Missions - Week 9
“Culture of the mind must be subservient to the heart”
Mahatma Gandhi
Think about your favorite food; your favorite memory;your favorite hobby… It seems that so much of who we are is defined by our culture. Thinking of this, it is very understandable why we (the DTS students) need to be aware of not only our own backround, but that of the Ugandan people. It is vital (as I feel the quote is emphasizing) that we think outside of the box we’ve been raised in, and reach out with love, openess, and compassion to others, which is the culture of Christ’s heart.
Missions was the focus of our week. Jack (John) McNeill shared with us not only his knowledge concerning this, but personal stories and smiles. He is truly intelligent and humble, possessing the ability to put the entire class at ease. We had some really great questions and discussions concerning this topic.
As one could guess by previous statements, culture was highlighted in his teaching. We reviewed information such as the stages of cultural transition which included the “honeymoon” stage, the “reality check”, the “work to grow in understanding”, and the “re-entry into one’s own culture”stages. Identifying with a culture vs. using the extractionalist approach, communication aspects of cutlure, strategizing to reach a culture (yet being flexible to change), and acquiring cross culturalism were just a few of the topics emphasized.
Jack also revealed that the foundation of missions began in the Old Testament, outlining the fact that God has had a mission concerning humanity since the beginning of creation, and presenting us the question, “Do we want to be a part of God’s mission or not?”
Speaking of missions…WE are going to UGANDA in three weeks! Three weeks people…think about it…that is coming up very quick! Since we are so passionate and pumped about our outreach, we came to the conclusion that you the readers would probably be super thrilled to learn about what we are going to be involved in! (Brace yourself people…)!
We, the lovely students, are going to be flying out from Winnipeg to Toronto, Toronto to London (England), London to Dubia (The United Arab Emirates), Dubia to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), and finally from Addis Ababa to Entebbe (which is in Uganda, yes my friends, which means we’ll have finally reached our destination…awesome!)
After this, we will bus into Soroti, and stay in the YWAM base located there for almost 4 weeks. While there, we will be involved in such things as serving the people of Soroti, digging wells, reaching out to people affected and infected by HIV/AIDS, ministering to the Karamojong, and serving/working in the war torn regions of North Eastern Uganda and Southern Sudan.
For about the week (and a bit) we will relocate to the YWAM base in Jinja, serving in a variety of ministries which include everything from medical programs to awareness education. The last week we will receive the opportunity to work with street kids in the city of Kampala through an organization called Dwelling Places. What a wonderful opportunity we have received from Christ! I hope that you can take the time to check out these links, pray for the ministries, and pray for us! Thanks so much! God bless!
Sincerely in Jesus Christ,
Stacie J.
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