Lost in Translation

We had a great week of camp at Bass Lake Camp in Winnebago, MN. Thanks for your prayers! I was noticing that being in your home culture makes things easier for communication. I could say "aunt" with the MN pronunciation and no one would look at me funny.

I've also been thinking about cultural adaptation and location. I could work in any part of Colombia and adapt. I'm a missionary to Colombia. But I don't know if I could work anywhere in the U.S. because it's my country and I've developed ideas and prejudices about certain regions. Or to put it more positively, I would really struggle with certain regions. I would constantly be fighting the culture. I've recently heard of several pastors who've had this problem. You can't expect to move from the South to Iowa or Minnesota and not have a bit of culture shock. Things are just different.

This is another reason that cross-cultural missionaries are needed. Many times the "locals" are blinded to the needs or unwilling to meet them. Take the example of hispanic ministry here in the U.S. How many churches are reaching out to them? For many it's a stretch that they're not willing to make. I was excited to hear that First Baptist in Austin, MN has started an outreach to hispanics and now has over 50 in attendence on Sundays!

May the Lord stretch us all to reach people with the gospel... even if they're from a different culture.