Sydney Anglicans will have to prepare for a severe case of culture shock if they are to provide any useful service overseas, two prominent missionaries will tell a city meeting later this week.
CMS missionaries Xavier Lukins and Dr Joe Radkovic will be sharing their experiences of crossing the cultural divide from Australia to France and Kenya in the CMS Transit Lounge Friday evening.
It is a journey Dr Radkovic knows all too well.
Originally from Wollongong, his family's three years living and witnessing in Nairobi, Kenya, have taught them their limitations.
"We might be well-educated, well-respected leaders here but, in the new culture, missionaries and short-term workers start out like babies, still learning how to say the most basic words and struggling to be understood," says Dr. Joe Radkovic.
Known for their easy-going natures, Aussies might think they go into new cultures without any cultural baggage.
But six years ministering in Paris has shown Mr Lukins that people must be ready to recognise and rethink their culture if they are going to be effective in a new setting.
"This is also true of our "gospel culture' which makes us think that to be a true Christian, a person has to be like us," he says.
The fear of crossing that cultural divide is keeping many Sydney Anglicans from committing themselves to overseas mission, says CMS-NSW's Lea Carswell.
"As people face the reality of uprooting themselves and their children to live in a foreign culture, the fears begin to rise," says Ms Carswell.
Ms Carswell says CMS-NSW staff have heard it all: "I can't learn the language!"; "I'll miss my family,"; "It's too far from the beach!"
But CMS staff are planning a range of fellowship meetings to help Christians considering mission deal with the very real issue of culture shock.
"Culture shock and culture stress affects people in all kinds of situations but perhaps especially in the area of Christian mission where expectations are high," says Ms Carswell.
The Transit Lounge will be filling up this Friday at 6.30pm on Level 5, 51 Druitt St, Sydney.
For more information on the event, or to talk more about culture shock, email Lea Carswell or call 9284 6712.
