GUIDING PRINCIPLES
“Some other
top level guiding principles from our mission stand point- our core driver is
develop, empower, release. There are
some higher level things that go above Haiti that become ethos for us as a
mission. That is certainly one. The
ReachGlobal sandbox describes who we are, what we do, how we do ministry. An entry position for a consortium person is
having familiarity with the sandbox. … We’ve come up with a set of values,
principles that we’re applying to ministry.
We are trying to make decisions based on those values. We need to revisit those values so we can
adjust them, because we keep learning more, and we need to refine them. Haiti is this place of paradoxes. You try to apply the value, and but what
about this situation?”
Joe Casey
asked if he understood that the initiatives have to come from the Haitian
people.
“Ideally, as we develop healthy partnerships
and healthy relationships,” Mark pointed out, “it is actually something that comes
together. We’re working things
independently, and they come together.
It’s not our idea, not a program we’re coming to push. There’s nothing wrong with us having
ideas. There’s nothing wrong with
Haitians coming to us with ideas. It is creating an exchange in a good, healthy
way. We work together on, ‘Is this a
viable idea? How does it get pulled off
in a way that brings energy into a church planting movement that’s consistent
with the vision?’” The group members
speak to the idea with an equal voice, and we can test it.
Bruce added
indigenous ideas that sometimes they need to be refined so that it works down
the road. Steve said the Haitians want
to be at the table, so we are moving forward as a group, not as different
cultures. Bruce said there have been
Haitians at the table before, but they didn’t feel they had a voice. The Spirit works through unity, trust, and
relationships. We need a movement of
God. We don’t want the discussion to end
when the American talks.
Dave Hyatt
pointed out that the sandbox sets the parameters. “Is it a great idea in this context? Does it defeat larger aspects? The relationships and the people around the
table are critical, but the vision is more important than the folks at the
table.” If someone cannot attend or
church staff changes, it should not make a difference. Values are important. We must maintain clarity of vision. The other piece is that we need to raise
funds to get the right people around the table for the conversation. Haitians do not have the travel funds.
Our
worldview tends to be focused on problems and fixing the problems. That is an asset that we can bring into any
context. The real issue in Haiti is
about relationships (between God and man, man and man, and man and
environment). We need to think in terms
of restoration, healing, reconciliation.
Those are the dynamics that play into relationships. It is easy to focus on initiatives, but we
need to evaluate them to see if we are feeding into the vision. We need to maintain a right altitude as a
leadership team and not lose sight of the big picture. Dave Hyatt pointed out that we need to
address the heart and not the externals.
Initiatives
will affect both receivers and senders.
Some will be hugely impactful on one side and not the other and others
will impact the opposite side. We need
bench marks to keep on target. Defined
results will take time over conversations.
We need to be released from the ministry model that measures success
with building, bodies, and bucks.
Bruce
pointed out that the North American church needs a certain amount of strokes to
feel good about what they are doing to keep going. Dave pointed out the view current churches
might have and that we need to have some freedom from some typical goals like “x”
number of decisions. They need to be
released from the ministry models that says this activity equals success. This is the measure of our spirituality. It is a strength that we bring a level of
accountability. Dave said, “You can look
at Jesus. He wasted so much time. What the heck was He thinking? There’s a world to save and you’re just
hanging out praying, spending time with these guys. There are wins for us that we could not
quantify going in.” Mark summarized, “It’s
about relationships, trust and engagement.
We want both. We want to have
dreams and results. We want to try to
have focused energy and be strategic with resources, yet at the same time, we
want relationships. We want to be. One of the results can be the freedom to be
and develop relationships.” Rick
emphasized that we must be in it for the long haul. We are learning as we go and may make some
mistakes. It is a different model than
the traditional model. It is messy and
may take longer. Mark told us that with
the coffee meeting, laity are stepping up and taking leadership roles and
developing teams.
Jim Scott from
Constance Free shared his experience with starting Global Fingerprints and the
initial discussion on the area of the ag program focus. “We knew we wanted to be involved in the area
of child vulnerability and the area of ag development, yet at the time of
pursuing this interest, we did not have a Haitian partner at the table. A significant
part of this process flow is understanding what missional alignment looked
like; what develop, empower release looked like. We did the initial definition
work and held it with an open hand. We
used the term provisional, very intentionally, knowing that the purpose of this
front and definitional work is going to help us as we interact with potential
Haitian partners to see where there might be alignment. When we look at the whole area of worldview
development, leadership development, VA, that’s different because our Haitian
partner is at the table.” In March 2012,
he shared with ReachGlobal what Global Fingerprints was doing in the Congo and they
wanted Global Fingerprints to be in Haiti.
“We know that church multiplication, planting, worldview development,
leadership development, these things are identified priority areas. Second thing, not knowing who our Haitian
partner would be at the table initially, we put work into understanding the
essentials of alignment with our Haitian partner. What are the matters of theological
compatibility or a vision look like that reflected develop, empower, and
release, and key values, practices, and understandings in the focus area? How would we know if we are achieving
missional alignment?” He shared a
document from the ag summit meeting called the river. It
was the stream of flow that leads to transformation at the individual and community
level. The banks of the river are
defined by a particular area of focus (excellence in ag practices). In Global Fingerprints, it is the reduction
of child vulnerability in areas of education, nutrition, medical need, and
spiritual development. The practices
define the parameters of the flow of the river.
(Ag- self sufficiency) Farmers
explained their deeply held values.
Don’t know particulars without the Haitian partners. Key result areas are excellence in ag
practices, heart transformation, and community transformation. We seek wisdom from God on specific, realistic,
measurable, and attainable goals and work towards those goals, but we also have
faith goals. Things that only God can
do. We can proclaim the Gospel, but only God can convert the heart. Only God brings the yield.
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