In the global age, grass-roots religious organizations seek to better collaborate across national and cultural borders. Through the theoretical lens of mutuality, this dissertation explores the nature and quality of interpersonal relationships inherent in faith-based, philanthropic partnerships between the United States and Cuba. Mutuality is a framework for understanding human relationships; it describes when people regard one another as whole persons and a relationship as something of inherent value. This study explores the value of relationships, the processes by which they form, how they relate to institutional structures, and the role of a common faith in bridging other cultural differences. Religious communities are considered the primary civil society institutions with national reach in Cuba. The research site for this study is a Protestant civil society organization on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba called Campo Amor. Campo Amor operates both nonprofit and for-profit activities and receives substantial American donations through a foundation in Spain. Over the past 20 years, Campo Amor has multiplied from two to more than 120 house churches. Before COVID-19 it welcomed more than 500 American partners each year. Using a co-created, phenomenological qualitative design, this study will provide knowledge into the role of relationships in philanthropic, faith-based partnerships, particularly between regions of geopolitical hostilities. It advances understanding of the role of religion and relationships in philanthropy across a variety of cultural differences. Among other findings, interviewees described mutuality as 1. the commitment to sharing; 2. Intersubjective relationships which enter into and care about the thoughts and feelings of another; and 3. the habitual approach that emphasized living one's way into patterns of thought, versus thinking one's way into patterns of life.

Cross-cultural specialist Mary Lederleitner brings missiological and financial expertise to explain how global mission efforts can be funded with integrity, mutuality and transparency. Bringing together social science research, biblical principles and on-the-ground examples, she presents best practices for handling funding and finance.

The mission organization ABC works long term with local partners to see sustainable transformation in the countries they are working in. In this dissertation I argue that the concept of building communities of intercultural mutuality can dramatically improve and strengthen the relationships of ABC missionaries and their local partners. In a thorough review of the literature around mutuality, I found a gap between what was beautifully written about mutuality and the real-life messiness of trying to carry it out. This study then, aims to answer how intercultural mutuality can be practically implemented in the lives of missionaries and their local partners. In the literature, there were impediments to mutuality; namely a deficit in self-awareness, a flawed view of power and a lack of skills to successfully engage locals in cross-cultural settings. In light of what the literature suggests mutuality is and isn't, I propose the following definition for intercultural mutuality, which I will use throughout this dissertation. Intercultural mutuality is intentionally building an interdependent thriving community between diverse cultures through mutual respect and care, working to make the partners whole and complete in contextual collaboration so that others can know Christ. Through the methodologies of semi-structured interviews and focus groups in my field research, there surfaced three main areas to strengthen the relationships between ABC missionaries and their local partners in motivations, posture and skills affecting mutuality. The motivation to learn, a posture of humility and having strong skills all contribute to successful mutuality relationships.

Previous principles of hierarchy, inequality, and duty that defined the relationships between husband, wife, and children have been challenged and often replaced by more fluid bonds of equality, intimacy, emotional self-disclosure, communication, and mutual trust. The key question that has emerged for our times, then, is how exactly do families sustain genuine mutuality, democracy, and strong relationships? Figuring out good answers to this question is the major theme of this book and the origin of the title Mutuality Matters.

Duane Elmer offers the tools needed to reduce apprehension, communicate effectively and establish genuine trust and acceptance between cultures while demonstrating how we can avoid being cultural imperialists and instead become authentic ambassadors for Christ.

Both interculturalism and multiculturalism address the question of how states should forge unity from ethnic, cultural and religious diversity. But what are the dividing lines between interculturalism and multiculturalism? This volume brings together some of the most prominent scholars in the field to address these two different approaches. With a Foreword by Charles Taylor and an Afterword by Bhikhu Parekh, this collection spans European, North-American and Latin-American debates.