Better Together: Finding Good Partners

By Tom Castor | May 13, 2023 |

We have been blessed from the very beginning of Clear and Simple Media to have had great partnerships. The first, and one of the most productive, was with Pastor Pham Linh in Vietnam.

It was while teaching a group of “underground church” pastors near Ho Chi Minh City, that Linh’s encouragement led to the writing of “the little book.” That book would become an important part of training Linh’s network of pastors and preparing pastors-in-training for ordination. The book would be translated into five other languages for workers in Vietnam and Linh’s network continues to make use of Simple Truths for the New Believer to this day.

Since that time, we have had multiple requests to engage in new projects and become involved in new places. Those requests have produced good results – 600,000 books in print in 50 languages. We have not kept track of the eBooks that have been distributed. All of our content is now on our primary delivery site (www.asimpleword.org), where English speakers from anywhere on the globe can take 15 online courses. Anyone who completes all of them will have received a thorough introduction to both the Bible and a Christian Worldview. All of these projects have been done with and through partnerships with national pastors or missionaries embedded in the field. 

The vast majority of these have been effective, and satisfying, and have achieved the purposes we had in mind. And those experiences have helped us develop a list of filters that we have been using in recent years to decide what an effective partnership might look like. Here is a list. 

Potential CSM Project Partners must have:

1. Theological positions and ministry purposes that are compatible with Clear and Simple Media

2. A history of individual and organizational effectiveness in accomplishing their stated goals 

3. A network that assures the widest possible distribution and effective long-term use of the resources

4. Credible leadership capacity that assures a reasonable expectation of success

We currently are considering new projects that could help the church in West Africa, Portuguese-speaking areas in South America, and the Afghani Diaspora. All of those projects have come to us from people who have seen a need and believe that our materials can be part of the solution. But none of those projects can succeed unless we work with and through stable partners. Please pray that God continues to provide them.    

Tom Castor

Thomas Castor, founder of Clear and Simple Media Group, is a seasoned writer and communicator who has been delivering content with clarity and simplicity for 30 years.