Cross-Cultural Class

Even though I never traveled more than a few miles from my home, I feel like the past few weeks have taken me around the world several times over. Why? Because I had my first experience of teaching a course on Cross-Cultural Ministry at Whitworth University. Every single day, during the three and half week period of Jan Term, I had the chance to share with seventeen students what God is doing to advance His Kingdom around the world.

As part of the Theology Department’s upper division offerings, TH317 or Cross-Cultural Ministry is an elective course designed to expose students to contemporary issues in global missions plus give an introduction to the cross-cultural understanding needed to effectively engage in ministry in a foreign context

It wasn’t too difficult picking the required reading for the course. First, my friend, Paul Borthwick’s brand new book, Western Christians in Global Mission was a must .Then I used David Livermore’s Cultural Intelligence as a great way of teaching how to adapt to cultural differences. Finally, Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert’s, classic When Helping Hurts was essential for teaching how to engage in ministry with true sensitivity especially for those of us from America.

To add a little fun and break up the long, three-hour class sessions, we had a daily cross-cultural snack, curtsey of volunteers from among the students. Together, we enjoyed such things as Swedish rice pudding, home-made German soft pretzels, Indian dhal and Japanese seaweed wafers.  Speaking of food, Anita and I had the entire class over to our place for an Indonesian feast of nasi gorang, chicken sate with peanut sauce, and vegetable gado gado.

What has made this teaching experience the most meaningful of all for me was what the students produced as their final project. Asking them to dream up a brand new ministry in a foreign culture, I had each write their final paper in the form of a proposal for support from a church or foundation. Included in the submissions were plans for a rehab home in Ukraine for trafficked women, a counseling center in Japan to address teenage suicide and micro-enterprise in India using recycled saris. Not only were all the papers done well, but I believe many could easily become real-life ministries.

Will I teach again at Whitworth in the future?  It depends if I’m asked again, of course, and if I can fit it in to my existing overseas workshop schedule. But for now, I’ve found this experience to be both enjoyable, fulfilling and a great way to travel the world without having to get very far from home!