August 1st marked 2 years since I came to serve in Nakhon Si Thammarat province with the OMF team. It has been a time in which have learned many things. I have learned about cultures of different missionaries through the experience of working with them. I have even learned about Thai culture, seeing things I had never noticed about my own culture before. But how did I actually get here?
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- Written by Angel McCallum
- Category: Preparation for Mission
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(or “Three reasons not to take short cuts when considering cross-cultural mission”)
I recently read the blog of a student at a theological seminary. The title of the story was, “Three Reasons Why Cross-Cultural Mission is so Hard”. I was eagerly waiting to read about how this person struggled with cross-cultural adaption, contextualising the Gospel in a way that the local people could whole-heartedly receive it without losing the truth, as well as the spiritual battle that goes on as Satan fights every advance of the gospel tooth and nail.
Instead, the writer shared the following:
- Language was a big barrier.
- Friends kept changing all the time.
- Lack of time and resources.
As I read in more detail, it became clear that this missionary didn’t go with an established mission organisation and had to meet each need as it came up. I realise that this is a common theme in this day and age. Many young adults feel that joining up with a mission organisation would lock them into a certain type of work or a certain way of doing things and wouldn’t give them the freedom to serve the Lord in the way they want to.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
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- Written by Jeff Callow
- Category: Preparation for Mission
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Read more: Three Reasons Why Cross-Cultural Mission Shouldn’t Be So Hard