I Was Made for Partnership
By Karen Fancher
Assistant Professor, Global Development and Justice
One of my greatest privileges has been partnering with people at various stages of life and connecting them to possibilities in God’s Kingdom. I have the honor of journeying with college students seeking to develop their world views and callings, with graduate students preparing to invest their lives in humanitarian service, and with people who have faced incredible hardship, trauma, and war. As someone who has a passion for global development, I have thought deeply about what “partnership” means, and I’ve discovered that being a partner means learning from the strengths of others and seeking to participate in the good work that God is already doing in our midst. But how did I get here?
I can tell you with certainty that I didn’t always know that I was made to be a partner, but I have always had a love for people. I came to faith in Jesus at a summer camp when I was eight years old and, from the time I was young, I had a deep desire to help others and an acute awareness of God’s love. I was the kind of kid who constantly wanted to know more about God and serve Him, but I also struggled with insecurity in my ability to make a difference.
When I was in junior high school, I went to a youth camp where a pastor challenged us to be the hands and feet of Jesus and to allow God to work through us. He encouraged us to be conduits of God’s love and hope to others, which I immediately felt a desire drawn to. I wanted to invest my whole life in ministry, but I also was aware that I was very inadequate. I had never been exposed to people who worked in full-time ministry other than the pastor up in the pulpit who looked very far away. Since I didn’t see myself being a pastor, I couldn’t imagine what a life of serving God in full-time vocational ministry could look like.
Towards the end of high school, my class did an exercise where we wrote about what we thought our lives would look like in ten years. At the time, I wrote that I thought I would be an occupational therapist in Colorado and married with three kids. While those aspirations were all good things, God had a different plan for my life. It was in high school that He planted the first seeds for my love of culture and language. In my sophomore year, I began to study the Russian language and culture and I became aware of Christians in the former Soviet Union who were persecuted for their faith. By studying their stories and other cultures, my sense of connection to the Global Church increased and I realized that the Church was multi-dimensional. The topic was so captivating to me, and I wanted to learn more about how God was at work and how other Christians experienced God around the world. As I learned about how others lived out their faith, I began to grow in mine.
Continuing in my love of different cultures, I attended Washington State University where I majored in Elementary Education, specializing in Bilingual/Bicultural Studies with a minor in Russian language. In my sophomore year, my best friend suggested that we join a study abroad program in Mexico. At the time, I thought it was crazy for someone who was studying Russian to spend a semester in Mexico, but I was persuaded to go, and we packed our bags and traveled to Morelia, Mexico.
While there was no big, spiritual impetus for me to go to Mexico, I ended up loving my time there and God used that experience as an opportunity to teach me more about my calling. While some of the other study-abroad students felt frustrated or overwhelmed with the cultural differences, I came alive as I discovered commonalities and established friendships across cultural and linguistic boundaries. Getting to know people from another background, learning to speak their language, and seeing the world from another perspective brought me so much joy. I realized that I was a part of something much bigger than myself and my current experiences. I was part of a global community.
When the semester ended, sadly, I left Mexico and returned to the U.S. Coming home, I missed the warmth of Mexican culture and the joy of stepping into new experiences every day. I found that I wanted to continue to grow in my use of the Spanish language and develop practical tools to engage with multicultural communities, so I decided to study bilingual education and, after I graduated from college, I started working in public schools as a bilingual teacher. Through that role, I discovered that I loved teaching and I found it to be a fulfilling vocation, but I also longed to be able to share more about God's love with my students.
The following year, I was provided a wonderful opportunity to work and study in Madrid, Spain for a year where I completed a Certificate in Spanish Studies at the Universidad Complutense. Towards the end of my time there, I again felt a desire to step into full-time vocational ministry, so I met with my pastor in Spain. I said, "Pastor, I want to serve in cross-cultural ministry. I’m even considering coming back to Spain in a ministry capacity. What could that look like?" He told me that it would not be best to return to Spain, as it could be perceived as imposing American culture (he noted that, in Spain, the most effective ministry was taking place through other Hispanic people). However, originally from Argentina himself, he said that God was working in powerful ways in Argentina and that it would be a good place for me to learn about God and to serve with a local community.
After Spain, I moved back to Washington and met with my pastor, David Lanning, who helped me to consider the possibilities around going to Argentina. Pastor Lanning advised me to serve with a church in Argentina for one-to-three years to confirm whether or not I was called to vocational ministry. He said, “If you have confirmation that God has called you to a life of ministry, your time serving with a church will help you to understand the areas in which you need to grow. Then you can come back and study in seminary and focus upon those areas.” Not only did offer me valuable advice, but Pastor Lanning also prayed with me, encouraged me, and believed in God's work in me, which was a huge blessing in my life. He helped me see the possibilities that I couldn't see. Even though I knew no one in Argentina and it felt like a faraway pipe dream, as we prayed, God opened a door for me to go.
In (YEAR), I moved to Argentina where I worked with a ministry called “Amor Para Los Niños”, partnering with an Argentine church on a project to build a school and reach out to children in the districts, or barrios. During my time there, as a young, American woman who had no idea what she was doing but had the heart to serve, I was extremely blessed to have people come alongside me to teach and partner with me. Pastor Alejandro Juzchuk, was one of those people. He would sit with me most evenings after dinner, telling me stories about God's work in his life and the church in Argentina. He took the time to help invest in my formation; he asked me deep questions, and he modeled what it looks like to trust God, to walk with humility before Him, and believe in the power of the Spirit of God at work in our lives.
