Back And There Again

I’m barely past a week back from my last visit to Hot Springs, but I’m already well into planning for the next two times I hope to be able to return.

One is in November of this year which will be (hopefully) a two purpose trip. 

First, I am there for a longer stretch in order to complete the field assignment portion of the Directed Reading and Research credit I am taking through Tyndale Seminary (towards my ever-elusive-but-getting-closer Masters of Divinity degree).   During that time I will be doing what I normally do in terms of teaching ESL and Bible lessons and sermons, but this time it will require formalized lesson plans with objectives and assessments and video samples.  The reading component to that credit has also already been well underway all summer, and I am so enriched by the authors and ideas who have deeply contributed to my perspectives on cross cultural teaching and ministry. 

The second hoped-for purpose of the November trip is to gather a team of five English readers to participate in the language and literature enrichment program we have initiated at Hot Springs.  Specifics and details about that are below, so please check it out and share and ask for an application if you think that might be you.    It would be my delight to introduce you (welcome you back as the case may be) to our incredible Thai family and some very eager English learners.

That’s the first trip.

The second trip is scheduled for next January and will likely take on more of a leadership-vision theme.  For this trip I am hoping to gather two to three (or more if God prompts folks this way) pastors and evangelists who are curious to see what God is up to in both urban and rural settings in Northern Thailand.    Again, the details are below.  Again, please consider and share and inquire if you think God might have something in mind for you or your church, or someone you know. 

English Literacy Program – November 2018 – Two Weeks

English-speaking readers needed to participate in an ESL enhancement visit to Hot Springs Children’s Home near Chiang Mai Thailand.   Will include daily reading (to and listening to) children ages 8 to 18, participation in morning and evening devotion times, participation in Sunday morning worship service, and some out-trips to learn more about Thai culture.  While opened to seasoned travellers, this trip is also perfect for a “first time out” individual looking to expand their global perspective.  Cost is under $3,000 (mostly airfare).  Application and references required.  Team is limited to five people.

Contact Ruth Anne Breithaupt at rabreithaupt@hcckw.ca

Missionary In Residence, Highview Community Church

Pastors And Evangelists Interactive – January 2019 – Two Weeks

Leaders with the heart to connect and encourage are invited to participate in two weeks of on the ground pastoral ministry in northern Thailand, in and around Chiang Mai.  Will include visitation to local pastors in both urban and rural settings, opportunity to preach in a Sunday service (interpreter provided), opportunity to meet new believers and explore the spiritual journey from Buddha to Jesus.

Out-trips to better understand Thai culture are also included.    Cost is under $3,000 (mostly airfare).  Application and references required.  Team is limited to three people.

Contact Ruth Anne Breithaupt at rabreithaupt@hcckw.ca

Missionary In Residence, Highview Community Church

All Good Things

 

With jet lag still upon me, I find myself with that strange but familiar sense where my mind and soul are catching up with my body.  My body always arrives first.  Later, by days usually, my mind and soul, reluctant to leave and lingering behind, finally arrive home, always in their own sweet time.

I found it disorienting at first, but by now I welcome it.  There seems a heightened sense of what’s real, what’s important, in the midst of this weirdness.   And it’s a great time to report on what’s up at Hot Springs right now.

Abundant Life

It’s why Jesus said He came, “...to give life and life abundant.”  John 10:10.  And it’s long been a feature of the family He’s gathered under the wings of Suradet and Yupa.  The past two years, however, have been shadowed by a necessary grief.  In fact this month, August 31^st to be precise, marks the second anniversary of their own son Bee’s death in a motorcycle accident.  To say the grieving is over would be untrue and unrealistic.  We will always miss Bee.  It will never be okay that he’s not here.   But this visit seemed to be full of fun again, in a way that the earlier days of mourning could not allow.   And actually I would say that this was one of the most enjoyable aspects of my two weeks there this summer.  I just simply had a lot of fun.

