Adventure In Culture

As you can tell by the lack of entries on the Rodriguez blog page, I (Jennifer) really struggle with keeping it updated. I often find myself wondering what in the world I’m going to share. Most T.E.A.R.S. staff members are blogging about their areas of work & ministry with T.E.A.R.S., and I’m pretty sure it would bore everyone to death if I told you about the little numbers that I enter into a database on a daily basis. Several people have mentioned recently that I should blog my thoughts on different books that I’m reading. I am an avid reader and work hard to fit that into my daily schedule even though I have a toddler on my hands! So…that is what I’ve decided to do! At least for a while, I’ll be sharing some quotes from different books that I’m reading and how they have impacted my life.

One of the highlights of each week for me is going to lunch with Tracy on Tuesday afternoons. Our favorite place to go is a little Taiwanese restaurant in the middle of town that is an oasis from the constant noise on the streets here. Lately, we’ve been reading a book called Ministering Cross-Culturally (by Sherwood Lingenfelter) and discussing it over lunch. I must say that this book has been an eye-opener for me on many different levels. It’s such a good book that Rod even got in on this one!!

Lingenfelter starts out the book explaining what an incarnational method of ministry is. Jesus is the ultimate example of incarnational ministry. Lingenfelter states, “Jesus came as a helpless infant. It is noteworthy that God did not come as a fully developed adult, he did not come as an expert, he did not come as a ruler, or even as part of a ruling family or a dominant culture…..Jesus was a learner. God’s Son studied the language, the culture, and the lifestyles of his people for thirty years before he began his ministry.” As I think about my arrival to the Dominican Republic and what was going through my mind at the time, I can assure you it was in no way congruent with the above quote. I may not have arrived as a fully developed adult, but I did believe myself to be an expert in many areas and believed myself to have been educated in and by a superior culture. The author goes on to say a few pages later that,

“It is because of cultural blindness that we must become incarnate in the culture and thus in the lives of the people we wish to serve. We must begin as a child and grow in their midst. We must be learners and let them teach us before we can hope to teach them and introduce them to the master Teacher. Missionaries, by the nature of their task, must become personally immersed with people who are different. To follow the example of Christ, that of incarnation, means undergoing drastic personal reorientation. They must be socialized all over again into a new cultural context. They must enter a culture as if they were children – ignorant of everything, from the customs of eating and talking to the patterns of work, play, and worship. Moreover, they must do this in the spirit of Christ, that is, without sin.”

This quote rings with logic and with truth. As I mentioned before, my arrival was accompanied with thoughts that I knew “better” than the Dominicans. I thought that their ways and processes were old-fashioned and backwards, and I wanted to show them a “better way.” Little did I know that I would have to fall far and hard to learn that it is okay to be and do things differently. As I think of my old inner thoughts, I am shamed by the superiority that I felt towards my brothers and sisters. And, although I never voiced my thoughts, my actions certainly reflected them…and I ended up wounding and hurting many people because I wasn’t willing to humble myself and learn from them. I thought I knew it all already!!

Over the last few years, I’ve learned how little I actually do know. My friends here have taught me so many things about culture and respect and seeing the world through “learning” eyes and not through my “pre-conceived” eyes. This book has given me some new dimensions to view life and culture through. My prayer is that I see not just Dominicans but all people with “learning” eyes and that my heart and mind would be open to not just accepting but valuing the vast differences that we have in worldview and lifestyle.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 at 8:45 am and is filed under Missionary's View, Rodriguez Family Blog (Smiles For Jesus), General, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.