Crossing cultures

Two coastal communities of Newfoundland were the places of our births. Unknown to each other, the cultural conditioning of two different towns and families shaped our lives from the early sixties, through the seventies, and into the eighties until the day we met in the big city. Our two-year courtship, though laced with the pains of early adulthood, peaked on May 14, 1983, and "our story" began!

A common calling to serve God and share His love was why we met and remains the cord that ties us tightly. Our sojourn has taken us from the 'rocky isle in the ocean' to the shores of the Maritimes (equally rugged and beautiful) to the majestic Great Lakes of Ontario, the place our children and grandchildren now call home. The people and places of our homeland, varied by cultures and context, taught us to remain true to what is most important no matter where we are. A myriad of social, educational, and spiritual learnings stretched us often and nurtured our personal development as our relationship with God and with people inhabited our mission. It still does! Self-awareness frequently keeps us humble, realizing often how interdependent with our community of people we really are.  

The day we knew our story would take us beyond our country borders was a day we had no idea what lay before us. So much was now unknown. How will we integrate into a place so different from what had always been familiar? How will we understand and embrace the contrasting nuances, behaviours, and values so customary and commonplace for the locals yet unfamiliar for us?  In retrospect now, living in Kenya would be a journey of vast adjustments, a roller coaster of emotional, intellectual, and spiritual mountains and valleys. Only upon much reflection of our first 'out of Canada' experience have we processed what it meant to serve in another land. It was a privilege and a stretch, forming our hearts and minds to become better people for whatever is yet to come. Isn't that what every experience of life should do? For if we have not learned from the good and the gruelling, we have missed the invitation to be polished on a Potter's wheel, a process necessary to remain a vessel fit for service, one filled with humility and growth.  

In crossing cultures from west to east, the learning curve was steep. Routines, climate, economics, community, relationships, support systems, values, language, human behaviours, and traditions were novel and we quickly discovered that many aspects of our cultural conditioning were affected. Despite modern globalization, it is still human nature for all peoples to lean toward ethnocentric impulses, a phrase I have recently understood to mean the tendency for people to think their culture is the right culture. This easily and naturally becomes the lens through which both the expat and the locals view what is happening in everyday interactions. Some would say it takes much personal effort to manoeuvre through this. We agree and we would also say it ultimately takes the transforming message and application of the Christian gospel applied daily to change this inclination and its effect. Only by remembering in the eyes of God there is no ‘east and west’ can we reframe our mindset toward inclusivity. While our prevailing culture may be our default (its nature and nurture), it is Christ’s culture we must follow - a work that is forever forming and never fully complete.  

Today Morris and I find ourselves living in our second 'home away from home' - Kingston, Jamaica. After 3 1/2 years in the rural part of western Kenya, we are emerging into the eastern part of this beautiful Caribbean island! For some of our friends and family, you have sojourned before us as tourists (probably in Montego Bay or Negril). We have come for a different reason - to stay engaged in the calling which has been ours since our story began.  Through our most recent Salvation Army appointment, we are here to learn and understand another culture and adapt to this locale for such a time as this!  Our experience will take us beyond the shores of Jamaica with its reggae music, super-fast athletes, and local challenges and connect us with colleagues in 15 other Caribbean countries.  The pandemic may limit our onsite visits but we will soon link and partner with the people in this ocean through modern means of communication. Being islanders ourselves, we relish getting to know others.

Our current transition of crossing cultures happens during unparalleled days as the world grapples with the coronavirus outbreak. During our 14 day quarantine (ending today!), we have begun to know its impact around the islands. Soon we will walk with those here who are finding their way through this tunnel of uncertainty. Our prayer is that together the mission of hope and support will be expended to those who need it most.

In our new setting, we will serve alongside Commissioners Devon and Verona Haughton who are native Jamaicans along with the other staff and officers at THQ and those steering the Army’s work in eleven divisions and districts. Fellow Newfoundlanders and old friends, Clarence and Karen Ingram, divisional leaders in the Bahamas, have been serving in the Caribbean for nine years. They, along with many others, will have lots to teach us! 

For those of you who pray for us, we invite you to join us in bringing our inmost desires before God - to be filled with deep compassion, continuous purity of heart, and clarity of mind for the wisdom required to lead with truth and grace for the good of the Kingdom. We turn to Jesus as we remember that we “have not come to be served but to serve.”

Stay tuned for the next part of our story...