Think Context
Africa is one continent. A continent that consists of 61 territories. A continent that consists of well over 2,000 languages and a variety of cultures. There are christians as well as muslims. Atheists and Jews. It is urban as well as rural. There are nomads as well as farmers. Some people were colonized by France. Others by England. Still others by the Portuguese. Ethiopia hasn't been colonized at all. Some countries have a big AIDS problem. Some are very westernized. Some do not want anything to do with Western culture.
Now with that being said "Why go in attempting to do ministry with one method?"
Different contexts require a different approach. For years I've heard people say to me when I came back from Ethiopia "How was Africa?" With a dazed look on my face I reply "I just went to Ethiopia" Inside I'm thinking "I don't know. How was North America?" It's easy to look at a news event, a movie, or read an article in the encyclopedia and make assumptions. It's much harder to clean our slates and ask the right questions and think context.
Africa is one continent. A continent that consists of 61 territories. A continent that consists of well over 2,000 languages and a variety of cultures. There are christians as well as muslims. Atheists and Jews. It is urban as well as rural. There are nomads as well as farmers. Some people were colonized by France. Others by England. Still others by the Portuguese. Ethiopia hasn't been colonized at all. Some countries have a big AIDS problem. Some are very westernized. Some do not want anything to do with Western culture.
Now with that being said "Why go in attempting to do ministry with one method?"
Different contexts require a different approach. For years I've heard people say to me when I came back from Ethiopia "How was Africa?" With a dazed look on my face I reply "I just went to Ethiopia" Inside I'm thinking "I don't know. How was North America?" It's easy to look at a news event, a movie, or read an article in the encyclopedia and make assumptions. It's much harder to clean our slates and ask the right questions and think context.
posted by Ramon | 7:05 PM
1 Comments:
LOL. I've gotten the same thing! I tell them that I spent most of my time in the capital city and equate it to someone visiting the U.S. but only going to New York City. It is a part of the U.S. but it is not representative of the entire continent.
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