It wasn’t even in the little outings we did – like taking the kids out one Saturday (at a ridiculous cost of $30 to feed 14 lunch AND ice cream, AND bring home 10 more ice creams for those who were planting rice that day).   Or my day of shopping for Sponsors’ and Supporters’ thank yous and little trinkets for my own grandkids – which was fun for sure.  But it was more in just the regular rhythm of rising early for morning worship, working on ESL and Bible lessons and emails and blogging until lunch, resting in the heat of the afternoon, and then welcoming the children home after school.  It was in the reading for Book Club, and the mistakes I made in language learning, and the inside jokes we added to our collection, just from doing life together in such a sweet, unhurried way. 

In these moments I have such a close-hand view of how they’re all doing.  And I am happy to report they’re all doing oh so very well.  School and homework and sports and helping to plant rice and doing their own laundry and singing, singing, singing all the time.  There’s hardly a moment when someone’s not singing at Hot Springs.   Yes, life abundant.  That’s what I’d call it.  And I was again amazed that I get to be part of it.

Redemptive Story

I mentioned this briefly in a previous blog and many have asked for the bigger story.  It’s about Fruk and his older brother Philip and a homecoming wrought out of much pain.  Hard to know where to start, but let’s just say that Fruk first came to Hot Springs because his mother had abandoned his alcoholic father, and by default, both her boys.   Fruk, the younger of the two, did well at Hot Springs, grew healthy and strong into adolescence, showing a fair talent on the guitar, and often leading morning or evening worship times.  But the mid teen years found him all angsty, and challenging the rules.  When it became more conflict-ridden than what was good for the whole of the family, Fruk went to live with Yupa’s parents, helping them around the house (a common Thai tradition), and continuing in school.    But when Bee died, he took it hard, and that’s when his older brother came back to get him.

Philip, eight years senior, all this meantime had been dealing with drug addiction himself.   Hitting bottom, he sought out his dad who, by this time had turned his life over to Jesus and was several years sober.  His father told him to pray to Jesus for help.  But Philip, in his own words “don’t like Jesus!” at that point in the story.  However, he ‘pretended’ to become a Christian believing this was necessary to be accepted into a treatment plan operated by Christians who were connected to a juvenile prevention program.   In the course of the program, Philip had a genuine experience with Christ, and went on to serve in the prison ministry there in Bangkok.

When he came for Fruk, the idea was that he would help his brother finish high school in Bangkok and go from there.  Fruk did finish high school, but just after graduation a new crisis changed things again.  Their mother died in a car accident, bringing them both back to the Chiang Mai area. 

Now there were a set of grandparents (mother’s side) with no one to care for them.  Philip made the difficult decision to leave ministry, get a paying job in construction and support his family.  Fruk is now in university studying music.

But here’s the one piece of the story that only comes into focus at the point where Philip and Fruk come to live at Hot Springs.   Philip and Fruk are the sons of Yupa’s brother.  They are her nephews.  And this is family.  And in a beautiful, healing way, the losses everyone’s suffered are coming together like broken pieces, creating a beautiful mosaic of redemption.

Philip contributes to a large part of the fun I described earlier.  His clear giftedness in music and speaking is a decided asset to Hot Springs, both in caring for the children and in leading the church.  Fruk’s own spiritual journey is back on track, and he is now a loving, respectful eighteen year old, excited about his future, studying hard at university, settled finally into the family he’s known since he was eight.

Personally, seeing Fruk so happy and focused and helpful was such a gift.  My first visit to Hot Springs, he was the darling, and I have the videos to prove it.  And now, here he is.  Having fun.  Loving Jesus.  Launching into an adult life full of potential.  Oh my heart.

I’ve Got My Work Cut Out For Me

During my time there two important meetings occurred.  One was with Asia’s Hope Director John McCollum along with the Thai National Director Tutu.  We met together all five of us, to chat about the challenges inherent in Hot Spring’s location on un-deeded land.  Several  strategies were laid out with some action steps in place.   New things are coming down the pipe, not the least of which will be a significant building project toward a proper dorm for our kids. 

