discovering missions - Southern Nazarene University

245187 Disc Missions ins 9/6/07 1:04 PM Page 101
How Culture Affects Mission 101
tourist. A second stage of cultural adjustment begins when feelings of distaste
start crumbling that initial fascination. In the distaste stage, communication
problems that had been only slightly annoying at first become frustrating. Traffic
flow patterns, greeting rituals that initially seemed quaint, the way banking
is done, and the absence of a favorite food begin to grate on the new missionary.
Once-strange-now-familiar smells become annoying. The repetition of
music that at first sounded clever becomes tiresome.
The distaste stage may lead to an even deeper phase of culture shock that
has been labeled rejection. At that point, noise or the lack of it, order or disorder,
the use or nonuse of certain colors, space or the lack of space, or the repetitive
eating of some foods and the absence of other foods becomes overwhelming
and a desire to escape wells up. Sometimes this escape takes the form of
spending all one’s time blogging or in e-mail communication with people back
home. In this deep phase of culture shock, energy levels are usually low and irritability
levels are high.
German mission leader Richard Zanner supervised outreach and church
planting work all across Africa. He told the story of an American missionary
whose fatigue in the cultural adjustment process brought acculturation to a
standstill:
I went to visit a missionary. I did not find him at home. When I asked
where he might be, I was told that I would find him at his home country’s
embassy library. Everybody seemed to know that the brother was there
twice a week. This made me curious, so I went there. Sure enough, there
he sat, watching an American football game on television.
Of course, there is nothing wrong in doing that except that in his case
it was symptomatic of his lack of adaptation. I asked that particular missionary
how many times he had watched an African soccer game in the
maize fields. He did not know what I was talking about. He had never
been to one.
Zanner concluded the story by saying, “It is quite acceptable to maintain
your own personality and culture within reasonable bounds, but it is also wise
to build bridges by developing interest in local enthusiasms as well.” 13
The convenience and low cost of global airline travel makes it possible for
today’s missionaries to make more frequent trips home. The downside is that
frequent trips home can delay or stall out one’s cultural adjustment. The ease
and low cost of global communications also makes it possible for people to stay
more connected to the culture and sports of their home society than was possible
in the past. Culture fatigue tempts missionaries to listen to their home radio
stations over the Internet rather than making the effort to listen to local
broadcasts as an aid to acquiring the local culture and language.