It insists that the old assumptions be challenged and that we listen to companions interpret their vision of mission and reality. It means talking together, listening, and consulting with one another about how we will walk together in God's mission. Accompaniment emphasizes relationship before resources. Development of programs and allocation of resources flows from how companions relate, rather than visa versa. Accompaniment binds companions more closely to their Lord and further informs their mission.
Accompaniment emphasizes relationship before resources.
A primary reality of accompaniment is that the conversation is no longer between a giver and a receiver but between two equal churches each of which has gifts to give and to receive. Equality also applies to territory. In accompaniment each church has the primary responsibility for mission in its area. In conversations between the churches, each will describe its gifts for outreach in its own country. A fruitful outcome of the conversation is the discovery of the other's gifts that may assist the companion church in God's mission in its own country.