An important piece to the strategies suggested was to search out partners to join with us in this beautiful work.  So, right now that’s what I’m doing.  As Missionary In Residence, this piece alone would mean I have lots to do, even without the teaching and pastoral components I bring to Hot Springs when I’m there. 

The other important meeting was a Staff meeting with everyone at Hot Springs who serves our children.   Suradet and Yupa are in charge.  Then there’s Jaroen and Dtu, a couple who have now been there for two years helping with everything that needs doing, a list I would give but it’s way too long.  Just imagine having 20 kids in your care and go from there.  Philip was also part of this meeting as he is considered support staff as well. 

While I make it clear that Suradet and Yupa are the bosses, when I’m there they very much like to use this time to fill me in on the little details (who’s wetting the bed, who might need braces, who’s improving at school, like that), and ask for my thoughts on some of these things.  My own goals in these Staff meetings are to encourage, and then encourage some more, and then encourage again.  I acknowledge that this is the team that’s doing all the work.   I sing their praises and pass on all your love.

And then we go out for lunch.   And I sit around the table in awe that I get to eat with such superstars of mercy and grace. 

My next trip is scheduled for end of October through November.  During that time I will be again combining the work done teaching there as part of a credit towards my degree, something called a Directed Reading and Research course which is rather longishly entitled “Incarnational Cross Cultural Christian Education: Strategies Towards Reciprocal Learning”.  My weeks there will count for part of the requirements of the course. 

So no, if you’re asking, I’m not retired.   I’m reinventing the work I’ve done all these years towards something I believe God has been fashioning for me right now. 

And I am overwhelmed

and grateful

to be allowed this season,

this opportunity,

 this ministry,

this life.

The Long Way Home

Yes, I'm packing.

Again.

Such a short visit, this one.  Two weeks only of laughing, singing, reading, eating, worshiping, loving.  But such a satisfying two weeks, without question. 

Chan im jai.  My heart is full.  And grateful.  And excited for the future. 

And breaking.

Again. 

Never gets easier.  Doesn't matter how long I've been here.  Two weeks.  Three months. It's the same.

But worth it.

Tomorrrow morning around 10:30 a.m. Chiang Mai time (10:30 p.m. Wednesday Ontario time), I will board a plane that will take me to Taipei, then another that will bring me all the way home.  Again.

A common phrase for this filling, rewarding, very-Thai-style visit has been
"How did I get this life I so don't deserve?" 

Long pause.

For every person who's prayed.
Every Sponsor.
Every suppporter of my new adventure.
For Ken who releases me every time, with generosity that's legendary by now.
For the rest of my family who gets it.
For all who keep me accountable and encourage me and remind me of who I am.
Thank you.

To Suradet and Yupa for being heroes - my admiration of you only grows the more we know each other.
To the children here whose love means more than I could ever communicate even if I was fluent.
To the members of Christachuck Nampoorawn - worshiping with you has been food for my heart.
So korpkoon mahk, ka!

And to the One who writes the stories,
thank for the way You're writing this one. 
Several chapters ago I wasn't sure I liked it. 
But You know the endings. 
You knew this visit for what it would do,
and what it will do.

I love You. 

You have me.

Zombie Pigs and Other Language Laughs

There's a punchline to this story, but I need to set up a few things first.

One is that you need to know that Hot Springs is now in possession of two small pigs, females, that I am told are for breeding not eating.  This is a pet project of Dtu.  (And as a side note, I am constantly in awe of the husbandry skills of these people who are able to productively use as much of the property as possible toward self sustenance.)

