The Akha and the West: Relevantly Traversing the Cultural Divide
By Paul Vernon on Sep 3, 2010 in Ministry Updates
Many of you have read or heard some of our ministry philosophy “catch-phrases” here on our journal or as we have communicated with you in person. The study of the Akha culture, and the inevitable parallel study of my own American culture has led to a number of cross-cultural keywords that have become very important in my worldview. The biggest keyword that has emerged is Relevance, and I want to unpack it a little for you today. Please bear with me until the end because my heart is to communicate these ideas clearly.
I want to start by sharing an excerpt from an insightful article entitled “Why we don’t go or send much anymore” by Dr. Patrick Johnstone of WEC International (link goes to a repost of the article on John Lambert‘s blog):
Why we don’t go or send much anymore… The Cultural Price
We are the “instant” generation. We look for quick solutions. Yet the Lord Jesus had to earn the right for 3 years of ministry through 30 years of manhood. Without missionaries becoming one with the people to whom they minister, how will they ever earn the right to communicate the gospel?
Earning the right takes time – 7 to 10 years by my estimation. Some missionaries never last that long. Sacrificing our way of doing, being and living is hard. When I was a missionary in Africa, some Africans would say, “That missionary loves us, but those others don’t.”
(emphasis mine)
My immediate reaction:
There is no question that we in the west are part of an “instant generation”, and as digital-age missionaries to a pre-modern culture, we are constantly changing states, speeds and worldviews as we attempt to communicate to our unique world(s).
In working with the Akha we say the following statement all the time and, although it is admittedly an oversimplification, it is largely true: Relationships in Asia, and specifically with the Akha, have no relevance until they have history. Dr. Johnstone uses different terms, but the same idea lies within his article when he says a missionary has no “right to communicate the gospel” [relevance] until he has “one”-ness [history] with the people.
This doesn’t mean that we don’t correctly handle the Word of Truth as we build history. But too often we feel like we have all the answers, our pride gets in the way and we think everything has to get fixed now. Working in Asia we must realize that until we have history the words we speak have no weight – even if they are true.
Experiences with the Akha
In our Akha village, we have showed the love of Christ by spending a majority of our time sitting, drinking tea, discussing the weather and the crops, learning the Akha language within the context of community, and caring for physical needs without cost or discrimination as we experience the minutia of life within a community in order to build relevance. It is slow. It is unglamorous. But it is necessary to affect a community towards healthy long-term growth.
Our ministry has only recently, after nearly six years of building history, earned enough relational relevance to be a resource of accountability, exhortation and truth in love in a way that will be productively and actively received by some of the people around us.
Unfortunately, this process of patience means that there have been many times where we have seen dysfunctional behavior that is unable to receive input from any source which is not equally as dysfunctional. So, in these times, we have had to stand silently, brokenhearted, so that we might maintain the relationships and history we are building, which, in turn, will give us the relevance to minister restoration to that dysfunction in the future.
The beauty of this worldview is the closeness of the community and the willingness to function in unity. The downfall is that dysfunctional behavior is also universally shared. Relevant voices of influence must show their commitment to unity within the community over a significant period of time without sharing in the same dysfunctions in order to effectively communicate functional life.
Experiences with the West
It is still true in the west that community and companionship are the key factors in administering life-impacting change, but the decision to include or exclude someone or something from our community is made nearly instantaneously. (The exception in this case is the influence of the core family-unit, but in my observation many people in America are even distancing themselves from those nuclear-family relationships that were once such powerful influences in the lives of an individual.)
These “instantaneous decisions” have led to the onset of the online community phenomenons of blogging, forums, and social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. We in the western world are much more comfortable extending our attention and trust to someone or something with whom we have no history. We might respond to attraction, position, interests, goals, occupation, production, association, or marketing in our decisions to join or include others in a community.
Online communities make the world smaller, and that small world allows us to communicate globally without moving geographically. Personally, I have a list of missionaries from around the world that I connect with for advice, prayer, exhortation and empathy – but I have only met a few of them face-to-face.
The blessing of this openness to immediate inclusion is that we are free to give and receive the ministry of the gospel in the brief moments of community when our lives glance off of one another in the thousands if not millions of connections we make. We can quickly form meaningful relationships that have immediate positive impact on our lives, and receive Godly encouragement from near stangers. The downfall of this worldview is that we become judgmental, quickly dismissing as irrelevant things that don’t capture our immediate attentions and passions and quickly accepting as valuable things that are at their core damaging but packaged to manipulate our passions.
Defining the Difference
Perhaps the simplest distinction between the Western world I know and the Eastern (Akha) world I have come to learn can be summed up in the following statement:
As for me and my house…
We must exist in both worlds. The world we come from and the world we have been sent to. It is important for Lori and I to continue to engage in our Western culture, even as we minister in the East. So we strive to be transparent, available, and vulnerable in our efforts to communicate via these “instant” platforms: Our blog: The Vernon Journal; Twitter (Paul); Facebook (Paul | Lori); Tumblr (Paul | Lori | Abi).
