C.Lirette CUL 2200 - Introduction to Cultural Studies Prof.

Craig Jones 6/13/2021

READING REPORT WORKSHEET (8-2)

Reading: Ministering Cross-Culturally, Chapters 2-9

Please answer the following four (4) questions in response to your reading during a
select week. You may only complete one report per week. Please see the course
syllabus for more instructions

1. Give three or four observations/comments/reactions to the reading by way of carefully

crafted sentences, demonstrating that you have engaged with the overall content of the text.
You can cite a quote, but you should expand on the quote with your own thinking or critique –
you may be critical (“I think that…”) or merely descriptive (“The author says…”).
After I finished reading, “Ministering Cross-Culturally,” I was astonished at the myriad
ways that the humans in my culture can differ from the humans in a different culture.
There is a bit of Déjà vu as every week I am amazed at how different we can be. It has
also really encouraged me to just be quiet, ask questions, and listen when I am with
people of a different culture.
Ligenfelter and Mayers open the, “Tensions over Goals,” chapter with the story of
Yapenese men who set about to work on a collaborative project and do a lot of
socializing and about 4 hours of work (p.67-68). The story and point of the chapter is
brought into focus later with a story of a Mexican church and an short term mission
project from America. The authors helped to drive their point home between tensions
over task-driven and social-driven people. I am a task-driven person, which was a big
realization for me and was amazed at the way other people live.

The various stories of Yapanese culture and vulnerability were astounding to me

(chapter 8): somebody slowing down in a race to help the beaten competitors save
face (p.93) or the story later about how the man disciplined a Yapanese worker
through an intermediary (99-100). I have never thought about vulnerability in such a
way and one another’s role in protecting it.
In the “Tensions Regarding Judgement,” chapter I felt the closest to the Yapanese
people. For a while I have been transitioning to a more holistic mindset as opposed to
a dichotomistic mindset and resisting the urge to dissect and systemize all parts of
Scripture. I sympathized with both the author and the Yapanese people. I too can
follow a tendency to ask questions and logically make everything work in a rational
manner. I also just want a story to be “complete in itself” (p.40).

2. State two or three questions you have that may require further study, or that you would
like to hear more discussion around. Each one of your questions must include a) a clear

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C.Lirette CUL 2200 - Introduction to Cultural Studies Prof. Craig Jones 6/13/2021

question and b) 1-2 sentences of discussion/further description. Provide specific citations, if

possible.
I wonder what other tensions authors have observed between cultures? While
Ligenfelter and Mayers provide an excellent book with a tremendous amount of insight
and wisdom, their experiences are but one book. I would like to research this further to
see what other tensions other missionaries, anthropologists, etc. have observed.
How has American culture, which praises and celebrates achievement, influenced
American Christianity? As people who are influenced by our culture, there is clearly
some bleed or crossover. As a youth director I remember feeling a push to do the next
big thing or event. I want to research and see if there are any studies on this topic.

3. Give one or two stories/examples from your own experience - such as "This reminds me of
a time when ..." In other words, try to relate the theory to your own life experiences or
ministry practices.
A pastor friend of mine asked a rabbi once about the Genesis 1 story and the rabbi
replied, “That Protestants really know how to ruin a good story.” The beginning story
around the Flood story and the creation of the various Yapanese clans reminded me
of this moment in my life. It actually changed the way I taught about Genesis. I would
tell my students, when I was a youth director, the purpose of Genesis 1 is first and
foremost to convey God’s power, authority, creative nature, and goodness. Whether
one believes in a literal 6 day creation period or creation over a longer span is less
important.

“As a consequence, to do effective ministry “with” God’s people in any culture, we

must learn to adapt to it” (p.109). I remember when I first arrived in Leakey, TX to be
the youth director at my friend’s United Methodist Church for a season. I came in with
an idea I wanted to do. It wasn’t very effective. Then I started listening to the stories of
church people, the pastor, and the community. The church had been wounded and
was recovering from a former toxic employee that had damaged relations between the
school, the town, and the church. I needed to take a step back from my idea and
instead help the church heal the rift between itself and the school. I pushed the church
in the right direction and after I left, they started an amazing lunch ministry which was
getting 40+ kids a week.

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C.Lirette CUL 2200 - Introduction to Cultural Studies Prof. Craig Jones 6/13/2021

4. Your strongest "Aha!"—you might include a sentence or two that would make a good quote
from your reading if you were using it in a longer paper. Explain why this was a new insight for
you, why it is important, how will it help you develop more knowledge on the subject.
“The tragedy of this conflict is that these dedicated volunteers lost a wonderful
opportunity to work alongside of and mentor these Mexican men in carpentry and in
spiritual life. If this team has seen the work of discipleship as their primary objective,
and the building project as the means of helping unskilled Mexican men grow in the
Lord, they would have had a completely different ministry experience” (p.73). As a
task-oriented person this insight hit me in the gut. How many times have I viewed the
social part of a ministry experience as not ministry because it was not getting the task
done? I remember feeling convicted about this as I listened to this.