Tres

What do mission organisations do for these people?

In the context of the Peace Child, varying groups of missionaries approaching tribesmen do different things in different ways. Some believe in teaching tribesmen what is modest from the start while others chose to blend in before leading them into evangelism. Despite different methods, missionaries have a common purpose: to reach out to non-believers before the commercial world does.

Now, growing up as a missionary kid, I was able to witness methods of approach to non-believing people in the modern world. Our family was part of a missionary organization coming from Korea, 'Interco-operation, IACD' and so I was able to observe some approaches to non-believers. Although the people my parents told the gospel to were not primitive cannibal tribesmen, the Uzbek people were strong Muslims and their traditions were strictly tied into the religion. The first thing our family did was live among these people. Although we weren't provided with the best home, school, or occupation, our family tried to fit in with the Uzbek culture the best we could.

My parents scheduled their first two years to study the language of Uzbekistan: Uzbek and Russian. They had to learn both languages in order to form a relationship with both people groups that resided in Uzbekistan. My parents hired Uzbek or Russian people to teach my brother and me their language and art. We also celebrated the traditional holidays with the people unless it was deeply Islamic.

My parents didn't just live among the Uzbeks and fit in; they also went out into the countryside to provide people with dental and medical help. By gaining gratitude from the people that began to heal, it was easier for my parents to tell them about Christ. My parents and Interco-operation went still further and built a dental clinic in Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, which was built on goals to receive little or no payment from patients and to train Uzbek dentists to become adroit in their field.

After my parents and the Interco-operation group started their work around 1990, the Christian population in Uzbekistan noticeably increased despite the resentment Christian Uzbeks faced from the Muslims. It still amazes me to this day that we left a significant mark on the Uzbek nation.

Relating to my own experiences and those of Don Richardson, I believe that missionaries strive to give non-Christian people of different nations a chance to learn about a different supernatural being: God. By giving aid and opportunities to learn, we try to tell people that we are here to do good things for them, not for our own benefits, but because we want to share something with them something that is great enough for us to have moved away from our home lands. Missionaries have a single purpose: to share the news of Christ. In order to fulfill this goal, every action toward non-believing people groups is done in order to show them the love of another Creator.

Dos

What should we do when we are confronted with other cultures?

Culture is a very sensitive topic. There are over a million people groups in this world we live in and each has distinctly different traditions, values, and priorities. A meeting of two different cultures need an extent of weariness but at the same time may result in an array of different colors existing in unison.

Throughout my life, I have come across a variety of cultures as I came into contact with different countries and people groups. There are a list of facts in each culture that I can come up with in my head in a single moment but I feel that these facts do not describe each to the fullest but rather, is like bits and pieces of fabric sewn into a misshapen quilt.

Experiencing Korean, American, Uzbek, Russian, Iranian, Afghan, Thai, Spanish, and British culture first-hand, I consider myself to having a rather good amount of insight in world cultures. What all these cultures have in common may be described in the simplest form: moral conduct. Although this may be expressed in different ways at different times, it still is the basic foundation to each culture. Thus, when confronting a totally different culture, it is best to follow the basics: distinguish your actions to the simple rights and wrongs. Greeting one another, respecting others' property, listen when you are spoken to - everything else just stems from there.

It is meaningless wishing that you would not offend anyone in a new culture. It is a fact that offending someone in a different culture is inevitable. How can two totally different people of different race, values, and upbringings find each other's actions familiar and understandable? The wisest thing in the meeting of two cultures is to carry out actions with good meaning. Although your actions may offend individuals of another culture either religiously or traditionally, if your actions were done in good will, it becomes easier for both cultures to come to an understanding of where each stands in order to reconcile. And the simplest thing to begin with is to do as is said, "When in Rome, do what the Romans do." Presenting yourself in the way the people of a different culture do around you is the vital guidebook to understanding new cultures.

Uno

What factors of your native culture have informed your religious world view? Explain the impact of these factors

I am a Christian. I was born into a Christian family but I realized that I could define myself as a "Christian" in my recent years. Being in the midst of culture, tradition, religion, and various beliefs on this Earth, it is inevitable that these factors are interconnected and therefore have an impact on me as an individual.

Being Christian and furthermore having field missionary parents, I was taught what was right and wrong in a Christian viewpoint. My family and I moved to Tashkent, Uzbekistan when I was four and stayed there until 2005 (ten years). Living in such a remote part of the planet, having almost no contact with my native country South Korea, and only interacting with the community situated there, I have to say that my view of the world was rather limited. However, when we finally moved back to Korea, I was in for a shock.

Coming back to Korea caused me to embrace a culture shock I had thought I would never experience. Forced out of my shell of familiarity, the modernized culture of this country was distinctly different than what I had heard of. I was put into a public Korean school and learned my surroundings by simple observation. My first year back in Korea, all I saw were negative things. Cursing, beating, smoking, and drinking among students shocked my mind. Lavish people stood out to me because of the obvious fact that Korea was in debt to countries which had helped the restoration of the nation after the war. I had an overall negative view of my country, not to mention the whole world.

That first year, I tried everything to stay away from being influenced by the wrongs around me. However, after a tediously long time, as I familiarized myself to the people and beliefs around me, I realized that the world wasn't so corrupted after all. I learned to look deeper, peek under the surface of what was shown, and this gave me a whole new understanding of the reasons of why some bad things existed and that they could be improved. The realization of my mistake of being so quick to judge my surroundings struck me. After realizing how to interact with the atmosphere circulating me, I now know better how to look at the world.

My religious views have become less rigid and I have learned to be flexible with my Christian standards in ways in which I don't depend entirely on the "Ten Commandments" for judgment. Although it took me a long time to come to where I stand now, I find it thankful that I found my way eventually. Yet I still have more to learn and room to alter my religious perspective in ways that fit the society today. All I know is that the factors in my Korean surrounding will definitely play a part in further impacting my life.