Living faithful, fruitful and fulfilled on the mission field
“I can’t believe it! That’s not what I understood from the website,” my husband exclaimed. We’d just gotten a response from the embassy saying we were not eligible for the type of visa we’d applied for. A few days before, a friend planned to go …
This is a busy time of the year. I won’t write a full blog post today as I am traveling to visit my parents and wish them a merry Christmas. I do want to take this moment to wish you a very Happy Christmas. A …
“Christmas in America is so strange!” I could hear the reverse culture shock in his voice. He hadn’t celebrated this major holiday in his home country in fifteen years. The materialism of an American Christmas distressed him. Later, a friend from Africa said, “I don’t do Christmas. Here in Africa, we traditionally go to church, eat a feast, and buy new clothes for our children, but I don’t celebrate this holiday.” The Christmas season stirs up questions for missionaries. How much do we adapt to the culture and when do we resist it? What do we do and not do at Christmas?
Culture plays a huge role in the celebration of festivals.
The Christmas festival, in particular, has taken on many cultural elements. Many of them are not at all Christian and need to be resisted. Others have value and can be used as a bridge to share Jesus with others.
How do you know what to resist and what to adapt when it comes to cultural issues?
This is an important question for any missionary. It is not only related to Christmas. Let’s use this holiday to instruct us in cultural adaptation principles.
Culture is like water to a fish. We don’t notice it, but it plays a huge role in our lives. The more adapted you are to a cultural environment, the less you pay attention to it. This can be bad or good. Jesus’ followers must learn to be thoughtful about what we adapt to or resist in the culture around us (This is true in our own culture and our new culture as well.)
Cultural issues often came up when we returned to our home country. It was also a big issue when we moved to Nepal, India, and Thailand. How much do we adapt to the culture around us? Do we wear their clothes and eat their food? Is it okay to only learn the trade language, or do we need to also learn the heart language of the particular group we want to reach?
Coming back to the USA, there were things we found we didn’t like about our own culture. Things we hadn’t noticed before we went to another country to live. For America, a prime example is materialism. Our nation is obsessed with money and things. Obtaining them drives much of what we do. I don’t want that in my life as a disciple of Christ.
In India, our kids asked questions like, “My friends put a tikka on their forehead to match their khurta-suruwal (Indian dress). Can I wear those too?”
Back in the USA, they asked, “Will we celebrate Halloween and go trick or treating?”
These are cultural issues.
During the Christmas season, let’s look at issues that arise around this holiday.
We must make wise and prayerful choices. Our decisions have an impact, especially as we work among the unreached.
You may be the first person to share Jesus with your people group. The believers will look to you for guidance. The customs you adopt will impact the church in this people group for generations to come.
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise.
Eph. 5:15 NIV.
They were created by God for good.
God designed human beings to live in a cultural and communal environment. Everything He does is good. Jesus was born into a particular culture. He transcended culture but also participated in Jewish culture. He went to cultural events and celebrated them in the Jewish way (the wedding at Cana for example).
Jesus participated in rituals, like going to Jerusalem with his family to celebrate Passover every year (Luke 2:41). Participation in cultural events builds community with others. This is something God designed us to need. We were made to celebrate. It is good for the soul.
As we examine cultural festivals, we must be aware of both the common meaning and the historical one. The Christmas tree is a good example of a Christian tradition that has a pagan root. These are good to be aware of but don’t necessarily determine what we do as far as resistance or adoption.
More important is the common meaning in most people’s minds. There are many examples of this, but let’s continue with the Christmas tree. Do people look at it and immediately think of druids dancing around it and worshipping a pagan god? Or do they think of the joy of giving gifts to loved ones now? Or the beauty of lights and family togetherness? What does it mean now?
This can be done with any cultural tradition. In India, the sticker tikkas (put on the forehead by women) has a historic meaning and a common one. For most women today it is much like wearing makeup and is something you wear to match your outfit. Very few even know the historic meaning. The red-colored rice put on the forehead is different. That is clearly a symbol of having done “puja” to a god or goddess. Which do you wear? Which do you avoid? Prayerful decisions must be made.
Not everything in culture is redeemable, but many things are. We can ascribe new meaning to cultural symbols or rituals. This has been done throughout mission history.
By maintaining cultural symbols but giving them new meaning, the gospel feels local (indigenous). Its much easier for people to adopt it as their own, rather than as a foreign religion.
For example, in Africa, singing and dancing is a huge part of many cultures. Why not redeem the cultural songs and dances for good and use them to worship God? In Mizoram, there is a particular drum that was used in spirit worship. It is now used to praise Jesus. It has been redeemed.
