My organization does approximately 3-4 weeks of training at their headquarters and a more specialized cultural training in southern Colorado at The Refuge. The cultural training is an intense one-week period of class.
The Refuge is run by former cross-cultural workers and is used as a ministry for training and retreats. During my time here, we focused on a variety of things that are necessary for exiting your culture and entering a new one. Fortunately, I received some special attention because I was the only new cross-cultural apprentice that attended with my organization. Being the only new apprentice meant that I had to answer a lot of questions, but it made me think about and apply what I was learning each day.
The major focus of this week was a topic called Project Activities Notebook or PAN. Simply put, the PAN is used to record experiences of the new culture, language, or spiritual dimensions and to cause reflection on our feelings and assumptions about those experiences in order to “PAN” and find the “gold” of the new country. The recorded experiences are ones in which our toes feel like they are being stepped on, so having negative feelings about the experiences is natural.
However, we are also reminded that when we enter a new culture our approach should be that of a learner, and we need to expect difference as the starting point. This means that while it may have hurt to have someone treat us a certain way, our feelings and assumptions about the situation should not stay that way. We need to take time to personally examine why it made us feel that way, if the situation was truly wrong, or if it was just different.
In light of these ideas, we were taught this saying: “Different is not wrong. Wrong is wrong.” Of course, we determine what is wrong by Biblical standards without adding anything extra. For example, this may look like the way I dress in the United States versus my southeast Asian country. In the US, I would be quick to put on a T-shirt and shorts, when it’s 80 degrees outside; however, in my new host culture, it is not deemed modest for women to wear shorts, even if it is 100 degrees outside. It is not wrong for me to conform to this different standard of modesty, but rather it may actually increase my ability to build relationships and share the Gospel. To put away my preferences and adopt theirs is an attempt to replicate the incarnation of Christ as He met us here on Earth and adopted our (Jewish) cultural preferences.
This brings us to personal examination. Examination happens whether we like it or not. People are always examining what we are doing. For instance, when you go to a new country, the nationals are watching your every move. They are making assumptions about you and it influences their decision to give you credibility. We are constantly examined by nationals, teammates, stakeholders (supporters), ourselves, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. It is what we do with these examinations that impacts how we change our behavior.
The personal examination of a cultural difference begins with a choice. We have the option to ignore the culture and continue in our own ways, or we have the option to declare our need for help from the Father. Our toes will get stepped on many more times than we ever wanted. But by asking the Father to search us and make known to us our biases, our assumptions, and our prejudices, He will give us a fuller understanding of the diverse world He created. Through His grace, we gain an appreciation of the new culture and become greater messengers of the Gospel for His glory and His kingdom.
Ps. 139: 23-24 (ESV)
“Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there is any grievous way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting!”
By no means is acculturation an easy task to accomplish, especially not in 2 years. There will be times I think I am absolutely right about how the world should work. But my prayer is that God will continue to pull me in and show me the beauty of the southeast Asian culture, that He will break my walls of “rightness” down, that He will show me His work among the nations, and that through my process of abandoning some American values and adopting new ones that His name and His Gospel would shine bright for all to see.
All ideas were taken from Rob Allen of Mission Lyfe, presenter and developer of the cross-cultural training “Thryve in every area of life: Addressing the make or break issues of life in a new culture.”