Rural Ministry as A Cross Cultural

Encounter

Traveling to Nicaragua 1997

Serving Together

Village Missions is focused on serving rural Churches that:

- Are in danger of closing- Are the only gospel witness in the

community.

The Missionary

• A passion and commitment to rural ministry• Faith support that

they have raised.• Prayer support

There are two underlying beliefs that the organization is based on.

1. Every community should have a Gospel preaching Church to be a light and proclaim the Word of God to those around.

2. Most failing churches can be revitalized when provided with FULL TIME, competent, mission minded leadership.

Village Missions’ Mandate for Us:

Preach the Word

Love the People

CULTURE?Culture is a system of beliefs, values, and assumptions about life that guide behavior and are shared by a group of people. It includes customs, language, and material artifacts. These are transmitted from generation to generation, rarely with explicit instructions.

Paul D. Coverell, Peace Corps World Wise Schools, http://wws.peacecorps.gov/wws/educators/lessonplans/lesson.cfm?lpid=346 accessed Oct 19, 12.)

What Cultural Groups Do You Belong To?

• Canadian and I speak English• Albertan• Rural, blue collar, from a farm.• Male• Christian- from a small Evangelical

church• The Schnee family.

Cross Cultural Encounters• When we leave our group and current

environment we discover two basic things.–The rules or methods that we follow to

get desired results as we engage the world no longer work.

(Method)–The results that we desire are not desired

by the people around us. (Ideals)

Getting Married

Moving to Middle Lake, Saskatchewan

Optimistic Beginnings February 27th, 2011

So Many

• Rural• Farming

community• Small school• Gravel roads• Small church• English

With so much in common

what could be different?

Similarities Differences

With three years of Seminary and being raised on the farm this

should be easy, shouldn’t it?

Starting off on the Wrong Foot

Expectations and Reality

First Clues That This Wouldn’t Be Easy

I knew the roads were bad but....

Nuts, Bolts, LogisticsFinding My Way in a New Environment

• Saskatchewan is NOT Alberta.• A different license• Different Insurance• New stores• New neighbours• Garbage removal is different

• Could someone please explain how to get a Dr.’s appointment ?

• Things are cheaper in Saskatchewan like .....?

• The process of changing licenses and health care lacked common sense.

• I was feeling ______________.• I wanted to say _____________.

And other ‘nice’ surprises...

“HOW DO YOU LIKE IT HERE?”The question that has only

one ‘right answer’.

Just where were we and what had happened to us?

Pure Rural Type

Open Country

Agricultural Village

Small Town

Rural Urban Fringe

Community

Small City

MetropolitanCity

Pure Urban Type

More

Less

populationimmigration/migrationprosperity education

Nobody can tell me the rules but I know they have them.

Land MinesFinding

Significance in

Unexpected Places

Looking for Clues• Who do we see with whom?• Does the mood change when someone is

added to the conversation?• What do people say?• What do people do?• Who can I trust?• Who is reliable?• Who has good will towards us?

Three Weeks With No Garage Door

Could Someone Help Me Please?

“But I’m not done yet!”

Peeling Back the Layers and Finding That It’s Rotten Underneath

http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/Saskatchewan/ID/2408211078/?page=20&sort=MostRecent

And there’s water in the basement of the parsonage.

What are some of the emotions that I was feeling?

Confusion

ANGERSTRESS

Frustration BetrayalFear

What do you do when you find out that there are significant problems that you didn’t know about?

***

• Do you feel betrayed?• Do you get angry?• Do you start looking for ways out?• Are those problems the reason God

placed you in that circumstance?

How do we deal with challenging emotions that come with cross

cultural situations?

Luke 10:11-12I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.

Time off in the tourist hotspot of Humboldt, Saskatchewan.

_____________

Don’t expect to hit the ground

running.

Take time to appreciate the great things about your community.

Find a safe place to reflect.• Staff meetings with Jenneke.• Get out of town.• A friend to talk to.• A hobby to enjoy.

How do I engage with what I’m experiencing?

Dealing With Nonsense

• Does it really matter?• Are your reason’s any more valid? • Can change wait?• Keep the big picture in mind.

Dealing With People

• Have some patience and reserve making judgements.• Say nice things about people, or try

not to say anything.• Be positive.

COMMUNITY

CHURCH

FAMILY

INDIVIDUAL

Peeling

backthe

Layers

Value Local Knowledge

GPS and Google don’t

have the same value

here!

There’s always value in

talking to your

neighbours…

Understanding my new environment.

Why Can’t I Get Answers?

LOW CONTEXT CULTURE• Majors on explicit

instructions.• Expect to find

instructions, manuals, and other written material that outline tasks and behaviours.

• The group tends to have a fluid membership.

HIGH CONTEXT CULTURE• Meaning is supplied

by context.• Information is

transmitted orally and held in memory.

• Marked by extremely stable group membership

ListenListenWatch

&Listen

Act

In a place where things happen slowly quick moves are a dangerous thing.

Other practical tips for entering a low context culture.

• Find someone else who is a recent entry into the culture to help you.• Be patient and forgiving.• Have a sense of adventure.• Find the local history book that lists

the town and family histories.

Learn Your Community Calendar

• Seeding and harvest.

• Calving • Road Bans and

Spring break-up.• plant shut downs• major community

events.

We block off two weeks in July for swimming lessons.

Pouring Cement

Work with your people’s sense of time.

• Be willing to adjust your calendar to fit the weather.• Expect to spend time in larger blocks.• Be aware of people who work away

from home.

Philippians 2:6-11

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being found in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death on a cross

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

“I love it here.”The right answer to the question that

everyone’s asking.

Questions?

A Good BookElmer, Duane, Cross Cultural Connections: Stepping Out and Fitting In Around the World. Downer’s Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, 2002.