Babe in a Manger

We have been living in Guatemala for about 2 1/2 months now and one of the things we are striving to do is learn as much about the culture here as possible.  I know it is important to love and minister to people here on their terms and in the best way possible according to the culture here not the culture I have lived in for all my life.

Obviously, the culture here is a lot different here than in the United States.  If you visit for a week or two you may not notice many differences other than the language difference.  But living here you begin to pick up on some of the differences.  One being that Guatemalans are not as concered about time and keeping a schedule.  It is more important to enjoy events and relationships then be on time.  It is what we called an event oriented culture.  Most of us from the US are time oriented in that we have a schedule and live busy lives and can't spend 2 or 3 hours over a meal when we have a tight schedule to keep.  This is a bit difficult for me because I like to be on time and it is difficult for me to wait, so to say the least the Lord is teaching me some patience.

I was reading John 20:21 last night and it says ..."As the Father has sent me so I am sending you." And I began to meditate on this passage and how it relates to us here in this culture and really to everyone in every culture.  Jesus has sent us and is sending us to the people of Guatemala.  He wants us to be sent and go out as He came to this world.  Here is how he came into this world:

Luke 2:7 "She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them."

He was born as a babe in a manger.  A helpless, dependent baby.  He could have come in anyway but instead he came as a baby.  So he has sent us the same way to the people of Guatemala.  As a baby.  As a baby in the sense of I am helpless and dependent.  I don't yet know the language very well, I don't know the culture and have to recognize that I need others to learn the things I need to learn.  I can't come pretending to have all the answers and pretending I am the savior rather be dependent on others and especially on Jesus and instead pointing them to the real Savior, Jesus Christ.

Jesus came as a babe and he became like them and put on flesh and dwelt among us. (John 1:14) He did not just dwell among us just to die and rise again but he came as a babe and lived and grew up in this world.  He learned about the culture and learned to love the Jews and Gentiles on their terms.  He took the time needed to do this.  One thing that has been difficult for me is being patient.  I want to know the language and culture right now.  But it is a long process.  It will take years for us to learn the language and culture well and really we will never be integrated into the culture and language as well as the natives, but we have to be patient and put in the hard work of learning. 

We are all called whether we live in Guatemala, United States or anywhere else to live missionally to live as missionaries learning the culture we are sent to and learning to love them on their terms.  We are sent as Jesus was sent.