Guatemala Reflection: Critical Thinking

One big lesson I learned in Guatemala was that the way a culture does certain things isn’t necessarily wrong; it’s probably just different. Learning to look at a situation with a critical mind is important. Sometimes, the way one culture approaches a situation is different, but may work better based on the values of its people.

For example, Hispanic cultures have a very different view of child-rearing than the American culture. Children in Hispanic cultures typically spend less time in school per day than American children. Bedtimes for children are basically non-existent in Hispanic cultures as well. If there’s a late church service, they’ll go to bed late. If they’ve had a long day, they go to bed early. They also tend to nap wherever and whenever. Like their parents, their lives are far less time-structured than Americans. Neither approach to child-rearing is right or wrong. They’re just different.

Naptime at VBS.

Thankfully, despite the many differences, there are some things that remain the same across cultures. People still have the same basic needs. The rules in Scripture apply across cultures. Life is valued across cultures.

So I think two of the biggest keys to doing cross-cultural ministry are *listening* and *observing.* Developing a ministry plan should be done alongside Christian natives in the culture in order to be the most effective. An open mind is an important trait to have on the mission field. :-)

And those are some of the lessons I learned during my internship in Guatemala! I hope that I will continue to apply them in the future. :-)