Paul writes,
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. (Phil 1.3-5)
The word he uses for partnership there is koinonia, a Greek word which many evangelical Christians will recognize. This is a word that is also often translated as “fellowship.” It implies that there is a relationship between two or more entities (in this case, between an apostle and a church), where there is 2-way communication and exchange.
With Paul and the church in Philippi, the transaction included, first, the Good News about Jesus, which Paul had preached, and which the Philippians had accepted and received. Second, it included material goods, as the Philippians had sent resources to help Paul while he was in a Roman prison, which he had gladly accepted and received (Phil 4.10, 14-18). Further, they had exchanged personnel, as the church had sent Epaphroditus to help Paul in prison, and Paul was intending to send both Epaphroditus and Timothy back to them to them (2.19, 25).
Last, but certainly not least, partnership, koinonia, includes prayer for one another. This is what Paul is engaged in even in the writing of this letter.
When Sonya and I were visiting churches, prior to our coming out to Cameroon, we talked about what we hoped to see in our own partnership with those churches who were supporting us, and it looks remarkably like what we see in Paul’s ministry.
Partnership for us has several elements, prayer being the first among them. I have an email group of prayer warriors whom I have asked to pray for us on an on-going basis. I try to send out prayer updates every couple of weeks or so, to keep people abreast of what is going on here, and what things need their extra prayerful attention. On our side, I certainly empathise with Paul’s sentiments here, as I am praying for our supporting churches each day. When I know about specific issues within the churches, I will pray for that; when I have no other information, I am praying and asking God to strengthen the churches so that they can fulfill his mission for them in their own Jerusalem. I see this as the most important part of our partnership.
Of course, we could not be here without the financial support of our churches, and many individuals and families, whose partnership with us includes giving money specifically to our mission. While the living situation here in Cameroon and Nigeria presents many challenges, they do not come from a lack of funds on our part. On our side, we are tasked with reporting back to the churches when we return to Canada on furlough. Last time was during Covid (when we came out on a hastily scheduled Canadian Evacuation Flight), and so our ability to travel to many of our churches was limited. Next year we plan to be in Canada and, Lord willing, the U.S.A., once more, and hope to be able to give fulsome reports to as many of our churches as we can. If all goes well, I hope to begin in the Vancouver area towards the end of summer, 2023. “To Allah muwi,” as we say (as God wills).
Then there is letter writing. I do not have too much time, or internet connection, to be as diligent in this area as I would like (I used to be very good at this when I was younger), but I try to do my best. When we were still in Canada I had this thought that I would like to do regular video updates, but the on-the-ground reality here says we do not have the internet service for that. Meanwhile, a couple of weeks ago we received a PDF file from a church, where they had scanned letters written by folks who had gathered for that purpose; that was a lot of fun to receive and read, and when you talk about spiritual uplift, sometimes it is those kinds of things that God can use most. There are also folks who write us regularly from Canada and the U.S., and it is always a joy to hear from them. Koinonia is connection, and this certainly helps with that.
Except for us coming back to Canada last year, we have not done much in the way of personnel exchange, but we hope that might change in the coming year. We are (possibly; TBA) looking to see a medical team next year. Its focus will, of course, be on the hospital ministry here in Banyo, but our hope is that we would also host small teams who are interested in a deeper partnership with our LRPG brothers and sisters.
Until then, I will be with Paul: thanking God every time I think of you.
J & S on Mission 