#3 Pray for Conviction and do not move ahead without it
The majority of Africans would love to add something to their beliefs to gain entrance into Heaven (note the quote at the beginning of the article). Most people without a Biblical worldview are very open to praying for what is seen as a gift from God, but they might have no knowledge of their lost state.
The term save gives great weight to this, as it is impossible for a person to be saved until he is in danger or lost! As the veteran missionary Darryl Champlin told me, never speak to an African about Heaven until he first will admit he deserves Hell. We need to pray for conviction for those we are witnessing to on a regular basis!
#4 Deal with the Basis of Forgiveness
Most people that do not have a Christian worldview have still been influenced by a mixed view of Christianity. They have heard about the loving God of Heaven and have been told that He always forgives. The average African would have written our Declaration of Independence this way, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created (not equal), that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Forgiveness, and the gift of Happiness…”
The African today believes that forgiveness is a right. When it is asked for, it must be given, and many times must be given even without anyone asking. The mindset is that as long as a person asks forgiveness and states that he will change his behavior (even if this is a promise unfulfilled), then the person they are seeking forgiveness from must grant it! This is not biblical forgiveness. The Bible does not teach that we just “say sorry” and then God saves us. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission, the Bible says. The person without the proper worldview must be taught that forgiveness is given only when the price of the debt has been paid. Without Christ’s blood, there can be no forgiveness. I normally use the Traditional religions at this point. Most Africans know that if a person sins against the ‘gods’ and goes to the priest for forgiveness without a sacrifice, then forgiveness will not be obtained. A price must be paid first. Use this to bring the person’s understanding to Christ.
(Note: For those not in a setting where the people understand animals sacrifices, use a culturally understood point to give the truth meaning. (i.e. In the intercity where there are many gangs, an example could be given using the gang culture. When a person wants to leave a gang, he must be “beat out” or have someone else “beat out” for him. Just because someone wants out of the gang does not mean he can get out. Someone must pay the price).
#5 Always try to teach Deductively
Most missionaries and senior soul-winners understand all their religious teachings and terms. They think from the teaching to the practical. They think with an educated mindset. When dealing with people in an area with great illiteracy or lack of emphasis on learning, the people will need to be taught deductively. The teacher will need to start with the physical reality (example) first, develop the picture in the mind, and then move to the truth. If you look at Jesus Christ’s teaching style to the common people, this was always His habit. He would give an earthly story and then give the heavenly meaning.
#6 Teach on God’s Righteousness and Law
Most people do not see the greatness of their sin and the importance of their need of salvation, because they do not see God’s righteousness. They will never turn to God any other way. Romans 10:3 says, “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” The Bibles also says that without the law man might not know sin. Galatians 3:24 says, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” The most helpful thing that I have used to show God’s righteousness and our sinfulness is teaching through the Ten Commandments.
#7 Stay away form seeking for decisions in groups or leading in prayer for people
Many soul-winners will address a group and when finished will ask each person (if a small group) if they will accept Christ, or (if a large group) lead in a general prayer. The person seeking to reach people in societies that are highly motivated by peer pressure (as in Africa) need to know that this is a very unwise approach. Most of the time while witnessing in Africa, if you seek to lead a group to Christ and the first person says yes, then everyone will say yes so they are not left out. If the first person says no, then they will all say no. Though leading families, friends, and groups to Christ will strengthen and help the growth of the group, each person must make a personal decision based on faith, not public opinion.
Because Africa is not a land of conflict, and the Africans generally will do anything not to offend a person seen as bringing God’s Word, they will most likely say what is needed to preserve harmony! I have seen and have had good veteran missionaries from Africa tell me that one should always let the person pray for salvation on their own. This allows two things to happen. First, a person that does not really believe, though he wants to keep social harmony, will not want to pray or will ask for noticeably wrong things. Secondly, this will give the missionary a chance to see if the person has proper understanding. I have found that people under conviction, with a basic knowledge of truth, will pray some of the most amazing sinners’ prayers. I still remember the prayer Rosemond prayed for salvation – it was so moving I still cry when I think about it.
#8 Use stories to convey the basic truths of salvation
Every time we see Christ communicating the gospel to individuals in the Gospel Records (i.e. Nicodemus in John 3; the two disciples on the Emmaus Road), He was dealing with religious people. Their minds were clouded by misunderstanding of the Bible in regard to His mission to save sinners. These are the same kind of people the missionary will normally meet in Africa. Africans are very religious and have zeal, but for many of them, it is without knowledge. Together, this zeal and partial knowledge clouds their minds to the truth. For this reason, we try to follow Christ’s example and go back to Old Testament picture stories (First Sin and Sacrifice, Cain and Abel, Abraham and Isaac’s Sacrifice, the Passover, Brazen Serpent) and try to use these Scriptures to teach basic building blocks for gospel truths. We try to teach ideas such as sacrifice, replacement, blood atonement, faith, etc. When you live in a culture based on oral tradition (which most of Africa is) you will find this a great tool. Story telling is the mode of learning.
