EBOOK
About
One of the biggest challenges in global mission work is money not merely the need for it, but working through cross-cultural differences surrounding how funds are used and accounted for. Cross-cultural missteps regarding financial issues can derail partnerships between supporting churches and agencies and national leaders on the ground. North Americans don't understand how cultural expectations of patronage shape how financial support is perceived and understood, and Western money often comes with subtle strings attached. So local mission work is hampered by perceived paternalism, and donors are frustrated with lack of results or accountability. How do we build financial partnerships for effective mission without fostering neo-colonialism? Cross-cultural specialist Mary Leder leitner brings musicological and financial expertise to explain how global mission efforts can be funded with integrity, mutuality and transparency. Bringing together social science research, biblical principles and on-the-ground examples, she presents best practices for handling funding and finance. Cross-cultural partnerships can foster dignity, build capacity and work toward long-term sustainability. Lederleitner also addresses particular problems like misallocation of funds, embezzlement and fraud. This book is an essential guide for all who partner in global mission, whether pastors of supporting churches or missionaries and funding agencies.
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Reviews
"A useful introduction to the subject, one that should be read by anyone engaged in cross-cultural partnerships or contemplating such a partnership. The mission community urgently needs more resources like this."
Steve Rundle, EMQ, July 2010
"In matters of money, American evangelical mission has certainly made a mark in many positive ways, but our methodology in applying the funds has not always made such a positive mark. In this volume, Mary Lederleitner pulls some of those skeletons out of our dusty closets for a fresh examination of what we did right and what we could have done better. She offers many practical ways to avoid pitfalls as we move toward a more globalized mission partnership in the twenty-first century."
Gilles Gravelle, director of research and field project development, The Seed Company