Another thing you need to know is that the Thai word for ghost is pronounced peeee, with an elongated e sound.  Also, it is most common in Thai that ending consonants are 'unreleased', meaning the ending sound often stays in your mouth.  What we would say as hat, with the t clearly heard at the end, comes out like 'ha'.  Keep that in mind.

Okay, the story.

I was told about the pigs upon my arrival, but by Thursday I still hadn't gone down the path toward the chicken house to meet them.  At breakfast Yupa mentioned that Dtu was eager to show me her little oinky charges and that I would likely be invited to the pig pen at one point in the day.  This registered with me, but I most certainly didn't plan anything around it as there is rarely a time set for anything.  My normal morning routine for this visit is that after breakfast I sit outside at my 'office' here at Hot Springs, and prepare for the evening's ESL and Bible lesson.

It so happens that the lesson for Thursday night was from Luke 8 and the story of Jesus healing the man with the "Legion" of demons.  While it may not seem like a children's story to Western minds, Thai's in general have a genuine fear of ghosts, the product of generations of a Buddhist/animist mix that seems to foster a thought that deceased people need lots of appeasing.  This is why there is at least one 'spirit house' on every property, with many in public places as well.  These come complete with food and drink offered in hopes of keeping family members, and others who have passed on to the afterlife, satisfied.  Otherwise they may torment you.

I can offer only superficial observations, having done only a little bit of reading, and then seeing for myself how this plays out among the people here.  Whatever the bigger story of this faith system is, I do know that most Thais live in fear of ghosts in a way most of us at home would find naive and perhaps even childish.

That's why the story of Jesus' authority over "Legion" is an important one to tell.  And that is the story I was just finishing up when Deborah ran over with something important to tell me.

Okay, pause for a moment to provide a bit more information.

 Deborah is the 14 year old daughter of Pastor Jaroen and Dtu, staff members at Hot Springs who brought their family to live and serve here immediately following Bee's death in August of 2016.  We had already been talking about adding staff, and the crisis sped up the process by a couple of months only.  Deborah is on the autistic scale, but highly functioning, and a delightful part of this family.  Frankly, I'm not sure of a better place to grow up for Deborah in this country and culture than right here at Hot Springs.  Again, the belief system would say that Deborah is the way she is because of the sins of her past lives.  That's not a paradigm that makes for a whole lot of compassion.

I could tell Deborah had important information because of the unusual excitement on her usually unresponsive face.  Her eyes were wide as she hurried toward me.

"Ahjahn Rut.  Peeeee!"  she said emphatically.

Deborah has a vivid imagination and has in the past claimed to be talking with ghosts.

With the story of "Legion" still completely in mind, I reassured her in Thai, "Mai glooa peeee.  PraJesu kemkrang!"  "Don't be afraid of ghosts.  Jesus is stronger!"

Deborah paused, looking confused.  Then she repeated herself more urgently, "Mai chai!  Peeee!" 

I put my hand on her shoulder calmly and said again in what I hoped to be a most confident, soothing tone, "Deborah.  Mai glooa peee.  PraJesus kemkrang.  Rao Prajao ying yai!"  Our God is big.

Another confused pause.  Then she made a sound of frustration, and turned and ran back to the dining shelter where she had come from.  Yupa and Dtu were there.

I went back to tidying up all the supplies I would need for the evening's lesson, but Deborah was back again.  This time she said, "Ahjahn Rut.  Moo-o?"

Moo-o?  That's the Thai word for pig, with the rising tone at the end.  She was saying 'pig', only this tine in Thai.  Her first attempt was English.  Pig, said with an e sound instead of an i and without the ending consonant, sounds remarkable like the Thai word for ghost.

"Oh, sweetheart!  You want me to come and see the pigs!!!"

Her face lit up in a brilliant smile.  We had made contact!  And I was now off to meet the pigs who were not ghosts at all.
 

I make these mistakes all the time.  And this one everyone found quite hilarious, and I retold the story that night during the lesson, where we laughed again.  It's already become something of an affectionate joke between Deborah and myself.  In this way I am treated with so much patience.  But sometimes the lack of ability to communicate is just truly frustrating, and confusing, and problematic.

