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2007-11-06 issue:

People-friendly good news

Grace and Truth column

by Clarence E. Rempel

Print Article

It was almost dark as we pulled alongside a house-barn structure in one of the 205 Isaan farming villages surrounding Borabu, Thailand. We took off our shoes and mounted steep stairs past roosting chickens to the living quarters on the second floor. A single light bulb illuminated a large open room that reminded me of a barn haymow except for an open hearth fire flickering in the kitchen area. The room was open and unfurnished, with some cooking utensils and clothes hanging from hooks along one wall. Gaps in the walls let the evening breeze waft through. Woven floor mats were rolled out for our home worship gathering. It was a simple but sacred space.



Trying to be culturally adaptive, I greeted people with folded hands in a prayer gesture that began at the upper body and then slid down accompanied by a slight bow, only to find out later I had missed subtle protocols. The younger should always initiate the greeting with the older. If you are greeting your elder or superior you should begin the gesture of folded hands higher.

I sat down on the mat with my feet extended to the center of the circle when I again needed to be prompted by Sheldon Sawatzky, Mennonite Mission Network director for East Asia: “Don’t point your heel or the sole of your feet at others. It’s an insult. You need to tuck your feet underneath or keep them behind you pointing away from the circle.” (Check Psalm 41:9.)

I felt honored to share in this time of singing, prayer and Bible study. The highlight of the evening was a 77-year-old grandmother sharing her story of coming to faith in Christ only three years earlier. Pat Houmphan, Mennonite Mission Network worker, gave me snatches of translation. “Buddhism was good, but Jesus showed us the way to heaven. We didn’t know. Someone had to come tell us.” She urged us to give our lives to Jesus and know the power of the Holy Spirit in overcoming the fear of the spirits.

My lesson from the emerging church in Borabu: Missional churches are culturally adaptive in order to reach people for Christ.

I couldn’t help but notice the swooping roofline on the new church meeting place being built by the Living Water Church. It mimics the typical Buddhist temple. It tells the community this is sacred space for religious practice.

As Mennonites we have tended to do things in a way that emphasizes our difference from the rest of the world and even other Christian groups. I might have said, “Whatever we do, we don’t want our church to look like a Buddhist temple. We don’t want people to get us confused.”

Another example of cultural adaptation had to do with providing English seminars for the community. I might have said, “Let’s do these at the church so we can get people in the doors.” Mission worker Pat’s questions are: How can we identify with the community? How can we establish credibility with our neighbors? How can we raise our visibility in the city? Those are better questions. Pat arranged for the English seminars to be hosted in area high schools. English seminars with teachers from the United States added stature to the school principals. It built connections with community leaders.

How can we be culturally adaptive in order to provide every possibility of connecting with people? How can we lower the barriers of weirdness and make it more possible to share the good news of Jesus Christ in a people-friendly way? How are we going to connect? How can we identify with the community, establish credibility with our neighbors and raise our visibility in the city?

Clarence E. Rempel is a pastor at First Mennonite Church, Newton, Kan.

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