We've been here for 3 days and we are now experts on all things cultural, all things communicational, and course-al. But put them all together and we are stumped! It's pretty amazing how God grabs hold of you, shakes you, and your pride falls away. It's hard too.
Time for some honesty. When I first found out that we were going to go to this training, I asked, "What for? We are going to be serving in a missions center, surrounded by other missionaries. We aren't going to be out in the field!" And then, we got our hands on the book Cross Cultural Servanthood by Duane Elmer. It didn't take too long for me to realize that I was going to have a very rough time with this ICC.
I didn't think I needed any help. That is a tough attitude to let go. I'm still working on that, even now, as we are getting into the swing of things. More than ever I am realizing that if I want to be effective as a leader, I need to come to grips with my weaknesses and strengths. If I am going to serve others from many and varied cultures, I really need to understand those undercurrents of thought and culture that have made up my world-view for so long.
One of the first assignments we've been given is to write down the assumptions; the reasons for action; the basic thoughts that make us behave and think the way we do. They gave us 11 topics like money, family, grief, sex, anger, etc., and asked us to think to the very core of those topics and the attitudes behind it. It was a VERY enlightening experience. Those things that make up your culture heavily influence how you behave. Those behaviors that are perfectly normal for one (like eye contact during conversation) may be considered rude for another.
Awareness of the issues seems to be the theme so far!
Be praying for us as we are stretched. The emotional toll was very high very quickly. Please know that we are learning a lot, and bear with us as we are a little more difficult to get a hold of!
Caleb
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