I never told anyone, but the first night of training camp, and in all honesty probably the first 3 days, I seriously questioned whether the World Race was the place for me.
Of course, the first night my sizable headache and overall feeling not good didn’t help. But let me let you in on something you should know: a different culture that you’re not used to can be VERY overwhelming.
When it comes to worship, Methodists tend to fall on the quieter, standing still, hands at our sides end of the spectrum. We don’t at all fall on the talking in tongues, moving around, hands in the air, kneeling in the floor, shouting amen with every line the pastor says end of the spectrum. If you’re in the Christian community, you probably get what I’m saying. If you’re not and/or you don’t, suffice it to say that I felt like I was being asked to be more interactive in my worship than I’m used to. Neither end of the spectrum is bad, but they are culturally very different and the expectations are very different.
I was very overwhelmed.
And so I found myself sitting there in literally the first hour I was at camp with the speaker actively stopping in the middle of their speech to ask the audience “can I get an amen?!?!”, and I found myself thinking: “What on earth am I getting myself into? Can I even do this?”
Fortunately, that room contained a mixture of people from a mixture of worship cultures and so there were plenty of people in the room absolutely comfortable with responding to every request for interaction. I heard “amen!” ring out across the room every time it was asked for and I was grateful I didn’t have to be one of them. I would not have responded well at all if I’d been forced into that, but, fortunately, I don’t think it works that way at Training Camp.
I’ll be honest, there was even a point that first night when I felt devastated because I wasn’t sure I could fit in with the World Race culture. But I also figured this was temporary and when I was out on the field I’d be asked to interact with a variety of other cultures doing a variety of other things and I figured that surely I could make it through till then and surely I could adapt along the way. But I was also very worried about letting people down.
I wondered if I was the only one feeling very uncomfortable in this culture, but I had a feeling I wasn’t. I mean, lots of other people weren’t responding with those requested verbal amens.
The next day, we were exposed to what I believe is a semi-new concept at World Race Training Camp: Debriefing. Which means we had the chance to ask the speakers questions and bring up areas of disagreement and alternate points of view.
And wouldn’t you know, someone on the other side of the room spoke up and said “I was raised Southern Baptist and we don’t worship like this.”
So, clearly, I wasn’t alone.
And no one was mad or upset about that remark that I could tell, but I don’t think Adventures in Missions had any plans to change how they worship either. I certainly didn’t expect them to change their culture. I was the one coming in from the outside who would have to adapt.
And a funny thing happened: slowly, I did start to adapt. I did get used to the people around me in all sorts of positions, making all sorts of gestures, singing loudly, weeping softly. I did start to adapt.
Overall, I don’t feel like I changed all that much. I certainly didn’t get to the point where I was ready to call out “AMEN!” at the top of my lungs in the middle of the speakers’ lessons, but I was able to be more comfortable choosing for myself how to worship rather than following a prescribed formula for what seems acceptable.
My squad noticed. They told me as much. But they never knew how difficult and overwhelming it was to start with. For more reasons than adapting to culture, admittedly. It’s not always easy to surrender to the Lord.
So, why am I sharing this story? Because I adapted. Because being in a new, foreign culture did not defeat me. Because I know this was only the first time I’ll be called to adapt on the World Race. And I know I’m ready. I faced it once and I am so ready to face it again.
And, yes, I did come out a different person. I like this culture I was exposed to, or at least I like several things about it. There are also a lot of things I don’t like. Things I have to put up with. But I think it’s worth it to be part of something focused on the real goal: sharing God’s love with the world. I learned a lot in the span of 10 days. And if I were there longer it’s possible I would grow to like it more and more. I changed a lot. I grew a lot. I surrendered a lot. It wasn’t easy. It was worth it though.
I’m ready to do it again.