And sometimes I wonder at the craziness of attempting to learn another language starting at age 50 and still pushing to create new neurons here at 61.  I can only hope to manage some conversational skills between now and when all these brain cells start to die off.  Let's face it.

But I'm stubborn as well as crazy, I guess.  And moments with Deborah, and with Yupa and with others, where I get it, I understand, and I am understood for important things, I suppose it makes it worth while.

And the best news is that there are no zombie pigs here in Thailand.  At least not that I've met so far.  Although I did come close one day.  But that's another blog, I think
 "The Day Ahjahn Rut Was Chased By A Wild Boar".  True story.

Meanwhile, if you're so inclined, prayers for some supernatural ability to keep learning this intricate, beautiful, complex language would be most appreciated.

Sawadi, ka.

Presence and The Sea

Here's a fun story.

First night here and I'm settling into the guest house.  The attendant is showing me around, and I tell her it's okay, I slept in this very room for three months once.

I am back at the guest house two properties over this time.  There's another one very conveniently right next door, but apparently it wasn't available.  So here I am, just a tad further away, but very familiar and comfortable just the same.  I even know about the quirky toilet and how to make the tank refill when it gets stuck.

A little home away from home.

 As I unpack, there's a small piece of wood lying down on the bottom of one of the shelves of the only small book case in the room.  I pick it up to make room for my things when I realize with a slight shock that -- it's mine!

It's a small plaque given to me from my long time friend Mary Lou to send me off in September of 2015 when I came to stay for three months.  And I haven't stayed in this room since then, since I left in December of that year.  So, a little more than two and a half years.  I left it behind apparently.

I remember missing it at first, but - sorry Mary Lou - it's really not crossed my mind since then.  So what a happy surprise to find it again.

And then there's what it says:

"If I settle on the far side of the sea, 

your right hand will hold me fast."

Psalm 139:9,10 

Bell and Suradet for our visit to Phuket October 2015

I am now called a missionary.  It's what they started calling me already a few years back, and not just Suradet and Yupa but whenever I was out and about at church conferences or meetings and I was being introduced by whomever was leading.  I'm from another place and I'm here to serve Jesus, so by default, that's what I'm called.  

I am very aware that my degree of "missionary" comes nowhere near the sacrificial, life-altering experience of those who have left family and home for decades, settling in their new culture as a resident.  I am here, to be honest, more as a visitor.  My hope is to be able to spend perhaps six weeks in Thailand two times each year, give or take.  Not really "settling" (except as far as this place feels like home).  So, true to the status bestowed on the title "missionary" by my generation's evangelical mindset, I hold this "missionary" thing very lightly, and with great respect for those who have done so much work before me.  

Photo Credit: Dave Driver

Still, I do get the scope of this text in light of what I'm doing here.  How far away I am, I still feel it, even if not in such a disorienting way as the first few times.  For instance, I am writing this from tomorrow for any readers on the other side of the globe.  And that time difference really messed with me the first little while.  Not so much so now.  But still.  It's weird, right?  

 

How surprising it is, like finding a lost treasure perhaps, to be reminded again of the scope of the Presence who both goes with me and is already here when I arrive.   A Creator who stands outside of the very concept of time He created to be fully present today and tomorrow simultaneously.  A Protector to hold us all fast, secure, in the midst of anything anywhere.

And this whole psalm, Psalm 139, is about the scope of God's presence, His intimate knowledge of all things in all places and from a perspective outside of time, all directed in an astonishing focus on the object of all He can offer - you and me - ones He created and designed in the secrets of the womb.  

I am glad I found my plaque.  It makes me spend some time again marinating in the reflections of David as he tried in his own way to grasp some concept of how big was His God alongside the realization of His crazy, personal love.  