#9 Do not use a translator for witnessing unless the translator has been tried and tested
I have heard many translator horror stories. Sometimes in Africa, because of the multitude of local languages, a missionary may find himself in a situation where he needs to use a translator. For example, he is visiting in a city and comes to a small community where the people do not speak the local language that he knows. As he begins to give the gospel, a person that understands the needed language offers to help translate. This is strongly discouraged! If you are not sure of the person’s spiritual condition or church background, you might be creating greater problems for the person you are trying to reach. Many people that translate do not say what you say, but translate to others what they think you are saying. This is a great problem if the person translating is steeped in false teaching (which most Africans are!). It is best for the one giving the gospel to muddle through the national or local language he knows and have some true basic understanding, than to have complete understanding of a false teaching!
#10 Keep learning
Never stop learning. Try to understand everything you can about the people you are trying to reach. Ask God to give you a burden. Try to grasp their thinking and meet them where they are so you can lead them to Christ! You can never learn everything, and Christ must supply the power and strength, but we must do our best.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Witnessing to a Person Influenced by Traditional Religions, Part 1 of 2
I would like to provide a few helpful tips for those seeking to witness to people with Traditional influences. I wish that I had all the answers, but I do not. All that I can give is some helpful pointers, and try to give a starting place. The most important thing a person must learn (who is seeking to bring people to Christ) is that no system has all the answers. Only a dependence on God’s power and guidance is what really makes the difference.
Before I start with the practical, here are a few more quotes to let you understand the importance and seriousness of making sure the African has a true heart conversion.
Glenn J. Schwartz, When Charity Destroys Dignity; pg. 4- “In 1984, I traveled through Africa, going first to West Africa, then across to East Africa and down through Central Africa, ending up on the Southern Coast of South Africa. Everywhere I went I heard pastors lamenting the fact that their church members have a divided loyalty. It is what missiologists call dualism. They hold two worldviews at the same time. They hold the Christian worldview which represents the church they attend and certain aspects of their schooling. However, in times of crisis they often turn to their original paradigm, the traditional worldview… Those pastors and church leaders were saying to me then- and many have done so since- that their people turn to the local traditional practitioner of religion, sometimes called the witchdoctor, in times of real crisis.”
Dr. Aylward Shorter explains dualism: “During the past hundred years African Traditional Religion has been visibly sinking beneath the surface of modern social life in Africa, but what remains above the surface is, in fact, the tip of the iceberg. At Baptism, the African Christian repudiates remarkably little of his former non-Christian outlook. He may be obliged to turn his back upon certain traditional practices which the Church, rightly or wrongly, has condemned in his area, he is not asked to recant a religious philosophy… Consequently, he returns to the forbidden practices as occasion arises with remarkable ease. Conversion to Christianity is for him sheer gain, an ‘extra’ for which he has opted. Apart from the superficial condemnations, Christianity has really had little to say about African Traditional Religion in the way of serious judgments of value. Consequently, the African Christian operates with two thoughts systems at once, and both of them are closed to each other.”
Glen J. Schwartz, When Charity Destroy Dignity; pg. 187-188: “After serving the church for many years, a church leader in Central Africa became terminally ill and was told by the medical doctors that nothing could be done for him. Though he served the church for thirty-five years as an ordained minister, upon learning of his terminal illness he decided to go to the village of a local practitioner of religion. It turned out that his treatment was not from only an herbalist, but from one who practiced “manipulation of the spirits”, to quote others in the church. There he lived out the last few months of his life. Some time later I came across that church leader’s testimony. About ten years before his death he attended a seminar in which an anthropologist was conducting a session on, among other things the nature of Christian conversion. The anthropologist described what authentic Christian conversion should be. In the process this ordained minister, who had served the church for so many years made the following statement: What you say about genuine Christian conversion deeply moves me, because I must confess that I have not been converted that way. My deeper African values have not been changed. I have not learned to listen to the Holy Spirit, but I have been trained to listen very carefully to what the missionary wants.”
The reason that God has called us is to preach the Gospel, and as the Bible says, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” I hope these points are practical and helpful as we seek to give the gospel to people influenced by Traditional religions.
Practical Pointers
#1 Learn the Language
By this I mean the heart language of the people. Most missionaries learn this fact in candidate school. The problem in Africa, though, is that most of them think that this means the national language of their African nation. I know that some missionaries go through great pains to learn French, Portuguese, or Dutch so that they can speak their national language. The truth is that in most African countries this is the language of the elite, the government, and the outsider. It is not the real heart language of the people. Find out what the majority of the people in your area speak, and learn it!
