How did an international movement come to be headquartered, not in New York, Sydney, Geneva or London - but on a dusty backstreet in the heart of Asia?
Today's non-profits need to know where their most important resource base is located. And for the majority of non-profits, their resource base is primarily financial.
If you want to dig more wells or build more orphanages, you need money, lots of it. Fundraising becomes a major focus. Boards get stacked with the wealthy and connected. And building a headquarters near Western donors simply makes sense.
But what if your most important resource wasn't money, but the young Christians of the developing world? And what if, rather than using money to motivate them - you appealed to their compassion and concern for their own people? Suddenly money becomes a secondary concern and people come first.
Where would you build a base?
Would you not build a headquarters in a place where leadership decisions could be made in the midst of the action? Would you not build a headquarters in the middle of a continent bursting with energy and passion?
Would you not, as Jesus did, leave behind comfort and go to the people - pitch a tent in their midst, and raise up a movement?