During my time in Argentina, I met many people who had experienced deep emotional and spiritual wounds, and I became aware of the relationship between counseling and discipleship. I saw a need for integrating Scriptural truth with practical strategies to support others on the journey to healing, so, after serving in Argentina for three years, believing that God had confirmed my calling, I returned to the U.S. to attend seminary. I had a deep hunger to delve more deeply into the Scriptures, so I earned a Certificate in Bible from Multnomah Biblical Seminary and then went to Columbia International University and graduated with an M.A. in Counseling and an M.A. in Bible.
After I graduated from seminary, a pastor at my church was on the Board of World Relief, and he invited me to join a team traveling to South Sudan. At that time, Sudan was embroiled in a horrific civil war. The population in South Sudan was experiencing hunger, displacement, and death on a massive scale and they were crying out for help. I had the honor to travel and meet some of the leaders who were seeking to support their communities in the midst of suffering. It became clear to me that I did not know how to support them, but also that I could not walk away.
When I came back from Sudan, I obtained my Doctorate of Intercultural Studies, focusing upon the impact of war-related trauma in South Sudan and seeking to understand the impact of the trauma of war and consider practical ways to provide support in communities. As an outsider who has not experienced war, my understanding is still quite limited, but a growing knowledge around the topic provides a helpful foundation for partnership. Even so, I’ve become increasingly aware that degrees, resources, and knowledge, though helpful tools, cannot bring healing. Restorative relationships with God and others are the foundation for healing and transformation. Since my first experience in South Sudan, I have had other opportunities to travel to Sudan and engage with people there, and I always go as a learner, an encourager, and a sister in Christ. In the process, I’ve been taught about perseverance, faith that is not defined by experience, eternal perspective, community, and grace.
I have to keep the perspective, especially as a counselor, that it is not my job to fix people, which is good news because I could never accomplish that. Some of the people that have most impacted my life are people from South Sudan who have lived in the context of war, many who are refugees who have lost loved ones. If I ever thought that it was my job to fix their situations or erase their pain, I'd be defeated and, of course, I would fail. In those vulnerable places, my calling is to seek God alongside them. In doing so, there is beauty in the journey, and it becomes a partnership.
In my travels, I have discovered that ministry is never one-way. When I partner with others, my life is enriched and forever changed. I have had the privilege of walking with people who have faced incredible hardship; and learned from their faith, innovation, and perseverance. I have walked into places where there has been conflict, and I've seen the impact of the trauma and the power of resilience. I have been able to partner with others as they work to strengthen their communities and engage in the process of healing. In the process, I continue to learn and be shaped as well.
All of these experiences come together in the work that I am doing now as an Assistant Professor in the Master of Arts in Global Development and Justice program, or MAGDJ as we call it. In my role today, I have the joy of partnering with students in those spaces as they discover how they can participate in this world of development, locally or globally. I finally found a role that allowed me to combine my love of culture and seeing God at work in the world with teaching. The world of development is broad and there is a wide spectrum of skills needed, contexts for service, and opportunities to engage. In our program, we study faith-based solutions to complex situations in the world, and we invite people to be a part of those solutions.
Our students come from different undergraduate disciplines and varying life experiences, and as I teach them, I learn from their experiences and insights as well. We work together in a community and learn from each other. As a professor, I get to facilitate an environment where students build upon their unique gifts to engage in the world of global development and justice. I consider myself a partner in my students’ journeys, and I get to be a bridge of connection for other partnerships to be formed. It brings me great joy to connect my students to global leaders, organizations, and communities, which often lead to more possibilities for God's redemptive purposes.
A key aspect of partnership is humility; recognizing our interdependence and our ultimate dependence on God. I mentioned that I grew up feeling insecure about my preparedness. As a child, I felt small and foolish, and there were times in my adulthood when I felt similarly. I used to see the immense need of the world and feel completely inadequate to respond, but that fear focused on my abilities, not God’s. I had to learn to trust in God's faithfulness and that I was not responsible for the big picture of my life, He was. As long as I devoted myself to the work He put before me and trusted in His mercy and faithfulness, He would weave the pieces together beyond that.
When I traveled to Argentina or Sudan or when I began to teach, there were times when I felt like perhaps someone else would be better suited to help than I was. I was intimidated and sometimes discourage by the fact that others were much more gifted, insightful, or educated than I am in many areas. Now, I consider it wonderful news when I hear about the gifts of others. God does not call us to compare ourselves with others but to be faithful with what He has entrusted to us. We are each called to devote ourselves to our vocation and giftings and to support others to flourish in theirs. It’s beautiful that we each have unique callings that are fulfilled in compliment with others. The gifts of others are amazing and worth celebrating and supporting, and they do not take away from my own.
I was made to partner with people as they take steps of faith to pursue their calling. God called me to come alongside others, maximize their gifts, and help connect them to the resources and possibilities that they need to participate in God's redemptive purposes. God created me to be a visionary who is energized by stepping into places where others might feel overwhelmed. I can see possibilities for God’s redemption where others might see hurdles—that is a gift of God’s grace for those who work in humanitarian and development contexts. However, visionaries often fall on their faces without practical implementers and planners partnering with them. We need one another. Alone, my gifts are limited, but together, the possibilities expand.
God is always at work, He's always redeeming, and He designs His people to accomplish their callings. At the community level, on an individual level, and on a personal level, we all have a role to play in His restorative purposes in the world. God made me to connect people to opportunities and to see possibilities for His work in the world. He made me to be a partner because He is a partner. God partnered with me when He came alongside me and helped me discover what I was made for. It is my privilege to follow His lead and partner with others.