What does this have to do with the gospel? It has a great deal to do with it! You will never understand the way your people think until you understand their language. In African local languages we find the language of religion. This will help to give great insight into the definitions behind the spiritual terms people use. Remember, just because you think a term means something does not mean your people think that term means the same thing. If you really want to understand this concept, try to look up some conservative writing on contextualization.
(Note- For those in a country where the people have no Christian worldview but still speak the same language, spend as much time learning the concepts, definitions, and ideas behind words and religious truths. The problem many people face is that they think the person understands their presentation, “jargon”, or expressions, when in reality the person has at best a fuzzy idea of the meaning. Or, that person may have a totally different definition all together. Words are your tools, but words cannot work if they are not understood or misunderstood!)
#2 Use Questions as the main vehicle for teaching
When most of us present the gospel, we do just that….we present it! We do most of the talking, with the occasional question thrown in, normally seeking a yes or no answer. This is very dangerous in a society that values social harmony and seeks to avoid public conflict. Most Africans will do anything to make sure they do not offend. When a missionary seeks to present the truth with little or no questions, the African will just follow along (most times) even if they totally disagree or do not understand.
Let me give you a personal example. When I first started learning Twi, I would try to speak to people using the language. Many times this would be about spiritual matters. During the whole conversation the African would be nodding and giving physical cues that indicated he was following and understanding. He was even able to answer some basic questions that made me think he understood. After the conversation, the national would turn to the local man with me at the time and start a rapid conversation beyond my ability, and they would both end smiling. After the person would leave, I would ask the national what the person said. After enough pushing, the person would tell me that the person that I was addressing did not understand anything that I was saying, but did not want to be impolite.
In-depth questions are normally the only way that you will find out the real thinking going on inside the African’s head. Africans believe too much in social harmony (this is the norm, but there are exceptions to the rule) to cause major disagreements or conflicts.
Before I start with the practical, here are a few more quotes to let you understand the importance and seriousness of making sure the African has a true heart conversion.
Glenn J. Schwartz, When Charity Destroys Dignity; pg. 4- “In 1984, I traveled through Africa, going first to West Africa, then across to East Africa and down through Central Africa, ending up on the Southern Coast of South Africa. Everywhere I went I heard pastors lamenting the fact that their church members have a divided loyalty. It is what missiologists call dualism. They hold two worldviews at the same time. They hold the Christian worldview which represents the church they attend and certain aspects of their schooling. However, in times of crisis they often turn to their original paradigm, the traditional worldview… Those pastors and church leaders were saying to me then- and many have done so since- that their people turn to the local traditional practitioner of religion, sometimes called the witchdoctor, in times of real crisis.”
Dr. Aylward Shorter explains dualism: “During the past hundred years African Traditional Religion has been visibly sinking beneath the surface of modern social life in Africa, but what remains above the surface is, in fact, the tip of the iceberg. At Baptism, the African Christian repudiates remarkably little of his former non-Christian outlook. He may be obliged to turn his back upon certain traditional practices which the Church, rightly or wrongly, has condemned in his area, he is not asked to recant a religious philosophy… Consequently, he returns to the forbidden practices as occasion arises with remarkable ease. Conversion to Christianity is for him sheer gain, an ‘extra’ for which he has opted. Apart from the superficial condemnations, Christianity has really had little to say about African Traditional Religion in the way of serious judgments of value. Consequently, the African Christian operates with two thoughts systems at once, and both of them are closed to each other.”
Glen J. Schwartz, When Charity Destroy Dignity; pg. 187-188: “After serving the church for many years, a church leader in Central Africa became terminally ill and was told by the medical doctors that nothing could be done for him. Though he served the church for thirty-five years as an ordained minister, upon learning of his terminal illness he decided to go to the village of a local practitioner of religion. It turned out that his treatment was not from only an herbalist, but from one who practiced “manipulation of the spirits”, to quote others in the church. There he lived out the last few months of his life. Some time later I came across that church leader’s testimony. About ten years before his death he attended a seminar in which an anthropologist was conducting a session on, among other things the nature of Christian conversion. The anthropologist described what authentic Christian conversion should be. In the process this ordained minister, who had served the church for so many years made the following statement: What you say about genuine Christian conversion deeply moves me, because I must confess that I have not been converted that way. My deeper African values have not been changed. I have not learned to listen to the Holy Spirit, but I have been trained to listen very carefully to what the missionary wants.”
The reason that God has called us is to preach the Gospel, and as the Bible says, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” I hope these points are practical and helpful as we seek to give the gospel to people influenced by Traditional religions.
Practical Pointers
#1 Learn the Language
By this I mean the heart language of the people. Most missionaries learn this fact in candidate school. The problem in Africa, though, is that most of them think that this means the national language of their African nation. I know that some missionaries go through great pains to learn French, Portuguese, or Dutch so that they can speak their national language. The truth is that in most African countries this is the language of the elite, the government, and the outsider. It is not the real heart language of the people. Find out what the majority of the people in your area speak, and learn it!
