Usually that response allowed me to explain that there was an independent and autonomous Malagasy Lutheran Church at whose invitation I was here and to whom I was accountable. If the conversation continued, I would often admit that while I felt deeply called to this ministry and hoped I was being of some help to the Malagasy church, I realized it was really only a training ground. I would seek to integrate what I had been learning about mission and ministry from my Malagasy brothers and sisters. Unbeknownst to me, what I was articulating in my own imperfect way was a paradigm of global mission described by our ELCA Division for Global Mission as accompaniment . Walking together in God's mission implies mutuality, a companionship of equals.
Accompaniment literally means walking together side by side.
Its biblical roots are found in the Luke 24 Easter story of the friends walking on the road to Emmaus. Elements of that story provide images of the journey together in God's mission. We walk with each other in a journey where the presence of God is revealed to us. God in Christ accompanies us in the fellowship of word and meal. Walking together in God's mission implies mutuality, a companionship of equals.