Rethinking Cross-Cultural Partnerships (Interview with William Strickland)

What do we talk about?

Jackson and Werner interview William Strickland, who challenges people to rethink their understanding of healthy cross-cultural partnerships. William is candid about the difficulties mission agencies face and the inevitable failures that are bound to happen when we don’t give intentional thought to partnership. He explains why missionaries often build functional “Walmarts” in their places of ministry.

While he agrees that we don’t want to foster unhealthy dependence, for William, the goal of partnership should also not be independence. Instead, it should be interdependence. We bounce around a common biblical metaphor—that of patron and client—and consider how it might help us think about cross-cultural partnerships in a more holistic way.

Who is our guest?

William Strickland is the President of Mission One. He is passionate about making this world more like the kingdom of God, especially in the most difficult places. William worked as an engineer before going into international ministry in 2014. He graduated with a degree in Engineering from the University of Alabama where he was a member of the football team, winning two National Championships under Coach Saban. He is currently working on a master’s degree at Missional Training Center, accredited by Covenant Theological Seminary.

Want to do deeper?

Here are some of the books we mention in the podcast.

Bruce Winters, Seek the Welfare of the City: Christians as Benefactors and Citizens.

David deSilva, Honor, Patronage, Kinship & Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture.

John Barclay, Paul and the Gift. A popular book on this subject is his Paul and the Power of Grace.

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself.

Craig Bartholomew, Ecclesiastes.

Kevin Fedarko and Richard Powers, The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History through the Heart of the Grand Canyon.

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