One of the courses taught in first semester here at the Missionary Training Center is called Worldviews. The term worldview has been defined as:
1. The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world.
2. A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group.
It is important to understand the worldview of the people you are working with in order to present the gospel to them in a clear and understandable way. If you do not understand their worldview, much confusion can result as they misunderstand concepts that you want to communicate.
Our Culture-Language Acquisition Practicum in third semester builds upon the Worldviews course. Our third semester students are trying to understand the culture of a native from Papua New Guinea whose name is Kinosi. His worldview is quite different from our western culture and he gets easily confused about the ways of these white visitors to his island. As a result our students get to put into practice what they learned in the first semester Worldviews course before they actually get to a third world ministry context. Courses such as these pay dividends in the long run.
NTM missionary, Katie Moore, wrote from Mexico, “Our team has been focusing intently on understanding the Nahuatl worldview in order to be clear in teaching the gospel.”
Discussions on worldview often raise curious questions. One of Katie’s Nahuatl friends said, “Maybe the spirits talk to God, but they don’t talk to us.”
So Katie asked “If the spirits talk to God but not people, and God doesn’t talk to people who are alive, how do you know what God thinks or wants?”
Her friend replied that her ancestors told them what God thinks.
“Oh, so the spirits used to talk to people?” Katie suggested.
“No,” her friend replied hesitantly.
“So if no one back then heard from God, how did they know what He wanted?” Katie asked.
Katie’s friend sat back and pondered that question. At length, she concluded, “They made it up.”
“They made it up.” It was a lightbulb moment for this Nahuatl woman when she realized that her worldview was built on a shaky foundation. What she believed made no sense.
The truth of God’s Word will challenge the faulty worldviews that animistic cultures are built upon. As missionaries understand the worldviews of the Nahuatl people in Mexico or of Kinosi in Papua New Guinea, they are better equipped to present the good news of Jesus Christ.
On a personal note, I should be moving across the cove after living in my little house for 26 years. I’ve been praying that my foot (plantar fasciitus) and my back would be up to all the lifting and carrying. My foot seems to be improving and my back has been feeling pretty good for the last few days. Unfortunately my back seems to go in and out at the drop of a hat — or at least it goes out when I bend over to pick up a dropped hat. Anyway, I would appreciate prayers for this upcoming move which is October 8th.
Thanks.
Bob
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And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer;
and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. -- Isaiah 65:24
For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle
upon a thousand hills. -- Psalm 50:10
Shortly after the Dallas Theological Seminary was founded in 1924, it almost folded into bankruptcy. All the creditors were ready to foreclose at noon on a given day.
That morning, the founders of the seminary met in the President’s office to pray that God would somehow provide. In that meeting was a man named Dr. Harry Ironside. When it was his turn to pray, he said in his refreshingly candid way, “Lord, we know that the cattle on a thousand hills are thine. Please sell some of them and send the money to us.”
Just about that time, a tall Texan wearing cowboy boots an open-collar shirt strolled into the school’s business office. “Howdy,” he said to a secretary. “I’ve just sold two carloads of cattle over in Fort Worth. I’ve been trying to make another business deal go through, but it just won’t work. I feel God wants me to give this money to the seminary. I don’t know if you need it or not, but here’s the check.”
The secretary took the check and, knowing of the nature of the business that day, went to the door of the President’s office and timidly knocked. Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer, the founder and President of Dallas Theological Seminary, answered the door and took the check from the secretary.
When he looked at the amount, it was for the exact amount of the debt. Then he recognized the name of the cattleman on the check, and turning to Dr. Ironside, he said, “Harry, God sold the cattle.”