Through these mediums, we try to frequently communicate our otherwise slow ministry to those of you who cover, support and partner with us while we geographically remain in the midst of that ministry. We know that there are thousands of causes, ministries and opportunities out there to partner with, and we want you to know that we value your partnership and desire to share with you how your partnership is furthuring the gospel in us, among the Akha, and throughout the world.
How do you connect with your communities? And how can we best communicate our lives and experiences to you and your communities as we minister to the Akha?
Very insightful post Paul. I never knew how hard it was to understand the differences in Asian in Western culture until I lived here in Asia. There is a vast difference in the way people receive truth/information, build trust, and accept outsiders into community. People who read this, but have never lived in Asian culture, will just have to accept what you are saying by faith. There is no real way to really know these things until you are living them and experiencing them daily. And you guys are doing just that. Keep up the good work. You are truly “incarnational” in your approach. God bless.
Thanks John, that is a tremendous compliment coming from you guys because you have done so much to understand and to connect with the people you love. It’s funny, but we often have conversations with people in our village discussing how difficult their lives are, but inevitably someone will pipe up and say “Yeah, but do you know what they eat in Isaan?” God bless your family as you minister the Kingdom of Heaven to the kingdom of Thailand.
For the most part, I agree with you. But also note that the East Asian context is changing (although obviously a lot slower with the Akha and other northern villages as compared to a place like Bangkok). Since moving into Bangkok we’ve seen the gap between Western culture and Eastern culture come a lot closer together. In fact, in the past 24 months, Facebook usage in Thailand has grown nearly 3,600%! Facebook Usage Stats And earlier this year Thai twitter users were able to get #WeLoveTheKing as a trending topic globally on Twitter (most of whom live in the larger cities of Thailand I would assume). http://bit.ly/b51RSh
Living in Bangkok has been interesting for us. It’s rapidly becoming more Western in many ways, but still identifies with it’s Eastern context on a personal level in other ways. With rapid change in Thailand’s larger cities (cities which eventually trickle change down to the other, more rural provinces) I believe we’ll all see some drastic context changes in the coming few years. And in that the way we become relevant will have to change accordingly. Although, we may have the upper hand. With Eastern culture becoming seemingly more Western (rather than becoming more Eastern), Thailand’s people are slowly, and sometimes quickly, becoming more like us… …for better or worse…
Now, with all that said, I realize you probably don’t have too many Akha people walking around with their iPhones tweeting about running out of toilet paper, what’s for dinner, etc. And hopefully you don’t have that any time soon!
Great thoughts for this morning, friend. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Brook. I certainly agree that the East Asian context is changing significantly within the mega-cities, and that those changes trickle down on the surface. However, even though surface changes are being quickly adapted, Asian history predicts that true, core, cultural change does not happen in the context of this worldview. One thing that is definitely happening in Thailand is that there are many people who are moving from their existing communities in the rural areas of Thailand to become employees, laborers, hawkers, students, beggars, thieves or slaves in Bangkok and the other major cities. Some of them adapt quickly to the cities, while others maintain their rural identities in small migrant communities.
Those who have fully assimilated into the social, educational, cultural, and even religious communities in the mega-cities have in many cases lost their relevance in the rural setting. On the surface they are still welcomed back and included, and everyone will gladly and respectfully gather and listen to their words, agreeing with them. But, when they leave, their words and actions are dismissed as “otherworldly”, and they leave little lasting impact.
In the West, a generational breach like this would signify the end of “Old World” thinking and the onset of a “New Era”. But in Thailand this young, culturally adapting generation is still sending their kids and their money back to the rural areas to be raised by the grandparents. The money brings modern homes and technology to the rural areas, but the grandparents are still raising these children with their worldview. When the parents return for their annual (Songkran) visit, they expect their children to connect quickly and wholeheartedly, but the children see little relevance in these people who have become strangers. The city parents are offended that they receive no respect, and the children are appalled at the idea of spending “quality time” during these visits with people with whom they have no history…
…Beyond generational divides, there is also a national divide of civil unrest. As Bangkok has grown and changed it has distanced itself from the rest of Thailand. Bangkok has westernized: it receives and processes information quickly, makes decisions based on that process and acts upon those decisions. In the meantime, even though the information might have been given to those outside of Bangkok, no one is ready to act upon that information. Greater Thailand is then offended – not by the action, but by the perceived “haste” of Bangkok, feeling like they weren’t consulted in the matter. Soon you have people wearing different colored shirts, protesting, fighting, closing airports, burning buildings and killing each other.