We don’t need to adapt to everything to reach people.
Some cross-cultural workers feel they must adapt to every aspect of their new culture without discretion. This is a mistake. Many things in culture are far from godly.
What are some examples of cultural things you do not want to adapt to? Think beyond surface-level issues. Here in America, I actively resist consumerism. It’s a huge cultural value, but not a Biblical one. In India, fatalism is a pervasive part of the cultural mindset. I resist it. God is directing my path, not karma.
This Christmas season, what will you adapt, redeem, introduce, or resist?
Share in the comments below or on the Missionary Life Facebook Group.
Have you ever seen an angel? We don’t talk about these things in the church very often. I wonder why? Looking through the gospels and Acts, angelic activity and interaction seemed part of Jesus’ and the disciple’s experience. In the book of Revelation, there is …
“We’ve tried but no one responds,” they said to me. I saw his sad face and heard the disappointment in his voice. My heart went out to him. His ministry was important. It was worth investing in. Unfortunately, there were several key things necessary in …
“I want to get married,” she said. Her eyes were sad. In her culture, unless she was a wife and mother, she was a non-person. Many women in Asia don’t even use their names. They are “John’s mother” or “Raju’s mother.” Their own name has little meaning apart from their son. This is so far from the gospel! It is something Jesus came to set us free from.
Living a life of wholeness as a single is not easy. Loneliness and fear of a future alone can plague us. Temptations and the pressure to marry are at times intense. Family, co-workers, and even well-meaning supporters wonder why we haven’t yet found someone. It gets tiresome to go to weddings and church events and constantly be asked “When will you get married? Have you found someone yet?”
Singleness on the mission field holds challenges. Many societies will not acknowledge you as someone of status as a single. They may wonder if something is wrong with you or lovingly try to find you a spouse. Christianity Today reported that singleness is the fourth greatest reason why candidate missionaries don’t make it to the field. It is also a common reason why many leave.
Yet singleness is a valid biblical option and not to be scorned. Instead, singles who are emotionally healthy demonstrate godliness in unique and important ways. Learn to minister out of your healthy singleness. It is an important testimony to those around you.
Peter Scazzero writes about this in his excellent article, Lead Out of Your Singleness. “An increasing number of leaders in the body of Christ are single. That is a wonderful gift desperately needed in the church today. Daniel, Jeremiah, Jesus, Anna the prophetess, John the Baptist, and Paul were all single. They each bore rich fruit for God.”
Singles who embrace this gift and devote themselves to God, reflect the truth that God is enough. Our value is not in our marital status but in our relationship with Him.
Paul wrote in Phil. 4:11, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” This included his singleness.
Resist the temptation to absorb the world’s values. In the Kingdom of God, singles are highly regarded. They are not second class citizens who need to hang their heads.
If you are married, do all you can to affirm those around you who are single. Embrace them as persons of worth and include them as friends. Be careful not to exclude them from family-oriented events and don’t constantly talk about your kids all the time. Don’t assume that because they are single, they would make good babysitters. Pray for them and be sensitive to their needs.
As a single there are some things you can not do. Don’t focus on them. Give attention to the many things you are free to do. Do those with all your heart.
Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.
1 Cor. 7:8 NIV.
This verse says “it is good.” Singleness can be a good and healthy thing! Paul found it to be so and was then able to devote himself to Jesus and the ministry with greater focus. Don’t allow yourself or anyone to tell you it is not good to be single if that is your circumstance. God makes all things good in our lives as we surrender to Him.
I am blessed to have many close friends who are single. They are amazing people who have deeply blessed my life. They have rich lives of faith and are impacting nations.
Out of your singleness, demonstrate the Kingdom of God. If you are married, do the same. Next week I’ll write more about marriage and how we can minister out of a healthy marriage.
What biblical or historical leaders were single? What do you most admire about them?
For years we served in missions before anyone from my husband’s family visited us. We longed for them to come to Nepal and India. Finally, they did. How fun it was to have them meet those we’d discipled and invested in! It’s a joy to …
Was this the writing on the wall? God’s final no? Were we too stubborn and deaf to hear what He was saying? I tried to steady myself as I reread the email in my inbox. “Your application for a residence permit has been denied. You …
Finances are often tight for missionaries. With COVID-19 taking its toll on the global economy, it is likely our financial challenges will grow. The struggle is often more acute for national missionaries, those working in their own countries. There can be a struggle to keep food on the table, children’s school fees paid, and other basic necessities. With this comes a great temptation to use inappropriate means to raise funds.
What might work for a quick “win,” is very appealing when our struggle is great. One strategy I’ve seen people use, is to befriend strangers on Facebook, then send them financial requests. This article will help you understand why you should not do this.
