 “The problems are not the communities’ problems—they’re our problems! They’re not the government’s problems. The government can’t fix the problems because—although it may have a little bit of money—it has no love. Money does not solve problems. Love does! And if the government does it, God does not get the glory. But when the church does it with love, God gets the glory.”
Gary
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Operational Principles
The Disciple Nations Alliance is a Kingdom of God enterprise. The world’s mentality promotes competition for organizational territory and power. As a Kingdom enterprise, however, the Disciple Nations Alliance is not seeking power or glory, but the advancement of the Kingdom and the glorification of the King! Principle #2: A School of Thought, Not an InstitutionAlthough we recognize the importance of being organized, our primary goal is not to create a new institution. Instead, what we offer to the Church and the world is a “school of thought” or a set of ideas. We have consciously chosen not to build buildings or run schools; but we have chosen to participate in the spread of a set of ideas. To do this, we seek to partner with institutions that have existing infrastructures. Principle #3: Following God’s LeadWe are not trying to create opportunities for ourselves. Rather, we are trying to participate in what God is doing worldwide, follow His lead and not set our own agenda. We desire to form relationships with people and organizations that share our vision and passion and want to seek God about how we might advance the Kingdom together. We don’t put our trust in methods or formulas. Instead, we desire to be flexible and ready to move at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. As we sense the leading of the Holy Spirit we will, with His strength, take initiative to increase opportunities to share the vision God has given us. Principle #4: Working CollaborativelyWe seek to work collaboratively with like-hearted, yet different, organizations, believing that we will all be stronger as we band together around a common vision and purpose. When different organizations with different strengths and competencies work collaboratively, synergy is created—and the outcome is greater than the sum of the parts Principle #5: Getting Ideas Out as Widely as Possible We are seeking to spread a set of ideas into churches, Bible schools, seminaries, mission/church-planting organizations, discipleship movements, and relief and development organizations. Through these organizations, we seek to influence the various sectors of society such as law, education, health, economics, the arts, media, etc. Since we want to widely distribute these ideas, we hold them—and the materials in which they are conveyed—very loosely. Those who join with us need to share this conviction: they are responsible to distribute and disseminate materials and ideas, but should not control, own, or franchise Disciple Nations Alliance materials or messages for their respective organizations. Principle #6: Relating to Each Other in the Love of ChristAs we form deeply valued relationships with people and organizations to advance the school of thought, we want our relationships to be built on the basis of mutual respect and the love of Christ rather than on position, status, structure or control. We desire to follow the teaching of the apostle Paul who said, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:2-6). Principle #7: Optimizing Local ResourcesOur desire is to help believers discover the sufficiency of God by discovering and stewarding local resources rather than relying primarily on outside resources. We have found that, even in the poorest countries, local resources can be discovered and used. |