Here's to happy surprises, and the surprising scope of God's power and presence, wherever you may find yourself 'settled' this amazing God-filled day.

First Few Days Here

The first thing I notice as I wake up this morning is that it's not raining.  An unusually wet July here in Thailand has meant that I'm not sure I've even seen the sunshine yet, even having been here almost three days already.  But this is anything but gloomy.  What a lush green space I walk along on my way from the guest house to morning worship!  I find myself wishing I could send some of this rain and nourishment back home to parched Ontario!

There are other ways I feel this rich nourishment.  Already in three days I've had the chance to be together with people I love to worship God, simply, beautifully, in a language I'm learning to understand and love more and more.  This is a welcome downpour to my worship-parched soul right now.  I find myself regularly overwhelmed, grateful, calm, just receiving.

We've had fun giving out the packets.  We've played Octopoot.  We've already started our reading program in earnest yesterday morning.  I have had to put a limit on four books for each child for each day.  Otherwise we'd just glut out and read and read and read.  Which is fun, except there's only me this time, and we have to space this out a bit.  Plus, better to learn a language a little bit each day.  Which is me doing Thai as well.

Some happy surprises here this time.  One of our original children (from 2008) who had found Bee's death particularly unsettling, had left for a time to be with his older brother in Bangkok and finish high school there.  Their birth mother's death in March, however, brought them back up north to regroup.  In the end both of them were invited back into this family, the older brother to work in order to now support his brother and maternal grandparents, and the younger one - our very own Fruk - to study music at university.   There's more to the story, but I think it's worthy of a blog unto itself.  For now, that's just a quick update on something that's encouraging my soul in deep and happy ways.   I was so sad when Fruk left.  He is once again the fun-loving, sweet boy I have known these past ten years, except not a boy any more.  It's why we do what we do, folks.

Personally, I am none the worse for wear for my travels and first days settling in.  Sometimes, particularly in January when I'm adjusting to a big climate difference and having just come off a full ministry Christmas work load, I am a tad under the weather for a bit.  But this time, even with starting with a sleep deficit due to the departure time (2 am) on Thursday morning, I feel I have adjusted very quickly. 

All are well here.  Suradet and Yupa are well, and deeply appreciate all that they receive from us, and send back all their prayers and blessings in return. 

As I write I hear our worship band warming up.  Can I just say how amazing it is going to be to worship together this morning?  I am so hungry!  What a good God to bring me here right now! 

I am not preaching this morning, which is just fine by me.  Next Sunday I'm on, and we will share in Communion; another rich anticipation.  But today I get to just do a quick hello from us all - which I will attempt to do all in Thai - and then sit back and enjoy and receive.

Have I ever mentioned how imbalanced this all feels?  We receive so much more than we give.  How is that fair?  Can't out-give God, I guess.

Worship pictures to follow :).  But I thought I'd better post this now.  It's almost the only prolonged period of time I've had to just think and be alone since I got here.  Crazy how random and wonderful this life is.

Blessings and joy to you all.

The Properly Petrified Teacher

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers,

because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

James 3:1

“In every class I teach, my ability to connect with my students, and to connect them with the subject, depends less on the methods I use than on the degree to which I know and trust my selfhood

– and am willing to make it available and vulnerable in the service of learning.”

Parker Palmer,  The Courage To Teach

Like yesterday I remember their faces, all eager and expectant as I stand before them with nothing but a Thai Bible I cannot read.   It is my first visit to Hot Springs, and I am learning everything.   If I have a teacher-self, she has abandoned me for the far away safety of Canada to hide with my well-established roles and my love of word-crafting and a well-laid scope and sequence.  But Ahjahn Suradet has unexpectedly asked me to ‘encourage the children’, here at the end of our singing. 

So here I stand, a teacher undone.

Fast-forward.

Of the legion of lessons I am learning in these past months of rigorous reflection, a solid one is this:  stepping away from a role and title provides an important opportunity to reflect on who I am rather than what I do (or have done, as the case may be).  

