Attitude Makes All the Difference

I am now in Tanzania in the city of Morogoro where we have worked for nearly 15 years with the local mission diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania. The bishop is a wonderful Masai man who I met on my first visit here nearly seven years ago. This is considered a mission diocese due to the area being a largely unchurched region of Tanzania with several people groups that have limited exposure to the Gospel.

Today I met with the bishop to greet him and thank him for our many years of working together. A couple who has been here for several years recently returned to the USA, completing their time of service here. And a young woman who has served for four years is transitioning to work with a different ministry here. So I wanted to celebrate our years of working together and explore ways we can continue in relationship even if we don’t have additional personnel here.

He said many nice things about the people we have sent who he has worked with over these years. He said they were not like many foreigners, but that they cooperated well with him and did not cause troubles. It made me thankful not only for the caliber of folks God sends our way to serve, but also for the training we provide to help them serve with the right posture and attitude.

One thing that can get many well-meaning people in trouble when they go to help cross-culturally is that they start with answers before finding out what the questions are. Or they are quick to draw conclusions about observations before they have taken the time to understand the culture. The training our folks get encourages them to enter as learners and gives them the tools to discern the culture where they are. It was great to see our missionary Kristen just chatting away with the bishop in Swahili prior to our meeting. She took the time to do the hard work of language learning so that she could serve more effectively with better understanding. 

When I hear comments like today from the bishop, after fifteen years of working together, I am very thankful for the training I had and that all of our missionaries get prior to moving to serve cross-culturally!