So again, I agree that major changes are occurring, and am thrilled to see an Asia that is open to change. But I remain unconvinced that these changes will result in a widespread national paradigm shift, and am concerned that they might end in division or even a civil war that would destroy the open doors that exist. For if people go to war to resist change, then whatever the results of the war, their highest value will become remaining unchanged, and that is definitely against the Biblical worldview (Matt 18:3).
So my question is, how do we impact these people, city and country alike, positively and in a way that is culturally relevant, with the good news of Christ and help to restore unity to a nation and a church that is divided?
I totally agree with your response. Bangkok, and other similar cities, seem to change at about 2000 mph more than any other outlying area. That’s part of the frustration. Rural people are seen as being slow, and city people are seen as “sell outs” to their “Thai-ness”…
Impacting these many different people again comes down to context, which I feel is still changing (thanks for globalization!)… and I still think we are in for quite a ride when it comes to this greater widening of what it means to be Thai, or even East Asian at that.
I too doubt that we will see an entire, national paradigm shift in understanding. The process thus far has done very little to lead me to believe that, nor are there plans in place for development, adoption, or anything else pertaining to these rapid changes in distance between the urban elite and the rural poor… The rich are getting richer and the poor are left behind… http://bit.ly/cQtGhf
But what you said is very true, we DO need to address this from both ends. We can’t expect rural poor to adopt Twitter and Facebook as part of what it means to be a valid Thai/Asian person, and we also can’t allow urban elite to think that leaving behind those who “don’t get it” is the answer either… I believe that the Good News can attack this from both ends, and it should… And the widening gap between these two groups is sickening/worrying me… Thanks again for the conversation…
Exactly! The context will be changing, because the world will keep getting smaller; and the hope lies in Christ through His church. If we can serve the needs of the people from both sides and defend the needs of all we can grow in unity and see the life of the Kingdom of God in the kingdom of Thailand.
Thanks for the conversation and the insight. Now I’m going to head up to the village to have less philosophical conversations over less geographic distance. God bless you guys in your ministry (and enjoy TED BKK!)
great insights! so appreciate the opportunities we have had to see the Akha culture and of being a small part of it. how great it was to be received by them in such a loving way, and i now understand more that it was because of your history with them that we were so received. how great is God’s love for those people that He would devote your years to them to establish the history it takes to bring the cross-cultural message of His Son to those people. as father and grandfather, it is difficult to have you so far from our lives (but thank God for Skype, facebook and blogging!), yet for our family, there is no greater joy than knowing that when we presented you before the LORD and dedicated you to Him (and therefore ultimately Lori and your family), that He has placed you in His service. the cost is not too great knowing that eternity surpasses any temporal experience we may have. “that we may know Him, and the power of His resurrection.” we love you and are so proud of your life choices, and know that eternal results have been and will be obtained as God continues to change you into the image of His Son, and through the gift of His Holy Spirit, impart that image into the Akha people. after all, that image looks so much better than our western image! we love you and pray that you may continue to hear, know and follow God’s ways for your lives! (John 10:27)
Thanks Dad! You and mom have been such an incredible encouragement to us to follow the voice of the Lord wherever He leads us. Love you!
More thoughts on this subject on my personal tumblr blog: More East/West thoughts by Someone much Smarter than Me.
Paul, this is outstanding insight into missions work not only in Asia, but everywhere. Without the long term commitment and patience of the Missionary and the financial supporters any work falls short of the objective. Missionaries have to “prove” themselves to those they are trying to reach. Likewise, supporters have to be in it for the long run – one year of giving does not get the job done. It is multiple years of partnership that makes the impact on the ministry.
I think it would be beneficial to submit this blog as an essay to a publication that reaches missionaries and supports. May you and Lori be blessed as you continue your work.
Hello Paul,
Thank you for your thoughtful and insightful article. Johnell Loop forwarded it to me and I am glad to be able to read it. Your thoughts on the subject of gaining credibility before speaking into cultural situations are very timely. You address one of the most difficult issues for us Americans, that of being patient and waiting long enough to be heard. I am grateful for what you have done in taking the time to know the Ahka letting them know you. It presents a picture of true incarnational ministry. May God continue to use you in this way, and may he bless you as you serve Him. I am wodnering if you would mind if we made use of your article in the training of other missionaries. I think it would be a great help. Please let me know if that woud be OK. I would like to include it in my materials on understanding culture if you think it would be OK. I would also like to refer them to your site as well. Let me know what you think. Thanks again for articulating your theme in a clear and “relevant” way. Blessings,
Frank,
Please feel free to use, copy or distribute this article for any FMI or Foursquare need. FMI has been an incredible support to us over the years, serving us with direction, oversight, fellowship and spiritual covering while empowering us to develop our ministry in a culturally relevant way.
We want to extend our thanks to you and to everyone at FMI for serving us on the field and allowing us to serve the Akha people.