What does this have to do with the gospel? It has a great deal to do with it! You will never understand the way your people think until you understand their language. In African local languages we find the language of religion. This will help to give great insight into the definitions behind the spiritual terms people use. Remember, just because you think a term means something does not mean your people think that term means the same thing. If you really want to understand this concept, try to look up some conservative writing on contextualization.
(Note- For those in a country where the people have no Christian worldview but still speak the same language, spend as much time learning the concepts, definitions, and ideas behind words and religious truths. The problem many people face is that they think the person understands their presentation, “jargon”, or expressions, when in reality the person has at best a fuzzy idea of the meaning. Or, that person may have a totally different definition all together. Words are your tools, but words cannot work if they are not understood or misunderstood!)
#2 Use Questions as the main vehicle for teaching
When most of us present the gospel, we do just that….we present it! We do most of the talking, with the occasional question thrown in, normally seeking a yes or no answer. This is very dangerous in a society that values social harmony and seeks to avoid public conflict. Most Africans will do anything to make sure they do not offend. When a missionary seeks to present the truth with little or no questions, the African will just follow along (most times) even if they totally disagree or do not understand.
Let me give you a personal example. When I first started learning Twi, I would try to speak to people using the language. Many times this would be about spiritual matters. During the whole conversation the African would be nodding and giving physical cues that indicated he was following and understanding. He was even able to answer some basic questions that made me think he understood. After the conversation, the national would turn to the local man with me at the time and start a rapid conversation beyond my ability, and they would both end smiling. After the person would leave, I would ask the national what the person said. After enough pushing, the person would tell me that the person that I was addressing did not understand anything that I was saying, but did not want to be impolite.
In-depth questions are normally the only way that you will find out the real thinking going on inside the African’s head. Africans believe too much in social harmony (this is the norm, but there are exceptions to the rule) to cause major disagreements or conflicts.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Culture Shock!!! part 3 of 3
After brokeness, some move into a time of depression. Patty passed through this valley, and its shadows seemed to stretch much longer than in mine. But, I did have it. I was at time defeated, depressed. How could I be a missionary? I was such a sinner. I had so many faults. How could I ever be used to do anything?
But through it all God was there! His great hand was protecting, guiding, working.
He is trying to make a dependant tool. He is trying to bring you to a place of acceptance. You must accept what you really are ~ a sinner saved by GRACE ~ and accept Him as He is ~ your only hope for SALVATION and LIFE! After four full years on the field, I can say that God is so merciful! We need Him for everything. Every time I fail it is because I have lost sight that He must be the one to do it! When we see this and start to believe it, we move into the next part: acceptance! This is the greatest hurdle, but when passed, brings the greatest reward.
When a missionary sees himself, He must run to Christ! As Paul said, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." Christ allows us to go through all this, so that we see the wonder of His grace and mercy! He knows our frame, He knows we are dust, and still He calls us! He will not put on us more than we can bare!
Throughout these valleys, these verses were true and will always be true: Psalms 23:1-6 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
The amazing thing is that this is just how I feel ~ God has been so good to me! His mercy is so real! God gives the greatest gift to a missionary. He puts you in the school of grief! Though it sounds funny, this can be one of the greatest lessons you ever learn if you look to God and listen through it!
I want to end with these thoughts. First, I thank God for everything that I have passed through in my life so far, and I would not change anything that He has done. Secondly, for a future missionary, culture shock is real. It is like grieving, but God will be with you! Remember that the view at the end of the valley is always worth the trip through it! Thirdly, for all of those that read this that are not missionaries, I hope that this helps you know how to pray. Continue to pray for old missionaries. They have passed through it, but pray that they stay close to Christ and that the flesh that they have come to know so well stays crucified! Also pray for the new missionaries, that this process, that is given to them from God, will draw them to God and make them stronger!
But through it all God was there! His great hand was protecting, guiding, working.
He is trying to make a dependant tool. He is trying to bring you to a place of acceptance. You must accept what you really are ~ a sinner saved by GRACE ~ and accept Him as He is ~ your only hope for SALVATION and LIFE! After four full years on the field, I can say that God is so merciful! We need Him for everything. Every time I fail it is because I have lost sight that He must be the one to do it! When we see this and start to believe it, we move into the next part: acceptance! This is the greatest hurdle, but when passed, brings the greatest reward.
When a missionary sees himself, He must run to Christ! As Paul said, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." Christ allows us to go through all this, so that we see the wonder of His grace and mercy! He knows our frame, He knows we are dust, and still He calls us! He will not put on us more than we can bare!
Throughout these valleys, these verses were true and will always be true: Psalms 23:1-6 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
The amazing thing is that this is just how I feel ~ God has been so good to me! His mercy is so real! God gives the greatest gift to a missionary. He puts you in the school of grief! Though it sounds funny, this can be one of the greatest lessons you ever learn if you look to God and listen through it!
