Published here: https://www.diu.edu/jlcr/volume-4-number-2/
I attended a very friendly African American church. The adult Sunday School class resounded with biblical truth, and was permeated with humility. The pastor was strongly evangelical and missions-minded. He spoke of love and forgiveness from the pulpit. Yet he ignored me when walking by and I was the last one he acknowledged at the end of the service by the pulpit. Some years previous he had asked for my help to raise money for an addition to his church. Judging from the expensive cars in the parking lot at that time, instead I offered to teach a financial stewardship seminar at no cost—an offer not taken. The new addition was up and in use the day I came. Only God knows the reasons for the coldness, but finances perhaps had some part. Much mistrust between black and white clergy exists in America, with some very notable exceptions. Because Christ lives in all born-again Christians, we have the best chance of any group on the planet to be reconciled, through our oneness in Christ and through the grace He provides to forgive and love.
A new PowerPoint slide deck is posted HERE that you can download to help you teach Biblically why the so-called "Prosperity Gospel" is unbiblical, unhelpful, and unwise, for as the Apostle Paul said to the Galatians, "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!" Galatians 1:8&9 NIV.
RMNI has worked with many overseas partners in Africa, Asia and Southeast Asia since 1993. Can a fruitful partnership develop between Americans and other Christians, despite clear differences in what each brings to the table? Yes, if assumptions, expectations and goals of both are clearly understood and agreed upon at the outset and reiterated as necessary, and if the aim is to serve the other. There is no completely equal partnership between individuals or organizations, cross-cultural or otherwise. As in marriage, partnerships are complementary. Each brings strengths and weaknesses. Americans lack cultural intelligence, and knowledge of local languages and needs, but have money, educational resources, operational systems and technical expertise. Africans and Indians, for example, bring cultural and language proficiency, knowledge of local needs, networks, and often exemplary Christian lives, but frequently need what American have.