{"id":45180,"date":"2021-11-05T13:10:47","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T18:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/?post_type=resource&p=45180"},"modified":"2021-11-05T13:10:49","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T18:10:49","slug":"october-2021-when-cultures-meet","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resource\/october-2021-when-cultures-meet\/","title":{"rendered":"October 2021: When Cultures Meet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard,\u00a0so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.<\/em> 1 John 1:3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes missionaries get a bad rap. Even back in the 1970s, many Christian groups decided to find a name other than \u201cmissionary,\u201d to use for those who feel the call to do the work of the Good News in another culture. \u201cFraternal worker,\u201d was a term I heard as a Missionary Kid. That had to change again, due to the need to use more inclusive language. People acknowledged that missionaries had gone around the world with the best of intentions, but did not fully realize the cultural damage they might have done at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serving in Thailand is giving me a different perspective. Cultures can\u2019t necessarily predict what they might take from each other. Recently, some Thai folks in the English-Language Ministry of the congregation I now work with suggested we celebrate Thanksgiving Day, American-style. After all of my contextualized education, I had my doubts. But the idea was accepted enthusiastically by the different cultural groups who worship together in the English Language at Wattana Church in Bangkok: Thai, Naga from India, Chinese, Japanese, Singaporean, Australian, South African, USian (American), Pakistani\u2026. Bangkok is more cosmopolitan than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, on the same Thursday night when the rest of Thailand was observing the ancient festival of Loy Kratong, when people floated little boats made of banana leaves, lotus, candles, and incense down the river to honor the Mother of the Waters, we English-speaking folks at Wattana Church had a festive dinner together out on the patio beneath the monkeypod trees and strings of white lights. There were some very expensive roasted turkeys (donated), stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, homemade pumpkin pies, AND\u2026. Filipino-style egg rolls, traditional Naga-style spicy meat to be eaten with Indian roti, Thai meatballs and dumplings, Pakistani biryani, and of course, white rice, along with many, many more shared dishes. One of the church Elders brought a scale model of the Mayflower he had built from scratch many years ago. (The Mayflower? But it was beautiful.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we also had very Southeast Asian touches: live music throughout the evening, an emcee who spoke and told jokes while the music was playing, impromptu choir singing from some guests, and then some Youth for Christ-style icebreaker games and small-group prayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what was the point of the evening? Evangelism and conviviality (\u201cfellowship,\u201d as we used to call it). Thai folks are still interested in U.S. culture, even though the Japanese and Korean pop cultures have long overshadowed the former. A cross-cultural feast is a perfect time to invite one\u2019s non-Christian friends and then share the faith formally and informally in a relaxed atmosphere. It works on Christmas Eve and New Year\u2019s Eve, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a Mission Service Worker with Global Ministries, supported greatly by the Christian Church in the Upper Midwest\u2014and many others\u2014I generally think of myself as something of a cross-cultural expert. But I\u2019m constantly learning that \u201cexperts\u201d must stay up-to-date. Thailand is still one of the bottom 20 countries in the world in regards to the percentage of Christians. This makes Christians all that much more serious about sharing the Good News, and supporting one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anne Gregory serves with the Church of Christ in Thailand. Her appointment is made possible by your gifts to Disciples Mission Fund, Our Church\u2019s Wider Mission, and your special gifts.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","topic":[20137],"region":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOctober 2021: When Cultures Meet - Global Ministries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resource\/october-2021-when-cultures-meet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"October 2021: When Cultures Meet - Global Ministries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard,\u00a0so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3 Sometimes missionaries get a bad rap. … Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resource\/october-2021-when-cultures-meet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Global Ministries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-05T18:10:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resource\/october-2021-when-cultures-meet\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resource\/october-2021-when-cultures-meet\/\",\"name\":\"October 2021: When Cultures Meet - Global Ministries\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-05T18:10:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-05T18:10:49+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resource\/october-2021-when-cultures-meet\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resource\/october-2021-when-cultures-meet\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resource\/october-2021-when-cultures-meet\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Resources\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resources\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"October 2021: When Cultures Meet\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/\",\"name\":\"Global Ministries\",\"description\":\"Global Ministries is a common missional witness of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ. Global Ministries works with approximately 290 faith-based international partners in close to 90 countries. Our Vision: That all of God\u2019s people and creation share in God\u2019s abundant life. Our Mission: To receive and share the Good News of Jesus Christ by joining with global and local partners to work for justice, reconciliation, and peace.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"October 2021: When Cultures Meet - Global Ministries","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resource\/october-2021-when-cultures-meet\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"October 2021: When Cultures Meet - Global Ministries","og_description":"We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard,\u00a0so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3 Sometimes missionaries get a bad rap. … Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resource\/october-2021-when-cultures-meet\/","og_site_name":"Global Ministries","article_modified_time":"2021-11-05T18:10:49+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resource\/october-2021-when-cultures-meet\/","url":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resource\/october-2021-when-cultures-meet\/","name":"October 2021: When Cultures Meet - Global Ministries","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-11-05T18:10:47+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-05T18:10:49+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resource\/october-2021-when-cultures-meet\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resource\/october-2021-when-cultures-meet\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resource\/october-2021-when-cultures-meet\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Resources","item":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/resources\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"October 2021: When Cultures Meet"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/","name":"Global Ministries","description":"Global Ministries is a common missional witness of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ. Global Ministries works with approximately 290 faith-based international partners in close to 90 countries. Our Vision: That all of God\u2019s people and creation share in God\u2019s abundant life. Our Mission: To receive and share the Good News of Jesus Christ by joining with global and local partners to work for justice, reconciliation, and peace.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/45180"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resource"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=45180"},{"taxonomy":"region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region?post=45180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}