I want to end with these thoughts. First, I thank God for everything that I have passed through in my life so far, and I would not change anything that He has done. Secondly, for a future missionary, culture shock is real. It is like grieving, but God will be with you! Remember that the view at the end of the valley is always worth the trip through it! Thirdly, for all of those that read this that are not missionaries, I hope that this helps you know how to pray. Continue to pray for old missionaries. They have passed through it, but pray that they stay close to Christ and that the flesh that they have come to know so well stays crucified! Also pray for the new missionaries, that this process, that is given to them from God, will draw them to God and make them stronger!
Culture Shock!!! part 2 of 3
Once you get over the excitement and denial, you move to anger. I thought that I had conquered my temper when I was a teenager. Boy, was I wrong! As Isobel Khun said, "When you move to the mission field, the scum of your nature rises to the top." I was angry all the time. I remember one time when Carey was about a year old, and the younger brother of our butcher (he was about 18 years old) told me that he was going to marry my daughter. When I ssw that he was serious, I almost killed him. I was so mad that if I had not left the shop, I think that I would have exploded! The hard thing was that I did not "take it out" on those in the outside world, but on my family. They were safe, so I would just explode at them. This is when the internal conflict began, the breaking. I looked at my own relfection in the pool of my depravity, and I was shocked by what I saw. I was so angry, so afraid, so sinful! There were times I hated Ghana and its people. I hate to say that, but it was true. I did not know myself. I thought that I was this great missionary, this gift to the 21st century missionfield. But that was just the beginning.
Most men learn to live their lives by knowledge. Each wants to be the master of his world. Men learn, study, and control. We learn what to expect and how to react. When you move to the mission field you are like a grown man that has become a baby again. You have to learn to talk, to think, to understand. One thing that is very hard is dealing with sin. In your home country you have learned to fight sin there, you knows its tactics, its language, its style. You feel confident that you have developed as a Christian and can face most problems that come your way. Then you go to the missionfield. With all this grief, you are in knots internally. You don't know which way is up. You are an emotional wreck. Remember, the Devil is a roaring lion, and just like a lion, he waits until you are confused and distracted to attack. He knows that if he can kill you, he gets the whole family. It was hard the first time I heard that roar!
I remember that I felt so weak. I felt that I was just limping along, just trying to make it to furlough. Then it stood before me ~ my flesh in all of its horror, ugliness, and power. Anger, lust, temptation, fear, greed, discontentment, jealousy... I thought things, felt things, did things, that rocked me to the core! You cry out for mercy! You start to see that you are not the person that you thought at all. You say with the words of Paul, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"
I have learned why most missionaries quit after first term: they are running from themselves! When you see yourself on the field, you are naked and bare before the world. There, your old man cries out for attention, and you have to face it. The funny thing is that you can run, but you will never be able to hide from it. It shares the same house as your new man, and for the rest of your life you will bump into him! The problem is that missionaries start to believe that the place is the problem, not the person. That is why they run! But they are running from the wrong thing.
Once you pass the anger, you begin to bargain. If God will let you just make it until furlough, or even better, have some missions agency or college call you off the field, then you will serve Him faithfully at home the rest of your life. You bargain with God, your family, yourself. The thing that the missionary has to be very careful about is bargaining with the Devil. At this time, you hear that hissing voice a lot. It is telling you that God is holding something back, that God does not care, that you are alone. There were times that I followed after some piece of forbidden fruit, thinking that it would end the pain, but God's great grace was always there to stop me before I took the bite! By this time the ground is plowed, the stones turned up, and you are broken.
Most men learn to live their lives by knowledge. Each wants to be the master of his world. Men learn, study, and control. We learn what to expect and how to react. When you move to the mission field you are like a grown man that has become a baby again. You have to learn to talk, to think, to understand. One thing that is very hard is dealing with sin. In your home country you have learned to fight sin there, you knows its tactics, its language, its style. You feel confident that you have developed as a Christian and can face most problems that come your way. Then you go to the missionfield. With all this grief, you are in knots internally. You don't know which way is up. You are an emotional wreck. Remember, the Devil is a roaring lion, and just like a lion, he waits until you are confused and distracted to attack. He knows that if he can kill you, he gets the whole family. It was hard the first time I heard that roar!
I remember that I felt so weak. I felt that I was just limping along, just trying to make it to furlough. Then it stood before me ~ my flesh in all of its horror, ugliness, and power. Anger, lust, temptation, fear, greed, discontentment, jealousy... I thought things, felt things, did things, that rocked me to the core! You cry out for mercy! You start to see that you are not the person that you thought at all. You say with the words of Paul, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"
I have learned why most missionaries quit after first term: they are running from themselves! When you see yourself on the field, you are naked and bare before the world. There, your old man cries out for attention, and you have to face it. The funny thing is that you can run, but you will never be able to hide from it. It shares the same house as your new man, and for the rest of your life you will bump into him! The problem is that missionaries start to believe that the place is the problem, not the person. That is why they run! But they are running from the wrong thing.
