Cross-Cultural Ministry
0 comments | Posted by Steven Layson on 09 Mar 2008 in From Steve's Study ::
Last Sunday afternoon we enjoyed the visit of Trish Bell, who is the Northern Region’s Cross-Cultural Ministry advisor. For those who were unable to attend, here are some of the highlights:
- In the past we have sent missionaries to the four corners of the globe to take the good news of Jesus to the unreached people-groups. Today, these very groups have moved to our doorstep. In East Lindfield alone, over 25% of residence come from North-East Asia (mostly Chinese) – many of whom would never have even opened a bible, let alone know what it is about! We have a mission-field in our suburb!
- Each of us, no matter what our background, carries certain amounts of “cultural baggage” around with us. Our culture governs the way we do things & how we relate to others. We can’t even see it in ourselves because it is just “normal” to us. However, this becomes a recipe for alienation and confusion when we come across people with different cultural expectations. This becomes a real problem when we realise that if we ignore the cultural distance between ourselves and others, these people will never be able to even hear about Jesus, let alone follow him.
- One way of breaking down the barriers between ourselves and those of other cultures is through language. If we can help people to understand our language and culture, then they will be more willing and able to understand our message.
The key thing to come out of the afternoon was the opportunity for us to run “Conversational English” classes. To do this we will need a number of resources (people resources particularly) and a great deal of prayer.
If you are interested in being involved in this important outreach, please see Steve as soon as possible to find out more.
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