For those of you with limited Australian geography under your belts, Melbourne is located WAY SOUTH, in Victoria(one of the states)... We are in the Northern Territory (NT) WAY NORTH. It would be like going from the top of Minnesota down to El Paso, TX--except the weather would be switched. It's tropical in the North, and colder in the South.
The time in Melbourne was a blessing for us. The kids (A, B and C) were being taken care of by a kind nanny named Robin, and they loved her! She did a great job. Having Robin with the kids freed Cheri and me up to go to meetings.
In the mornings, I (Jared) was blessed to lead the praise music part of the conference, and was blessed to share with everyone Psalm 1, which I put to music(after David, of course!). It was a blessing to sing God's Word with a bunch of missionaries, many of whom already had the Psalm memorised. The gentleman who was doing the morning devotions walked us through John 17 each morning. It was very encouraging and also challenging as we listened to how Christ prayed for us, and how we are to respond.
There were so many reports given, and plenty of business talk, which I won't go into here. :)
However, the report given by our Director is something that will stick with me for the rest of my life. As she was sharing with our organisation, I could just feel my heart sinking.
"In indigenous society, giving and receiving is extremely crucial to relationship building." She explained how important receiving and giving is. That is the way society works.
Oh dear,...
Our colleague was frustrated one day and said, "I just don't get it! I just took some indigenous friends of mine to see their uncle in the hospital. The first thing they did when they saw him in the bed was ask, 'Do you have any money for us?' " This happened on more than one occasion.
From a Western point of view, this is very rude and seems almost heartless and selfish.
Our director shared a different story of an old woman who was dying in the hospital, and she would not stop giving her things away! Her family members would come in to the hospital room and she would say, "Do you like that green dress, dear? Take it!" She only had a little bit left, but she was still giving.
Why?
In indigenous culture, when someone is giving, they are still alive. Once they have nothing left to give their life is over--socially speaking--even if they are still physically alive. Giving is what connects them to their people, and to their family.
Once I heard our director say this, I wanted to smack my head on my desk! How many opportunities had I missed to start a friendship simply because I didn't understand the system? Is it too late now? Oh dear!
In answer to those questions: 1. Several 2. NO!
I'm so thankful for the wisdom of our director and for God's grace in teaching me this lesson NOW. As one lady at the conference put it (after hearing my lament), "Be glad you've heard it now! You're still young. I'm 80 years old..." So, praise the Lord for giving me a new understanding, and more opportunities! :)
Please pray for cultural sensitivity and understanding as we continue to serve here amongst these different indigenous communities. God is faithful, and through your prayers, He chooses to work. Thanks for praying!
***We have given several times when people ask for things, and there have been times when we simply could not give what was asked, and we turned folks down gently. It was simply an eye-opener to see a bit more of the indigenous mind-set/worldview. :)