Once you pass the anger, you begin to bargain. If God will let you just make it until furlough, or even better, have some missions agency or college call you off the field, then you will serve Him faithfully at home the rest of your life. You bargain with God, your family, yourself. The thing that the missionary has to be very careful about is bargaining with the Devil. At this time, you hear that hissing voice a lot. It is telling you that God is holding something back, that God does not care, that you are alone. There were times that I followed after some piece of forbidden fruit, thinking that it would end the pain, but God's great grace was always there to stop me before I took the bite! By this time the ground is plowed, the stones turned up, and you are broken.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Culture Shock!!! Part 1 of 3
I have to admit that I was not too thrilled about writing this blog, but between my wife's blog, and the funeral yesterday, I felt like this was an important blog to write. People might wonder why. When a missionary talks about their culture shock experience it is like rubbing a newly healed wound ~ though you are not bleeding, you still remember the pain. I am writing this in hopes that it might be a help to someone that will pass this road after me, or for those that hear of this phenomena, so that they will be able to pray from missionaries more intelligently.
A missionary that I respect told me that culture shock is just like dealing with a death in the family. The difference is that it is not just one person, it is as if every person that you have ever known has died. It is that real. You mourn, you grieve, you feel loss, not just for a person, but for a way of life.
I know that this is hard to understand for a person that has not passed through this valley of the shadow of death, but for the missionary, he/she has tasted it, and it can never be forgetten.
A missionary that I respect told me that culture shock is just like dealing with a death in the family. The difference is that it is not just one person, it is as if every person that you have ever known has died. It is that real. You mourn, you grieve, you feel loss, not just for a person, but for a way of life.
I know that this is hard to understand for a person that has not passed through this valley of the shadow of death, but for the missionary, he/she has tasted it, and it can never be forgetten.
Try to imagine this scenario: You are a young person. It is Monday, August 6 of the year 1945, and you have gone for a walk on the outside of town. While you are walking, you hear a bomber plane overhead, but you do not fear because no one attacks your city. It has been untouched for most of the war. You feel safe in Hiroshima. Then you see it, the blinding flash. You feel the shock wave, and then in a second, everything you knew is gone! All your family, your friends, everything normal. In that fews seconds, you have lost everything and all that you feel is the pain of the burns. You hurt all over. You try to run back and pick-up pieces, but there is nothing left. As the weeks pass, you try to deal with the grief, but you do not even a have place to go to feel close to the ones that you have lost. Your home, your neighborhood, your way of life, it is all gone! You are in shock, and all you can do is grieve and ask, "Will I ever truly live again?"
This might seem like the words of an overactive imagination, but this is what culture shock is: grief of death, the death of your way of life! I studied some about grief, and here is what Wikipedia says: Elisabeth Kübler-Ross has posited sequential stages of grief including denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, which are commonly referred to as the "grief cycle". This is exactly what a missionary goes through when he/she goes through the death of his/her culture. Not everyone handles death well. In high school, I remember when my best friend Larry's dad died. He never got over it. I am not sure he ever really dealt with it. Putting it in this light, you understand why so many missionries quit after the first term (the average is 3 out of 4). You pass through all these stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and if you look to God in it- acceptance.
This might seem like the words of an overactive imagination, but this is what culture shock is: grief of death, the death of your way of life! I studied some about grief, and here is what Wikipedia says: Elisabeth Kübler-Ross has posited sequential stages of grief including denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, which are commonly referred to as the "grief cycle". This is exactly what a missionary goes through when he/she goes through the death of his/her culture. Not everyone handles death well. In high school, I remember when my best friend Larry's dad died. He never got over it. I am not sure he ever really dealt with it. Putting it in this light, you understand why so many missionries quit after the first term (the average is 3 out of 4). You pass through all these stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and if you look to God in it- acceptance.
Here is another quote about grief. Two scientists describe it this way:
Bowlby and Parkes both note psychophysiologic components of grief... Included in these processes are feelings of unreality, depersonalization, withdrawal, and an anesthetizing of affect. The person feels unable to come to terms with what just occurred. "Whenever one's identity and social order face the possibility of destruction, there is a natural tendency to feel angry, frustrated, helpless, and/or hurt. The volatile reactions of terror, hatred, resentment, and jealousy are often experienced as emotional manifestations of these feelings."
