Saturday, August 13, 2011
the eternal mission's trip....
Monday, June 27, 2011
Failed- "I think"
Failed- “I think”
I have been to Swaziland many times. I know a lot about Swaziland. Well, a lot more than I did 6 or 7 years ago and a lot more than most people I know. I can tell you a little about the history, the culture, and the people of this beautiful little country. I especially can tell you about the challenges Swaziland faces. Unfortunately, that is all most people know about Swaziland.
With all my knowledge about this place and experiences in the past I think I failed my first real “cultural” test since being here. The truth is I have probably already failed many, but I only know about this one. LOL
I was recently invited to the Executive Committee Meeting of the International Ministries Assembly of God. That is the organization that has officially invited my family and I to Swaziland. They are partners with my own organization back in the States. I have worked with the guys in this meeting on many projects and have preached in most of their churches. Needless to say I felt pretty comfortable in the room. I was there for my “official welcome” and to give a brief explanation as to how I was going to accomplish the tasks which have been assigned to me by the Chairman of the Executive Committee, the General Superintendent of the International Ministries Assemblies of God.
I was under the impression that I would be brought in at some point in the meeting, they would greet me and then let me give my presentation and that would be it. I didn’t have any other business being there. I have been a part of enough boards and committees to know that things are discussed and decided that are not for public consumption. So I was a little surprised when I got there and there was chair for me. Then I was handed an agenda and on it the “official greeting” was at the top and the presentation part was 2/3 down the page.
I was thrown a little off kilter by this because I wasn’t sure if this was standard practice and that it was understood that because I was on the agenda I would be at the entire meeting and should just sit there silently or was I suppose to interact. It all made me very uncomfortable. Not at all because of the people or topics discussed. There was nothing too heavy in the meeting. It was just that I knew there were rules everyone in the circle was playing by and yet no one had given me a copy of those rule. I like to know the rules. I NEED to the know the rules.
Was I suppose to sit the quietly or was I suppose to talk. I just couldn’t decide so I tried to remain quiet, but just in case I was suppose to participate- I asked two questions, which seemed to be safe. I was asked to share one suggestion so I did and refrained from any follow up or pushing the topic. It was so insightful to watch the group work through the nuances of my suggestion. I learned a lot that day and I feel so fortunate to have been invited to come along side these great men and help in any way I can.
Enough with all of that, the real reason your still reading is because you want to know how I failed. LOL It was toward the end of the meeting (which was way past the scheduled time) and the group was trying to finalize the assignments on the agenda for their upcoming General Council. It is an important meeting where all of their churches come together and they try to accomplish many things. The topic came up of who was going to share the first devotion. NOW, please understand I’m telling you this after much reflection. In the meeting it looked and felt very different. It started with one man suggesting that another do the devotion and he would respond with something and then quickly defer to someone else this went around the room until one of the gentlemen suggested me. This particular man had seemed the most in tune with what was going with me in the meeting. I noticed him observing my facial expressions and body language. Several times in the meeting he said or did things to make me feel comfortable I believe quite intentionally.
So when I was asked I was shocked a bit. “Wait that is not why I am here.” “I’m already going to be making a presentation at the General Council about our Church Health and Church Planting efforts” “But maybe everyone deferred to make room for me cause they really want me to speak” “I’d like to speak, I always like to speak.” “How do I say no, this is the Executive Committee!” So I didn’t say anything, which was as good as a yes and it was decided I would speak.
As it was being decided it was hitting me like ton of bricks. “You big dummy!- DEFER DEFER” Cultural Intelligence why did you have to fail me now?! I didn’t have to say no but I certainly wasn’t supposed to say yes. This kind man was simply trying to included me. There were at least three other guys in the room I could have deferred to. If it really were the will of the Committee that I speak they would have brought it back around to me. Worse yet, our Field Moderator, who represents the missionaries on the Executive Committee, was just two chairs away from me. I should have deferred to him especially as my representative on the EC. I’m such an idiot, I know. I allowed my preconceived ideas of what my role in the meeting was to be, that lack of knowledge and expectations of how a visitor should behave in these meetings, and quiet possibly my own pride and desire to preach blind me from picking up the cultural clues right in front of me. Cultural Intelligence is hard!
It felt just like swinging at a bad pitch. You know it as soon as you jump on that ball your going to whiff, but once you’ve started to swing there is no pulling the bat back. There is nothing left but to feel like a knucklehead.
