Ministry partnership is not a one-way arrangement in which missionaries receive and financial partners give.
That mindset can make support raising feel transactional and leave both sides with an incomplete picture. Biblical partnership includes mutual giving, receiving, prayer, encouragement, friendship, and shared participation in ministry.
Frank and Marion’s partnership
Frank and Marion supported our ministry, but their relationship with us extended well beyond financial gifts. When they faced practical needs, we looked for ways to serve them. Their concerns became matters for prayer and care, just as our ministry needs mattered to them.
That relationship showed us that people who give financially are not accounts on a list. They are people God has placed in our lives, and our opportunity to minister to them can be as significant as their opportunity to participate in our work.
Partnership asks not only, “What can we receive?” but also, “How can we give?”
Over decades, many ministry relationships became enduring friendships. Shared history, prayer, hospitality, encouragement, and care gave the partnership a depth no fundraising transaction could create.
Changing perspective changes practice. Learn about partners’ lives, pray for them specifically, celebrate with them, and offer practical help when possible. Treat the relationship itself as ministry rather than as a means to fund ministry.
Excerpted from Never Do Fundraising Again: A Paradigm Shift from Donors to Lifelong Partners.