All these quotes are given about grief, but any missionary can tell you this is just what you pass through! I have found out that women and men face this problem very differently. I know for me it was mostly an internal conflict. When you first face culture shock ~ "cultural grieving" ~ you deny there is a problem. I remember that I was numb. You walk around in this fog (the difference here is that you are excited about the change, I doubt anyone dealing with death has felt excitment). You are just going through the routine. I would say that I was a robot for the first two months. I did not really face any home-sickeness. It was quite the opposite. I was a ball of activity. I just wanted to do, do, do... I was just like the boys that I wrote about yesterday. As a new missionary, you just want to get busy. You think that activity will take the fog away. If you can just get into a routine, then everything will return to normal. Then a few months pass...
Bowlby and Parkes both note psychophysiologic components of grief... Included in these processes are feelings of unreality, depersonalization, withdrawal, and an anesthetizing of affect. The person feels unable to come to terms with what just occurred. "Whenever one's identity and social order face the possibility of destruction, there is a natural tendency to feel angry, frustrated, helpless, and/or hurt. The volatile reactions of terror, hatred, resentment, and jealousy are often experienced as emotional manifestations of these feelings."
All these quotes are given about grief, but any missionary can tell you this is just what you pass through! I have found out that women and men face this problem very differently. I know for me it was mostly an internal conflict. When you first face culture shock ~ "cultural grieving" ~ you deny there is a problem. I remember that I was numb. You walk around in this fog (the difference here is that you are excited about the change, I doubt anyone dealing with death has felt excitment). You are just going through the routine. I would say that I was a robot for the first two months. I did not really face any home-sickeness. It was quite the opposite. I was a ball of activity. I just wanted to do, do, do... I was just like the boys that I wrote about yesterday. As a new missionary, you just want to get busy. You think that activity will take the fog away. If you can just get into a routine, then everything will return to normal. Then a few months pass...
Going to a One Week Celebration
I went to a one week celebration today. A one week celebration, is a gathering of friends and family to show support for a family after a person has died. This first gathering always happens after seven days, as you can gather from the name. It is basically the way to let the surrounding community know that there has been a death in the family, it is also a time for the family to gather together and plan for the funeral.
We heard about the gathering on Sunday. Theresa, one of Patty's sunday school girls, had not attended the week before, when Patty was talking to her, she shocked us by telling us that her mother had died last week. She said that she had gotten sick on Sunday and had died on Tuesday. Just that quickly! I had just talk to the women a month ago, she was the picture of health.
I saw a lesson in these kids eyes, and in their fathers eyes (I had to go to the house to see him, he was not with the people outside, I think that the whole thing was a little to much for him), activity does not take away pain! When you go through such lose, the kind that hits you so hard, that it takes thinking just to follow the normal route, activity is not enough. Only God can see you through these times!
Please pray for the family, that God will use this time to draw them closer to Himself, and to show them their need of a Savior. Theresa's mom was unsaved!
We heard about the gathering on Sunday. Theresa, one of Patty's sunday school girls, had not attended the week before, when Patty was talking to her, she shocked us by telling us that her mother had died last week. She said that she had gotten sick on Sunday and had died on Tuesday. Just that quickly! I had just talk to the women a month ago, she was the picture of health.
Theresa is only 10 years old, and her brother Claudio is 14 years old. I was not sure what I would see at the gathering. I mean they just lost their mother. I was really shocked at first, they seemed so normal! Everyone was gathered outside under the tents, they had all the speakers set up, and the loud music playing. Everyone was there. I was meet by a family member that took me around, and I greeted all the elders and close family members that where sitting in the fronts of each group of chairs. After this I was led to a chair, and sat with the family. (The point is to come and sit with the family to show your support, most people come for about 45 minutes and sit. This is a sign of your concern and support).
As I sat there, I was shocked, the three kids (Theresa, Claudio, and there older brother) where not even crying. But, as I sat there with them I realized that this calm was only surface deep. They keep trying to help others, they where trying to stay busy. If you watched Claudio close, you saw him fighting to be a man... but every once and a while you saw the mask slip a little. Even when they asked the boys to come up front and dance for their family in honor of their mother (this is something that people do here to honor a loved one) you saw them smiling, but their heart was not in it. I seemed that if they had to stop and think, they would just cave-in. I think this is why funeral are set-up the way they are here. Everything is very active. Loud music, a multitude of people, nothing stops for a minute.
For the western that comes to a Ghanaian funeral the whole things will be upside down. Funerals are supposed to be serious, reflective, somber, a time to let the family deal with grief. But, that is not the way that people see it here. Here you celebrate, enjoy, socialize, and most of all you do not talk of the pain, you do all in your power to help remove it's presents, even if this is just temporary!
I saw a lesson in these kids eyes, and in their fathers eyes (I had to go to the house to see him, he was not with the people outside, I think that the whole thing was a little to much for him), activity does not take away pain! When you go through such lose, the kind that hits you so hard, that it takes thinking just to follow the normal route, activity is not enough. Only God can see you through these times!
Please pray for the family, that God will use this time to draw them closer to Himself, and to show them their need of a Savior. Theresa's mom was unsaved!