So I really don’t know if they actually wanted “me” to speak or not. However, I was already swinging so I gave it the best whiff I could. I know I failed the cultural test but hopefully I didn’t fail at speaking. It seemed to go very well and many people came up and affirmed me. LOL Now that I think about it, many people came up and affirmed me when I first preached at 12 years old also. LOL Who knows??? I know that many of kind friends and spiritualist friends will chime in here. I'm not trying to have false humility, I know I'm a pretty decent preacher and I believe these guys feel that way. Yes, in spite of me or not, God did show up and people were touched through His word. The point is that there are lessons to be learned in every inter-cultural interaction.
Lesson Learned – Even if distracted or uncomfortable read the room for cultural and behavioral clues. Unplug from my “American” auto pilot in this case in the area of decision-making. Stay in “their” rhythm of the communication. Lastly, in spite of it all, your pride and ambition can blind you in any culture.
rf ; )
Saturday, June 25, 2011
and the conflict begins...
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
the great gulf of mexico tour 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Maybe in Our Next Career?
Monday, January 3, 2011
A Note for Donors
Many of you have made pledges for us over the last few months or plan to do so in the very near future to help support our missionary effort in Swaziland. We are so grateful, but we are aware that sometimes the system can be a bit confusing and may even feel a little awkward if you are used to operating in an electronic economy. We apologize for this and want you to know that as team members with a pretty large missions organization we are sure there are many people doing the best they can. I want to go over a couple of commonly asked questions and hopefully help with some of the road blocks we are experiencing.
1. I made a pledge but haven't heard anything.
When you make a pledge it takes a little time for the Missions Organization to process the pledge and assign an account number to you as a donor, etc. This means that it could be a little while before you get anything in the mail from them acknowledging your pledge. I am attempting to send something from me directly when I get acknowledgement of your pledge, but as you might imagine this can delayed as well. I am so sorry for the delay.
2. Where do I send the money? I haven't gotten an envelope.
The first thing to note here is that the address to send the money is:
Assemblies of God World Missions
ATTN: ACCT# 2545895
1445 North Boonville Avenue
Springfield, MO 65802-1894
Secondly, one quirk in the system is that you do not get a envelope and statement UNLESS you have sent in a donation. So your first donation, you will have to provide the envelope (although I try to send that out to you, once I receive notice of your pledge). If for whatever reason you miss a month or misplace your statement and return envelope you will not get another one until you have sent in another donation. They do no automatically come each month. I am exploring an automated service for my newsletters once I leave for the field that will included an envelope, but I just have to figure out a way to keep costs down. If you need extra envelopes please let me know and I will be happy to send them you. I would also be happy to set up an email reminder if you like each month to send in the donation.
3. Why can't I just give online?
Ahhhhh, why indeed. I am sorry I can't answer why to many questions, but I can tell you what is available. You can send in a donation by debit or credit card online by following this link:
https://secure1.ag.org/contributions/detail.cfm?LedgerID=d92bb7ae-6928-4a76-ac48-a8143ecd99f4
If you like to pay each month this way, just follow the link and make a contribution. Again, if you would like an email reminder, I can send you one each month with the contribution link attached.
4. What about automatic giving?
AT this time the system is not set up to directly debit your checking account each month. If you have auto bill pay with your bank you can set that up with them. What you can do is fill out the Credit Card Authorization form and fax or mail it in. By doing so it will automatically charge your credit/debit crd each month. Think of it as auto bill pay. For those of us who are comfortable living in an electronic economy, and don't have the automatic bill pay option with our bank this is my recommended method. *****You make a pledge and then send in this form.***** The web address of the form is here:
http://ag.org/contributorservices_PDF/CRCDAUTH.pdf
I hope this helps with a few issues we are having. I really hope to get all of these things ironed out before leaving for the field. As you might imagine, the fear of getting to the field and budgeted donations not coming in is a real concern for us. We are a missions organization, not a financial institution, so our systems can be little frustrating at times. I hate that, but again please know as many people as possible are working as hard as they can to offer administrative support. Thank you for your patients and please email me at any time if you have any questions.
Randy Freeman
Saturday, December 18, 2010
the colorado adventure
so the colorado adventure began this morning. it was a long drive, but very beautiful. i honestly never realized that you could drive that long without seeing a gas station. i honestly didn't know you could drive that long without seeing a house.....or a school, or another living soul. at first i was mezmorized by the windmills standing beautifully everywhere i looked....but i had to eventually quit taking pictures of them all. our trip was beginning to look like the great windmill tour of 2010....