Crossing Cultures with God

^‘ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,’ (Matthew 28:19, NIV)

Just over a year ago, I was working through an online TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course, with the hope of eventually using it to teach English abroad while also helping to further the gospel wherever I chose to go. At the time, my focus was especially on Japan, which I’ve been interested in since my teen years. I wasn’t sure what my next steps would be once I had achieved this qualification, as I had gained no practical teaching experience on the online course; I felt applying for a year-long teaching job in a different country would be too sudden and overwhelming, especially as someone who is naturally shy and has often struggled with social anxiety.

During the summer of last year, I ended up attending a Christian festival with my church, and stumbled upon a booth for an organisation called the Unreached Network. They seek to equip individuals and churches for cross-cultural mission work, with the desire to see Jesus’ name glorified in all the Earth. Through discussion with them, I found out that while doing their internship programme, I could do exactly as I’d been hoping to do: cross-cultural work while teaching English abroad. After a year of prayer and contemplation, I write this post having just finished my first month on the Unreached Network Internship.

Throughout the application process, I discovered that though my heart had been set on going to Japan, I felt God was calling me more towards Thailand at this time. I felt reassured in knowing I still wanted to continue with applying for the internship, even if it meant I wasn’t going to Japan in this season, as I’d been worrying that I was doing this more for my own interests rather than God’s. I had also prayed that God would put up obstacles if He didn’t want me to apply – instead everything fell into place in amazing ways. I spoke with a few members of my home church, including a couple of elders, to ensure I’d have their support if I did the internship; thankfully, they were very encouraging. The Unreached Network found a mentor to support me throughout the year ahead, and a rough plan for the year was discussed at an online interview just before I was accepted onto the course.

The induction was held on a weekend in a historical city near central England. This was a wonderful opportunity to meet other interns and those doing the foundational training under the Unreached Network. We had a speaker talk to us about her culture-clash experiences abroad, which was eye-opening and amusing, and we were all able to pray together. Many of us were even given words of prophecy concerning what God would do through us this year; tears were shed and hearts were encouraged by these words.

The following Monday, at my home church’s evening prayer meeting, our lead elder introduced those gathered to the plans for our church to step further into working cross-culturally. We will be continuously supporting churches in Nepal, and this, along with the news of my Unreached Network Internship and hopes to go to Thailand, was met with so much support. I’m so excited to see where God takes us in this season!

To start this year off, the Unreached Network had set the book Global Humility: Attitudes to Mission by Andy McCullough as a reading task. I found this book to be very educational and challenging; it pointed out areas in my mindset which had to change in order for me to be able to bring the gospel to other cultures without assuming my own culture is superior, and without imposing it on natives of other countries. The book exposes subtle ways in which we may be guilty of ethnocentrism, and points out that as missionaries from the west, we shouldn’t assume that we’ll be the ones doing all the teaching – there will be so much to learn from indigenous ways of worshipping God in Christ too. It also discusses how moral issues which we see as black and white in the west may actually be more complex and grey. I wasn’t able to finish the book before September ended, but it’s definitely one I want to get back to at a later point in time, and would definitely recommend it to those wanting to learn more about cross-cultural mission and attitudes.

As the month drew to a close, those of us on an Unreached Network training program had a two hour Zoom training call based on what was written about in the aforementioned book. We were then given the opportunity to get into smaller groups to discuss what we had learned and to pray together. What had stood out to me most was a point made about how we should learn the language of the area we go to for mission; speaking the gospel badly to a local in his own language is more effective than speaking the gospel eloquently in English. This has really encouraged me to try learning some Thai before I start heading off to Thailand.

Finally, after church on the last Sunday of September, I headed off to my first placement, 200 miles away from home. The city I’ve temporarily moved to is by the sea, with a mix of both historical and modern places to explore. I’ve just finished my first week of volunteering as a classroom assistant at an English language school that works with refugees, asylum seekers, and other migrant groups. Most of the classes have had lovely, relaxed atmospheres, and I’ve already been gaining experience through observing the teachers and helping students one-to-one. I’m looking forward to seeing what else I’ll be learning through the coming month.

Thank you so much to all those who have been involved with me in this internship so far, whether that’s through frequent communication, joining in with Unreached Network calls, providing references, praying for me, and/or giving me words of encouragement!

Many blessings!

If you would like to pray for me, I’d be grateful for prayer in these areas:

• That I won’t be too distracted by everything to spend quiet time with God, in His word and in prayer.
• That I would be able to know how to help students effectively, not just feeding them answers to questions, but to guide them in understanding how to answer questions themselves.
• That God may be glorified throughout this internship always.

Thank you for praying with me!