Complexity, part 1
Navigating life is far from simple. Job-home-communtiy-family-church-finances-etc....wow. I guess some folks may find it to be an easy process, but most of us would beg to differ!
One of the more significant complexities unique to cross-cultural mission involves discernment of how much of one's home culture to hold onto vs. how much of the host culture to embrace.
It may seem obvious: Well, you're missionaries! Of course you're going to assimilate local customs and habits. Of course you'll worship in a Cameroonian church. Of course you'll learn lots of French. Of course you'll have very little money. Of course you'll often host Cameroonians in your home. Of course you'll ride Cameroonian taxis, eat Cameroonian food, love Cameroonian life. Of course? Well, again, some folks may find all that easy. However, most missionaries would be burned out in a month if divorced from all familiarities so completely; we would be stressed beyond the breaking point if glued to a foreign lifestyle so exclusively.
One of the things I have been struck with here is the diversity of our fellow missionaries. Due to it's nature as a kind of "hub" for Wycliffe's Bible translation efforts, Yaoundé has a fairly sizable number of missionaries. This means that there are many different opinions on engaging the local context while at the same time holding onto some burnout-preventing "tastes" (sometimes quite literally) of home.
The majority of us are, as expected, on a shoestring budget, but others have a fair amount of money. Sometimes this is due to huge supporting churches; other times missionaries are self-supporting and/or simply have significant personal wealth. It's a little unsettling to enter a missionary home and discover a TV that is nearly the size of the huge vehicle they also own. But living here ourselves, we have become less quick to judge. The baseline stressors of cross-cultural living are massive. Some very effective missionaries, those who invest the most in Cameroonian people and culture, also have a near-desperate need for their house to be a restorative sanctuary amidst the chaos--that's often what it truly is--around us. I'm not saying this is necessarily ideal; I'm just saying that missionary stewardship is a complex rather than simple issue. The gifts and frailties and needs and abilities of those engaged in global mission vary tremendously. Lord help each of us to demonstrate the humility and generosity and simplicity and righteousness of Christ to a watching (Cameroonian) world.
--David
