The Pacific Wa’a Covenant

Pacific Wa'a Covenant

Signers of the Pacific Wa’a Covenant holding the same paddle

The Pacific Wa’a Covenant

History:

The Pacific Wa’a Partnership emerged relationally as mission leaders from Wycliffe, SIL, the Seed Company, YWAM, the University of the Nations, Island Breeze, and the Jesus Film Project reflected together on:

  • Wycliffe’s Vision 2025 (which aims to see a Bible translation project commenced for every Bible-less language group in the world by the year 2025);
  • YWAM’s Vision 2020 (which aims to see a Bible made available to every home in the world in an appropriate language and means by the year 2020); and
  • The needs of the 400 plus Bible-less languages across Micronesia, Polynesia and Melanesia.

Together they committed to do their part to eradicate Bible poverty in the Pacific by embracing this

Mission Statement:

We commit ourselves to do all that which is necessary to see every Bible-less people group in the Pacific have the Word of God available in their heart language by 2020.  Our desire is to see the Word of God have a transformational impact in the lives of the people and their communities. We cherish the hope that in each language community, God will draw people to himself, and will establish bodies of believers who will use the translated Scriptures for holistic discipleship and for outreach into every sphere of society.

The Pacific Wa’a Partnership Values:

Motivated by God’s heart for all nations that they might worship him in their heart language through a knowledge of his Word, we – the Pacific Wa’a Partnership – covenant to embark on a spirit-led journey that practices appropriate protocols while nurturing relational partnerships through respectful listening and honouring cultural identity, along with empowering an intrinsic desire for both local ownership and global inclusion leading to a lifestyle of incarnational servanthood. These seven values embraced by our partnership are further developed thus:

  • We value the Spirit-led Journey: the Holy Spirit of God has called us to embark on a journey to bring his Word to the peoples of the Pacific, and we look to him to guide our wa’a (canoe) into his current that will accomplish his kingdom purposes. The tempo of our paddling will be determined by his urgency as we are guided not by our own goals, but instead seek to discern his will together. Isaiah 11:2-4; Romans 15:3-6.
  • We value Local Ownership: for God’s Word to take root in a transformational and sustainable way, local people need to participate in and provide leadership for Bible translation activities in their own communities. Therefore every Bible translation project will seek to engage, equip, encourage and involve leaders from the community in the local initiative. Jeremiah 29:7.
  • We value Global Inclusion: God is raising up his church around the world to reach the nations with his Word in every language. Our wa’a (canoe) is built to be inclusive of all peoples and cultures. We will include any part of the Body of Christ that is called to engage in this movement, extending an invitation for all whom God calls to join us. Psalm 133:1-3; Revelation 7:9.
  • We value Relational Partnership: living and working together in unity and harmony honors God and one another. We encourage each partner to use their unique gifts to accomplish our common goals. We will not seek our own way, but will honor and care for each other as God’s ohana. Romans 12:3-6a; Philippians 2:2.
  • We value Appropriate Protocol: God has established a proper order in his creation that extends to historic protocols that govern Pacific island cultures. We will intentionally honor and follow these protocols as is pleasing to Christ in order to advance his purposes and his kingdom protocols in these beloved nations. Acts 17:26-27.
  • We value Respectful Listening: godly wisdom and insight comes through humbly listening to the voice of God and actively listening to others. We will take time to wait on the Lord and respectfully listen and include the input of others before we act. James 1:19.
  • We value Incarnational Servanthood: our Lord is sending us out to follow his example of servant leadership by being the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We will serve lovingly and sacrificially in each place where he sends us. 1 Peter 2:21; Philippians 2:5-8.

 

This was signed by all participants from Wycliffe Global Alliance, YWAM, Seed Company, SIL, Jesus Film and Island Breeze on Sept. 16, 2011.  We anticipate others signing this as well.