One of the main ideas of ICC is
having a learner’s attitude. I was
fortunate to have an excellent teacher in PNG, Wendy, and maintaining a
learner’s attitude was easy. Yet, there’s a lot I need to learn about “saving face.”
A facilitator, Bryan, shared a story
from his own life in the Philippines. He was walking along in town and tripped.
Everyone who saw him, laughed. Initially he thought everyone was laughing at
him, but he decided to join in and laugh with them. Without the learner mindset
of wondering what is going on in a culture we can completely misunderstand
events. Bryan learned from a cultural insider that “saving
face” is important in Pilipino culture. By laughing, the bystanders were
lightening up the situation and ensuring that Bryan wasn’t shamed.
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| Two of the participants illustrated Bryan’s story in their summary poster: |
Joining in and laughing was the right
action too. Being a participant observer
is another big principle that participants practice at ICC. This means watching
and imitating to the best of your ability. Participants get to try out their
skills at a public auction.
Another way to honor those we’re
interacting with is to offer openness by suspending judgment. This is done by
gaining more information before deciding if actions are right or wrong, or
maybe even in the gray-zone. I was challenged to “suspend judgment” regarding
my southern community. Personally, guns scare me, but they’re an important
hobby and right for many people in this area. Is my distaste for guns something
that I should really get hung up on or publicize? This is a simple example of
being culturally sensitive even to those in my own culture. Of course there are
still biblical absolutes. Yet, we have to ask ourselves are those absolutes we hold
dearly to, biblical or cultural?
You can also see two other parts of
openness hanging on the wall in the background: tolerate ambiguity and think
gray or long. The final piece to openness is: assume goodwill.
Learning language also honors those with whom we’re interacting.
We also had fun thinking about some other multi-cultural
ways of using the toilet, wearing clothes, greeting one another. How close do
we get to each other? So many questions come up and often the answers come
through asking and observing.
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| Participants practice their Language and Cultural Acquisition skills (LACA) by listening to the nouns and acting out the verbs |
Personally, my absolute favorite part of the course is the
focus on spiritual vitality! We’ll
never be able to share the love of God if we aren’t drenched in his love
ourselves. I’m thanking Papa for
using ICC to speak his love to me.
