Mission Immersion 102:  Crossing Cultural Borders

Mission 102:  Crossing Cultural Boundaries

One of the greatest gifts of the short-term mission experience is the unique opportunity to see another culture up close. When we come upon that culture we need to ask ourselves if we will let that culture in or keep it outside at arm’s length away. Will we create an “us and them” dynamic within ourselves wherein our own culture is the baseline (right) and the other is only right or legitimate when it mimics our own. Or, will we avoid the “us and them” dynamic and recognize that we are all one, and each culture offers a new and beautiful difference which can stretch us to amazing limits we would never have expected. Each experience in a new culture helps us to see that the Body of Christ is one body with many faces and accents. So, when we come upon another culture we will know to take off our shoes, for we are on sacred ground.