In the long-term, this tactic proves disastrous. One of the most ineffective methods of fund-raising I know of is using social media as a source of new foreign donors.
You should not do this because it is unethical (dishonorable). It is not a good long-term approach to being sustained in your ministry. The kind of pity and guilt donors you might find using this approach will be short-term. They are unlikely to support you in the way you want and need to be supported. Doing this, you will lose the respect of others who are potentially the right kind of people to become long-term ministry partners. It’s not worth the trade-off.
I felt violated. I’d befriended a young Indian pastor who seemed interested to multiply disciples in his area. He was a pushy type, but sometimes these people make good movement leaders if mentored closely. I wanted to help and believe in him. I’ve made it a practice to believe the best of people. Often I see their potential before they do. Perhaps he would be a leader of hundreds of churches one day!
At first, things went well. He seemed keen to receive my help and mentoring. I saw him show initiative, and he seemed to have a large circle of young people he was training.
There were overtones of financial motivation, but I was careful. I didn’t agree to pay for anything. If he wanted me to come train, he would need to raise most of the money for the training event. I would not pay for transportation, nor cover the participant’s expenses. The training went well, and I was encouraged.
Until a few months later, when trust was violated.
My husband’s cousin sent me a Facebook message. “Do you know so and so? They have been messaging me, asking me for money.“
I was shocked! How in the world did this person get my husband’s cousin’s contact? I’d never given it to him. This cousin lived in the USA and had no reason to be interacting with this man.
Anger and frustration rose in my heart. I felt as if someone had come into my home, snuck around, and stolen something from me. This was wrong and dishonorable. I immediately wrote to him and shared my concerns.
“I became Facebook friends with you because I trusted you. I’ve invested in you. Now you are going into my Facebook account and contacting my other friends without my knowledge, then asking them for money! This is wrong”, I told him. “If you continue to do this, or I hear of it again, I will unfriend you,” I wrote.
The man sent me a half-hearted apology, but trust had been damaged. I would not help him further, nor invest in his ministry, neither as a mentor nor financially. In fact, if asked, I would tell others not to trust him, that he was not a good person to work with. What he lost was far more valuable than what he gained.
I said, “Plow new ground for yourselves, plant righteousness, and reap the blessings that your devotion to me will produce. It is time for you to turn to me, your Lord, and I will come and pour out blessings upon you.”
Hosea 10:12 GNT.
Once you get a bad reputation, as someone who uses foreigners to get money, it is very hard to get rid of. It follows you. Your national colleagues will not want to work with you. Foreigners who may be interested to partner, but check you out with others, will hear of it. This is a very high price to pay in the long-term.
Trust takes much time to develop, but can quickly broken. When you use your friends (on Facebook or elsewhere) to find people to approach for money, it violates trust. Unless you ask them first, and they make the introduction, you must always be cautious in approaching your friend’s friends. Like I did, if they find out about it, they will feel violated and angry.
Reaching out to strangers and telling your “sad story” manipulates. It doesn’t build a relationship. God intends us to be compassionate as He is. Pity and compassion are very different things. Sending pictures of starving children, or telling people you don’t have food, makes people feel sorry for you. It doesn’t make them respect you. Ultimately, donors will invest long-term in those they have a relationship with. They will give to those whose ministries they respect. Regular communication, sharing vision and prayer needs, build long-term relationships. This is far more effective in the long run!
As national missionaries and foreign missionaries, we must trust God as our provider. His faithfulness, goodness, and power must be where we put our trust.
Jesus broke bread and fish and fed five thousand! This is the same God we serve. Will you miss out on a miracle? On your true inheritance, by trading it for a short-term, manipulative approach? Will you press into God, work hard to communicate your vision, and pray much until you see a release from within your own relational networks?
Do you believe your own people are also commissioned by God to give to missions? Rise up in faith that God can provide for missionaries through every kind of people. It’s often the rich we look to, but everyone can give! And as they do, God will bless and multiply their resources.
God is able to meet your needs! Stand on His Word.
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Phil. 4:19 ESV.
If raising funds through strangers on Facebook or other social media is not a good way to raise the critically needed money, what is the right way? Sign up for a short 5-day email course that will provide some help to you in this.
Seek God for innovative and creative ways to generate income locally, or develop ministry partnerships. Rise up in faith my friend. He is with you and will never leave nor forsake you!
The 7s of Member Care is a tool designed to assist groups to understand how to do member care during this difficult time. Due to the rapid changes within the pandemic of COVID-19, here are suggestions that may be of help to you and your …