Hear it From Carl - Final Round

Well, I hope that you have enjoyed reading Carl's journals about his Cross Cultural Encounters experience. It was a time that gave Carl lots to think about, and for me, listening and reading his stories, I have been challenged. I hope you have too!

January 18, 2008 – Friday

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Link Care Counseling Center– I truly believe that in the Christian community, the families of missionaries and pastors are often the most in need of therapy and counseling. Living under unrealistic expectations set either by congregations or agencies and combining it with personalities that are predisposed to giving and giving and giving of themselves, creates an environment in which burnout and serious relational breakdown is virtually inevitable. Ideally there ought to be a partner agency to this which focuses its efforts on education of congregations and missions agencies about how to care properly for their pastors and missionaries. So too, pre-mission training about how to maintain boundaries and self-care ought to be a prerequisite for anyone entering full-time ministry.

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I often think of the plight of the children of those families involved in full-time ministry. It is easy to see why they may come to resent the church or religion when they see how their parents have been treated, or when they see how their parents have given everything to “the work” with nothing left for the children. I know that in my own journey, one of the things which I had to work through as a teenager was understanding the sacrifices my parents had made for ministry.

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Fulton Outdoor Mall / Downtown Fresno – There were several things which struck me about the mall today. The fact that we were in an area filled with government offices during the lunch hour and I saw almost no one that looked to be from those offices out on the mall enjoying lunch, etc. made me wonder about the prejudice / fear that might pervade those offices. If so, what does that say about the kind of service that they might provide to those persons who come into their offices. I was particularly bothered by the setup of the Immigration / Homeland Security offices. They were not clearly marked from the street front – there was a hand-written note on the locked door saying that you could not even enter without an appointment and there were several security guards just inside the doors. Does the government really think that they are being threatened by poor, mostly Mexican immigrants? All of this effectively says, “You are not wanted here.” I was surprised by how little effort seemed to have been expended on highlighting the amazing artwork on the mall. Even the famous “Washer Woman” had no plaque or information as to what it was. I also saw little to suggest that parking or public transportation was readily available on the mall. No wonder it is not highly frequented by a broader cross-section of Fresno’s residents. The multitude of little shops could easily be promoted as a cultural highlight, the “Pueblo” or some such district. I know that in my own city, there are three or four highly ethnicized neighborhoods that are marketed in this manner to great success.

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January 19, 2008 – Saturday

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MCC Farm Workers Ministry – The incredible complexity of the migrant workers’ plight is really moving. To hear about the difficult circumstances in Central America which prompt people to come to the United States in search of a better life is helpful in understanding the drive to come to the United States. Even with all the difficulties they face here, it is still better than home. The immigration issues which we face in Canada are very different – more refugee issues rather than undocumented peoples – but I loved to see the discomfort which my fellow classmates were experiencing in the tension between the absolute reliance of this economy on undocumented workers and the negative perceptions and attitudes which pervade. It is absolutely essential for us who have become used to privilege and power to seriously examine the real effects that our nation’s economic and domestic policies have had on vulnerable populations both in Mexico and other “sweatshop” nations which we rely upon for our cheap consumer products.

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Wrap-Up Session – The diversity of symbols was beautiful. I was surprised at the “shallow” response of some and even more surprised by the depth of understanding / realization that some shared – especially from certain persons that I had distanced myself from.