This has been both deeply affirming and properly petrifying.

Take the teaching/preaching thing for example.

 In these weeks (has it only been weeks?) since leaving my pastoral position I have been student-engrossed in academic readings towards a Christian Education credit required for my degree.   My focus is cross cultural teaching, and I am of course hoping to gain insights that will help me hone these skills so that I can continue to move past that terrifying moment I remember so well, and be more and more effective in my work in Thailand.  

As I read, I resonate.   Parker Palmer in The Courage To Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life, draws me deep into identity.

“As good teachers weave the fabric that joins them with students and subjects, the heart is the loom on which the threads are tied, the tension is held, the shuttle flies, and the fabric is stretched tight.  Small wonder, then, that teaching tugs at the heart, opens the heart, even breaks the heart – and the more one loves teaching, the more heartbreaking it can be.  The courage to teach is the courage to keep one’s heart open in those very moments when the heart is asked to hold more than it is able so that teacher and students and subject can be woven into the fabric of community that learning, and living, require.”  Palmer, 11-12

Yes!  I get this.  The whole “opening the heart” and “breaking the heart” thing.  This whole ‘teaching thing’ seems a part of me somehow.  For one thing, I’ve been doing it forever.  Since I was sixteen and sat around a wooden table with five six year olds in the grade one Sunday School class of my home church in Scarborough.  Through various volunteer positions, both inside and outside the church, our years as a homeschooling family, speaking engagements for workshops and conferences, and of course most intensively as a pastor delivering weekly sermons.  In these later years at Hot Springs, teaching ESL and Bible lessons to the kids daily, and preaching at the church on Sundays has become a regular part of my ministry there.  Somehow teaching something to someone somewhere has been part of my story, part of my heart. 

And right now, in this space of transition, this letting go of many things, I would be honest and say that it’s hard to overstate how acutely I miss the life and energy of the preaching part of what I used to do.  Also, as I prepare both sermons and ESL/Bible lessons for my upcoming trip to Hot Springs, I recognize how much life and energy this gives me. 

 And equally it terrifies me. 

What an audacious thing, really, to believe I have anything at all to offer someone else.  As if.   Like that first moment before the children at Hot Springs, who am I that I might have anything to bring to their understanding, their spiritual formation, their lives?

In another text for this Christian Education credit, Gary Parrett speaks specifically of the unfortunately common tendency in cross cultural teaching situations for Western people to assume a superior attitude toward those they teach, offering a solution.

“We may come to understand our cultural selves better through assuming the roles of active learners, the ones being served by others.  As one who is regular in the position of leader, teacher, minister, servant of others, I have become aware of a tendency to have feelings of condescension toward others.  Certainly, this is at least unconsciously  strengthened by the fact that I am white, male, and American.  To address this – an attitude that I believe to be not only arrogant but plainly sinful – I have sought to be the learner, the one receiving service, instruction, or other forms of grace from another, especially from someone who is unlike me in terms of ethnicity, nationality, gender, life experience, educational background, theological perspective, or in other significant ways.” 

Parrett, 133

It’s been ten years since that first petrified moment.  I am more confident now.  In fact I have two sermons and ten Bible lessons on the miracles of Jesus prepared and ready to humbly offer if needed when I’m there later this month.   But I’m still in some ways terrified. 

And I’m glad for that.

Being properly petrified keeps me properly humble.

I want to learn.

I want to listen.

To God.

To those who teach me and those I teach,

these being one and the same. 

“Teaching engages my soul as much as any work I know.”

Parker Palmer

Sources:

Conde-Frazer, Elizabeth, & S. Steve Kang, and Gary A. Parrett, A Many Coloured Kingdom: Multicultural

                Dynamics for Spiritual Formation, Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004.

Palmer, Parker J. The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life, San Francisco:

 Jossey-Bass, 2017.