Agarnet (Partnership)

One of my favorite texts in the New Testament are these words from Paul to the people of God in Philippi:

“I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:3-6).

The idea of partnership is very compelling to me. Partnership implies mutuality, teamwork, cooperation, and interdependence. Partnership has been a core value in our community of faith since our first days. To emphasize this concept we do not have church membership but instead invite people to consider becoming covenant partners.

This week we begin to invite people into partnership with the people in Guraghe, Ethiopia. During our journey in Ethiopia, I asked our World Vision host if there was a word in Amharic that captures the idea of partnership. He told me that while there is not an exact, literal word in their language, the word, “agarnet” comes closest to capturing the idea of mutulaity, cooperation, and interdependence.

One of the primary vehicles to build this agarnet will be through Hope Child sponsorships through World Vision. Our dream is to sponsor at least 50 children in the Guraghe ADP (Area Development Project). By pooling our gifts together ($35 per month) in this one region, we can impact not only the lives of these 50 children and their families, but we will also be able to bring real help and hope to the people of Guraghe through projects involving clean water, food security, HIV and AIDS care, education, and micro economic enterprise (the five fingered plan of World Vision all held together in the glove of faith).

I have a dream of one day returning to Guraghe with a group of people from our community of faith and meeting our sponsored children and celebrating with them and the World Vision staff the gift of life. Would you consider joining us in this venti dream? Drop a comment and I would be glad to help you connect to our dream.

Dream venti…