noun cul·ture // kul.cher
1) The beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time
2) A particular society that has its own beliefs, ways of life, art, etc.
My pal, Dave Miller, is as honest as any man I know. For years and years, Dave has run short term missions (STM) in Mexico. With Dave’s permission, I will share some of his most recent post at his web “notes from dave” at http://ailministry.blogspot.com/
Few things in long term cross cultural missionary work or service are, or should be as important as culture. In my experience in the field, and within personal relationships with hundreds of missionaries [both long and short term] the moment we cross a border we are entering into another culture, that essentially has, another culture. Sadly, in the field, and within personal relationships with hundreds of missionaries and pastors, the understanding of local cultures mores or less takes a back seat to all the other things that are believed to be more important.
Recently a group of tourists in Malaysia was hiking on Mount Kinabalu. One of the members of the group decided to issue a challenge to the others. Who could strip and stay naked the longest on the cold mountain top. Despite pleas from their guide to not do so, the group was soon buck naked on the mountain top.
What they didn’t understand was that this particular mountain is considered to be sacred ground by many locals. That lead to arrests after an earthquake hit the region, killing 18 other climbers. The people who stripped, the Deputy Chief Minister said, had disrespected the mountain by posing naked, thus causing the earthquake.
Now, we can argue all day whether or not their nakidity had anything to do with the earthquake, but that misses the point. If the travelers had understood the culture, or had listened to and respected the advice of their guide, they would not have been arrested and facing a host of charges and fines.
“Adventure’s in Life” focuses on giving others the opportunity to learn about the culture of the people they are serving. On one of their first missions in Guadalajara AIL Ministry Co-founder Grady Martine and Dave Miller took their team to the Cathedral of Guadalajara. As they toured the cathedral and walked on what for many people from Guadalajara was sacred ground, one of the team members came up to Dave.
“Dave” he asked, “why are we wasting time here when we could be outside witnessing and saving these people?”
Dave’s answer to the suggestion that “any time spent learning about the culture, is time taken away from “real” Gospel work, in my opinion, tells locals that their culture has no value. It is a prideful attitude that hurts, and ultimately builds barriers to the types of relationships we need to share about Jesus.”
It is easy to see the wisdom in Dave’s big picture, wide lens view of things. Even if one is not religious but open to being spiritual, it just _fits_ and is inclusive. It fits locally, interstate and internationally.
It should be policy … period.
It isn’t just yet.
But don’t let your dauber down! It is possible.
What is a dauber? A dauber is the little button on top of a baseball cap. By letting your dauber down, you are letting your head drop in the face of adversity.
RESIST!!
Dr. Kevin Purcell, DC. Dedicated to serving others …