Collaboration Across Borders

Partnership is a defining strength of the OC Global Alliance. Last year alone, we recorded more than 500 unique partnerships around the world. While we can sometimes accomplish a task on our own, the growing complexity of our world—and of the contexts in which we serve—means we can do far more by working together. This past month, I had the privilege of connecting people and resources in a collaboration involving six of our global mobilization centers and three other ministry partners. The result was nothing short of remarkable.

It began during a virtual meeting with our diaspora ministries team, which brings together regional representatives serving immigrant populations around the world. Our team in Spain shared an urgent need for Russian- and Ukrainian-language Bibles for ministry among refugees who had relocated to southern Spain because of the war. On that same call, we learned that our team in Ukraine needed Bibles in Latin American Spanish for ministry among soldiers from Colombia. These were unusual challenges, so we shared the requests through several of our prayer networks.

People began reaching out through their networks. Within a month, financial assistance arrived from Canada and Hong Kong, while our Colombia and Hub teams followed leads that resulted in two organizations donating and shipping every Bible requested. In all, more than 10,000 Bibles were donated and sent to front-line missionaries, equipping them to engage people on the move with Scripture in their own languages.

This story captures both the remarkable opportunities and the unique complexity of diaspora ministry. A need voiced in one part of the world activated prayer, relationships, funding, and resources across several others. No single team could have produced this outcome alone. But through cooperation among ministry partners and reaching out to our networks, thousands of Bibles reached those serving on the front lines—a powerful reminder that we truly can go farther together.