the honest truth about life at the intersection of culture and christianity
Peeling away the romanticized veneer on the hard reality of an unforgiving yet most fulfilling ministry, these are the thoughts and experiences of Christian Evangelical missionaries currently serving full-time in Western Europe.
Sometimes hard truths about mission realities just have to be stated, and this video does just that under a minute and a half. Though the speaker is from a Native American tribe, his words could easily be from the mouths of our nationals who have shared similar stories; they have experience both the issues of pictures and charity. Best quote: “Very few people come for the sake of getting to know us and building relationship. And of those who do come for that, even less ever come back.”
By the way, as informed as I thought I was about missions, I have to admit I hadn’t considered the spiritual needs of the Native Americans until missionaries to their tribes commented on this blog in the past. (HT: Almost An M)
The turn of the new year always gives us pause for reflection on the past and contemplation of the future, so the start of 2010 appears to be no different. As I remember lessons learned over the past few years as a missionary, one theme keeps recurring: we are shaped by the environment in which we find ourselves, no matter how much we may resist. And I have been very much influenced by my mission field’s culture which is an “in the moment” people group, something I like to call “The Culture of Now”.
Of course, the title is not indicative of a culture of wanting things or change to happen immediately (i.e., “I want it now”) but of a state of being in the moment, relishing the experience and not focussed solely on the future. In an earlier cross-cultural course I had learned of the differences in such cultures, and I am grateful to have understood the technical differences before entering the mission field.
It was actually the change of decade that prompted me to take note of my personal attitude shift. Reflecting on where I was (physically, spiritually, and emotionally) as 1999 slipped into 2000, I started to realise that I had been a much more agitated individual. Always focussing on the next task, job, location, or goal, I wasn’t actually interacting in the moment. Time with people, though often a pleasant thing, was seen as an obstacle to progress; because it was a necessity to interact with others, I felt at the time that it must be kept to a minimum. While I would be present at an activity or function, mentally I was worlds away, going over tasks in my head or thinking constantly about what sequence of events needed to happen once I got out of the situation. Continue Reading…
While 2009 has been a year (and part of a decade) of ups and downs, both personally and collectively, the past 12 months have been possibly the most fruitful time in my writing since leaving school many, many years ago. I believe the 72 posts on this blog for 2009 are representative of my creative faucet finally allowing my thoughts to flow. It’s been quite a journey, and I’m humbled how many have joined me along the year.
A quick look at stats shows that individual visitors to Missionary Confidential more than tripled since the year began, and followers on the RSS feed and Twitter have shown rapid growth from the early single-digit days. This is mentioned not to make me look good but to show that so many of you have joined in the conversation; there are over 200 comments made on this blog in 2009 (these are legitimate ones from real people; I pluck out all the spam and junk). You come from countries such as the States, Taiwan, Canada, the United Kingdom (I know it’s not a country), Thailand and Australia, and I thank you for your participation and readership.
For the last Missionary Confidential post before we dive into a new decade, I offer links to some of my favourite 2009 posts from this blog. These are not reflected in the “Our Best Posts” or “Popular Posts” lists you see to the right columns of the blog: Continue Reading…
This is my last original post of 2009, so I just wanted to say thank you to all readers of this blog and wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year wherever God has placed you.
Someone finally asked the right question this year: “Are you staying home for Christmas?”
Over the past few Christmases, many of our nationals have inquired if we were returning home for the holidays. We always responded that we were staying home for the holidays, not to be cute or trite but to honestly convey how we feel about where God has placed us.
Many national Christians in our field automatically expect us to return to the States for the holidays—because that’s what missionaries from the States have done. Sometimes being called a “missionary” carries a lot of assumptions, one of which in our field is the missionary treating this as an assignment or resume padding, someplace to exit out of or get away from time to time because you’re not from this mission field and have no interest in continuing ministry here. Even Christian friends in the States assumed we were going to return next year because (this is an actual statement) “don’t all missionaries run out of money by this point and need to come back for fundraising?” Continue Reading…
I get a lot of emails from people considering missions work. If you have already determined your field and are in the process of going, Kevin over at the Life.Outpoured blog has a great series about how to prepare and learn about your mission field’s culture in “Scoping Your Mission”. Each of the posts are a wealth of information, especially if you are not being sent or prepped by a mission agency (like myself). Navigating the differences between cultures (even within same-minded Christian cultures in different countries) is probably the most important thing I’ve learned as a missionary. As someone who “scoped” our field in a similar way, I can strongly recommend these suggestions. Take a look at each:
“Read Their News”(I still do this in the field, even several years into our mission)
Additionally, I think these suggestions are equally important for anyone in ministry (especially church planters) who may be beginning work in another part of their home country. It may not technically be a “foreign country”, but states (and areas within states) can be considerably different in certain cultural habits, focus or issues. As a native Californian, I learned this when befriending a co-worker of similar age who was originally from Louisiana; our life experiences and expectations could not have been more different, and most of this was inherent to the local cultures in which we grew up. Even Californians can be on different extremes depending on their city or county.
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield. […]
Tai Fu on In the Culture of NowI really do long for a slower, and simpler pace of life. In Taiwan everything moves at the speed of light and I had thought things moved pretty...
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