Cross-Cultural Training in Tomball is underway!

Monday September 24

I arrived in Tomball at Salem Lutheran Church yesterday in time for a noon lunch and then an afternoon filled with cross cultural training by missionaries and staff from LCMS International Missions.  What a blessing it is to have lifelong, called church workers sharing their insights with short-term mission teams such as ourselves. Over the last 25 years or so, the short-term mission movement has gained steam and done much good around the world.  Of course, there have been problems, especially ones caused by groups that go on a mission to a particualr locale and never return again, leaving the host congregation wondering if they are not worthy of a second visit and the career missionaries in a position to mop up after any cultural faux pauxs.  Our Vision for Kenya Project is very different from this.  It began in 2007 as a five year commitment to spread the Gospel via vision and dental clinics.  It has grown geometrically from being a program of Salem Lutheran Church in partnership with the LCMS through the Congregation Connect initiative to a major effort with three churches making up a mentoring group and many other congregations having a stake in locations throughout Kenya.  About 60 team members will depart in November for our biggest effort yet, serving two locations in Nairobi and many more sites in other parts of the country.  One of our guiding principles is that we do short-term missions with a long-term commitment, returning to the same areas, building relationships with the pastors and congregations we serve.  The churches grow and the blessings are abundant, both for the areas that get human care ministry and for those of us that go into this mission field.  While this was to be a five year project, all involved have signed on for another five years, since we can see that we are still gaining momentum and there is much work left to be done in our obedience to the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20.

 

Our LCMS International Missions staff on hand includes Dave Birner, head of the program, Mike Rodewald, who oversees all of our missionaries in Africa,  Jennifer Prophete, short-term missions coordinator from the St. Louis office and Shara Cunningham from our Nairobi office.  Also particiapting with us are Ivan and Jennifer Rasch, missionaries serving in Ghana. We have participants from Salem Lutheran Church in Tomball, Concordia San Antonio, Trinity-Klein, Peace Hewitt and Redeemer Lutheran Church in Austin, my home congregation.

After lunch, our sessions began with everyone introducing themselves.  We range in experience from some team members who will be going on their first mission with us to old-times saddling up for the eleventh time.  I love the mix of experience and wide-eyed enthusiasm that has been a hallmark of each and every mission I've been on.  And yes, I'm somewhere in between, going on my eighth trip to Kenya this time since November of 2009.

Mike led a devotion based on Psalm 56 and then he went into the Gospel of Matthew geneology, stressing that relationships are highly prized in Africa and the Middle East (it's who you are, not what you do that counts).  As an excercise, he then asked us to write down what our reasons were for going on this next mission trip.  He proceeded to give an historical overview of the LCMS' role in world missions, followed by a look at the size and history of the Lutheran church across the African continent.  It was an eye opener, seeing that most of our denominations work has been from near the equator and to the south, with the northern part of the continent largely untouched, since it's a Muslim stronghold.  He did stress that while all of us have studied the formal teachings of Islam in order to be better evangelists, Islam in Africa is largely cultural rather than orthodox in many places.  More is to follow on this over the next two days. 

In response to the exercise previously noted, Mike reviewed the many reasons people have gone into the mission field over the years and explained Missio Dei or God's mission to us, which is why we are sent and why we go as Lutherans. We are privileged to be called by God to his mission field, He doesn't need us to accomplish His purpose but in His grace and mercy He has chosen to work through us.  What a blessing!

 

After a short break, Mike explained the spiritual heritage of Africa, starting with ancient beliefs that we call animism.  He illustrated some of the key features of this world view by using the Bible story of Namaan's being cured of leprosy by God throught the prophet Elisha.  It was very enlightening.

Next, Shara instructed us in some conversational Swahili basics such as greetings, thank yous, etc.  We will buld on what she taught us over the next couple of days.

 

Finally, Jennifer Prophete led a lively discussion of African Friends and Money Matters topics by asking those of us who have been to Kenya before to tell about five experiences involving money that we had witnessed.   We then discussed them based on insights from the book and with some great input from our missionaries.  It comforted me that there are many ways that awkward situations can be deflected graciously so that strong relationships can be formed rather than unintentional rudeness ruining the possibility of friendships blossoming.  These insights will probe most valuable to us and I thank our LCMS mentors for this.

At 5:30 or so, we broke for dinner at the Harris County Smokehouse, where many of us got to know each other better before heading home or to our respective lodgings for the night.

 

More to follow as the training continues.  Stay tuned.......