Culture and Missions... Don't get caught with your pants down on your mountaintop moment!

Culture. 

noun cul·ture \ˈkəl-chər\ 
     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.

Few things in long term cross cultural missionary work or service are, or should be as important as culture. The moment we cross a border we are entering into another culture, that essentially has, another culture.

Sadly, in my experience in the field, and within personal relationships with hundreds of missionaries [both long and short term] and pastors, the understanding of local cultures and mores takes a back seat to all the other things that are believed to 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. You can read about it here.

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.

One of the hallmarks of Adventures in Life has always been our desire to learn, and give others the opportunity to learn about the culture of the people they are serving.

The Cathedral of Guadalajara

Years ago, on our first mission in Guadalajara AIL Ministry Co-founder Grady Martine and I took our team to the Cathedral of Guadalajara. As we toured the cathedral and walked on what for many people from Guadalajara was sacred ground,  one of our team members came up to me.

"Dave" he asked, "why are we wasting time here when we could be outside witnessing and saving these people?"

That attitude, 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.

Chances are you will not find yourself in a situation like that group of tourists in Malaysia. But a refusal to learn the culture of the people you are called to serve, can render you just as clueless as they were, and negatively impact your Gospel mission.

When you understand the culture of people you are trying to serve, whether they live across town, or on the other side of the globe, you will be a better witness and ambassador for Jesus.

Think about it.

Want more info? Check out the resources from Dr. David Livermore on Cultural Intelligence, or CG.

Mission and Ministry, Just Like a Great Rack of Ribs, is Best When it's Done Slow...

If you’re a barbecue lover, you know slow is good.

Few things make your mouth water like a rack of ribs that’s been slow roasted for hours over a low heat. Just the thought of it has me wondering if I can pull something like that off here in Oaxaca, Mexico, where I serve.

The idea that slow cooking was good seemed to really take hold with the masses in the 70’s with the crock pot. 

Rival, the number one maker back then was incredibly successful in teaching an entire generation that if you slow cooked your meat in their crock pot, using their recipes, you could have an incredible meal, full of flavor and as tender as can be.

Today you can find entire web sites and blogs dedicated to the art of slow cooking.

It’s too bad it is so difficult to convince people that when it comes to short-term mission [STM], just like barbecue and the crock pot, slow is usually better. Let me explain what I mean.

Years ago AIL Ministry partnered with First Baptist Church in Oaxaca [PIBO] to build a training center in Tlacolula. The plan was to have a dormitory, kitchen, restrooms and use the existing church building as a classroom to train Zapotec leaders from the churches where PIBO was planting missions.

We started construction in 2005 and in a couple of years we had it mostly finished. Except no one was ready to use it. So it sat, for a couple of years, mostly vacant, except on Sundays when there was a church service there.

Then one day the pastor and his wife asked me if they could live there while pastoring the church. That was one of the quickest answers I’ve ever given. “Of course” I said, “why not?” And soon, with the pastor living there, classes began to be offered to the very group that PIBO had dreamed about, almost 7 years earlier.

Now, more than 10 years after we started construction there, there’s been another change. While classes are still being offered from time to time, the church, under new leadership has started to grow. And grow. The church now has almost 100 people in their community and all the rooms we built for dorms and restrooms are being used on Sundays and during the week by this growing congregation.

Why is this important? Because there were some who wanted to see that facility used the minute we finished, but that doesn’t always happen in mission. One of the reasons for this can be found in culture. One of the things Americans do well is plan for the future. Other cultures, sometimes not so much. They won’t start planning the next step until everything is ready to go, because they’ve seen many unrealized dreams when funding, or resolve ran out.

It’s not wrong, it’s just different.

That difference can be very hard for Americans on short-term mission to understand, especially when their hard earned dollars are involved in the financing of projects like this. Understandably, if you’ve given money to a project, you want to see it being used as soon as possible.

But sometimes, the culture is not ready, even when, like in this case, the building was. Why? Because just like good barbecue, or a great crock pot dinner, the process cannot be rushed. Ministry and mission, especially when you are working in other cultures, takes time. Often, more time than us folks from the states want to admit.

To get a great rack of ribs, or an incredible stew from a crock pot, you need patience. Sure you can microwave your food, or add some liquid smoke to get that slow cooked barbecue taste, but it won’t be the same. The taste you want just won’t be there.

Simply put, there are no short cuts in mission and ministry, no way to speed up the process. No matter how much money we put into a project, or a mission, when we are crossing borders and working in other cultures, often times the best results come after a long, slow process.

Contrary to our thinking here in the US, over there, where ever there is, just like barbecue and a great crockpot dinner, slow is good! 

Think about it.

The Presence of God Defeats a Hopeless Mad Max World!

Like about 47 million other folks, I went to the movies Memorial Day weekend. Which means in addition to the movie I wanted to see, I also saw significant portions of movies I'll likely never see. You know what I'm talking about... the previews.

One of the previews was for Mad Max Fury Road. As the trailer played on suddenly the screen filled with the words, WITHOUT HOPE. A few seconds later another message flashed on the screen, WITHOUT MERCY.

The Mad Max movie series, being redone from the Mel Gibson 1979 original is all based on a world gone mad. It is a world where literally there is no hope and no one has, or shows any mercy towards anyone.

Years ago when I went to San Dionesio Ocotepec in Oaxaca for the first time, I sat down with a group of children, all under 12. I asked them about their plans for the future. The answers stunned me. Almost all of them, boys and girls alike had a variation on the theme of going to the Estados Unidos, the United States.

When I asked them why they would want to leave Oaxaca, they had all sorts of reasons. No work. Too hard to raise a family. Little, or no opportunity to advance in life. And then one of the kids said the words that I'll remember all of my life... "there's no hope here."

Think about that for awhile. No hope. Or as the movie Mad Max would put it... A WORLD WITHOUT HOPE! How could you live, thrive, or even survive?

That's a major part of the ministry of Adventures in Life in Oaxaca. Working to bring a holistic emphasis to ministry, we are striving to address not just spiritual hopelessness, but economic hopelessness as well. We are trying to bring hope, and live mercy for today, and eternity.

One way we are doing this is through our Vocation Camp Week. We are expecting about 40 teenagers this year. They will be studying Photography, Agriculture, Science and Culinary Arts. Each of these disciplines will begin the steps to help the students at camp learn a skill that will enable them to make a real salary in Oaxaca.

Every village needs a photographer. Part of the culture of Mexico revolves around photos of family events, just as it does here. So, if you can shoot, you can work. Our agriculture classes will help people understand better ag practices which will increase crop yields and allow them to better care for their animals, increasing food output. Our science track will hopefully instill in people a love for experimentation and exploration that is so central to entrepreneurship. It may also inspire a few of our kids to become scientists.

Finally, our culinary arts track will be totally hands on giving the kids a chance to develop some of the skills necessary to succeed in one of the high end restaurants prevalent in Oaxaca, the gastronomic capital of Mexico.

Perhaps most exciting about all of this is that it is a ministry of the local church! 

Every person attending our camps will know and understand that the church, and Jesus, stands with them, and wants to be a part of giving them hope, not just for eternity, but for today, tomorrow, next week and beyond!

The people of the Mad Max world are living in a hopeless, merciless world, a world gone mad. For me, and AIL Ministry, mission is most effective when it is holistic. Because that holistic style gives witness to the mercy and love of Jesus and his power to transform and bring order to our lives. Both for eternity, and for today.

Learn more about Dave and Adventures in Life Ministry