Friday, November 7, 2008
The Leper's Spot
I was reading in Leviticus today. Currently I am on the chapters that speak about leprosy. I never really appreciated these chapters until I moved to Ghana. In Ghana it is still a common disease. I can still remember the first time that I meet a leper.
My family and I used to live in a community called Bomso. Whenever we went to town we always passed the main intersection on the Accra road. And just like many intersection in Africa, there where beggars that stood at this intersection and begged for money. One man always seemed to be there, and I gave him coins off and on. Then one day as this man was putting out his begging bowl to me, I noticed that he was missing all his figures, and that they where covered in Gentian Violet (that is an ointment that people use here on infected wounds, it turns the skin a bright purple). All at once I realized that he had not lost his fingers in an accident, like I thought, but that he was a leper. I will tell you, that when that thought hit me, while my hands where touching his on the begging bowl, the feeling that raced through me was utter terror! I was overwhelmed! Leprous! I saw the man off and on after that, but the disease keep progressing, until finally I think that he had to join one of Ghana's colonies.
It is amazing how the Bible becomes alive when you live in a third-world country. I have learned a lot about leprosy since I have been here. Leprosy is a disease that attacks the nerve endings first, this happens long before the deterioration even beginnings. So that means that the leper does not feel any pain, he/she is just slowly consumed by the disease until it spreads so much that the person finally dies from infection. The person is a walking, living, corpse. The amazing thing is, even when the person is utterly unclean, and has to cry out and tell everyone, though people see the lepers misery, the leper does not feel any pain. The feelings have been burned out of him. When I thought about that this morning it was such a perfect picture of sin. We are infected with it, and it begins it work within us, slowly it kills our feelings. Before long we see the damage of this sin disease, and before long we are 'past feeling' as the Bible says, and walking in the world with our lips covered, saying "Unclean, unclean". We have become untouchable by man, we are broken, humbled, and alone. Sin, even after salvation at times seem to make us so unlcean. And in the words of Paul "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"
As I thought about this sad reality, I read chapter 14 of Leviticus. Chapter 14 talks about how a leper was declared CLEAN! The Twi words to one of our hymns kept passing through my mind: Awurade, mahu! Se Wo tumi nkutoo, Besa kwata kuro... (translation: Lord, I have seen, it is your power only, that washes the leper's disease (spots)). When no one has the power to touch us, let alone heal us, He stretches forth His hand, and like every time in the gospels, he touches us. And with that touch we are healed.
God thank you for loving me enough to touch me with Your almighty hand! God help me to live as the cleansed person that you have made me.
My family and I used to live in a community called Bomso. Whenever we went to town we always passed the main intersection on the Accra road. And just like many intersection in Africa, there where beggars that stood at this intersection and begged for money. One man always seemed to be there, and I gave him coins off and on. Then one day as this man was putting out his begging bowl to me, I noticed that he was missing all his figures, and that they where covered in Gentian Violet (that is an ointment that people use here on infected wounds, it turns the skin a bright purple). All at once I realized that he had not lost his fingers in an accident, like I thought, but that he was a leper. I will tell you, that when that thought hit me, while my hands where touching his on the begging bowl, the feeling that raced through me was utter terror! I was overwhelmed! Leprous! I saw the man off and on after that, but the disease keep progressing, until finally I think that he had to join one of Ghana's colonies.
It is amazing how the Bible becomes alive when you live in a third-world country. I have learned a lot about leprosy since I have been here. Leprosy is a disease that attacks the nerve endings first, this happens long before the deterioration even beginnings. So that means that the leper does not feel any pain, he/she is just slowly consumed by the disease until it spreads so much that the person finally dies from infection. The person is a walking, living, corpse. The amazing thing is, even when the person is utterly unclean, and has to cry out and tell everyone, though people see the lepers misery, the leper does not feel any pain. The feelings have been burned out of him. When I thought about that this morning it was such a perfect picture of sin. We are infected with it, and it begins it work within us, slowly it kills our feelings. Before long we see the damage of this sin disease, and before long we are 'past feeling' as the Bible says, and walking in the world with our lips covered, saying "Unclean, unclean". We have become untouchable by man, we are broken, humbled, and alone. Sin, even after salvation at times seem to make us so unlcean. And in the words of Paul "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"
As I thought about this sad reality, I read chapter 14 of Leviticus. Chapter 14 talks about how a leper was declared CLEAN! The Twi words to one of our hymns kept passing through my mind: Awurade, mahu! Se Wo tumi nkutoo, Besa kwata kuro... (translation: Lord, I have seen, it is your power only, that washes the leper's disease (spots)). When no one has the power to touch us, let alone heal us, He stretches forth His hand, and like every time in the gospels, he touches us. And with that touch we are healed.
God thank you for loving me enough to touch me with Your almighty hand! God help me to live as the cleansed person that you have made me.
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