leadership teams and mission committees in churches across the country. We want to serve as a global mission broker, serving Australian Baptist churches in seizing global mission opportunities.

If you’re reading this article and would like to chat more, then please send an email to our National Church Relationships Manager Lisa Cornish. She will be very happy to connect and chat about tailored, mutual partnership opportunities.

At the heart of this engagement is our desire that local churches won’t merely support global mission initiatives, but rather they would fully, uniquely and strategically participate in God’s mission across the street and around the world.

As we strengthen existing church relationships and forge new relationships with other churches, we’re keen to build mutually beneficial mission partnerships. And here’s some of the practical ways we can assist.

• Supporting your church to engage with your local community more effectively, including equipping people in crossing cultural and religious barriers with the good news of Jesus.
• Helping raise global mission awareness and the importance of churches to be committed to local and global mission.
• Providing opportunities for your church to focus attention, prayer and financial support on one or more of the Four P’s described above.
• Sparking learning and curiosity through training in areas such as missional reimagination, cultural intelligence, integral mission and contextualisation.
• Coming alongside people in your church discerning the possibility of intercultural mission service, including 1:1 mission coaching and awareness courses.
• Inviting people from your church to share in Global Exposure or other short-term mission experiences.
• Having one of our gifted communicators speak at a church service or event.
• Giving your church community free access to a wide range of high-quality digital mission resources.
• Inviting your church’s participation in May Mission Month and Walk the World.
• Lending our experience to support your leaders in the development of a dynamic mission strategy or assisting with mission support policies.
• Connecting with your pastor for a coffee.

Please reach out to me or Lisa or me if you would be interested in more details on any of the above engagement points.

At Baptist Mission Australia we see that every local church, no matter its size or setting, is invited to actively join God’s global mission movement—raising up, sending out, receiving, partnering, learning and praying as part of the worldwide body of Christ.

We’re here for our Australian Baptist movement. We’re here to cheer on churches in local mission and partner in global initiatives. We’re here to serve. We’re here to spark new missional thinking. And these things always start with a conversation! So please reach out if we can assist your local church community to sharpen your global mission vision.