Cultural Immersion
"Modeled after Jesus’ incarnational ministry, where He took on flesh
and dwelt among us, Avance places you to live with a national family.
You'll learn and minister directly in Spanish, study the host culture
and interact daily with the people you intend to reach."
This is probably the aspect that I am most excited and scared about.
I am excited because I absolutely love experiencing other cultures in an authentic and genuine manner. I was very blessed growing up in having many opportunities to go on international mission trips to Honduras, Jamaica, Bahamas, and Canada (my freshman year of college), as well as participating in a global theatre festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. This passion for learning about foreign cultures ultimately led me to Syracuse University, where I was accepted into a unique freshman study abroad program in which I studied abroad for my first semester of college my freshman year. Many people questioned why I would want to do something so drastically different for my first semester of college, and my response is still pretty much the same today as people question why I would want to graduate from college a year early- because I like adventure and if such a unique opportunity presents itself I am going to take it and trust in God and not this world's expectations. I love to travel and see new places, taste new foods, meet new people, and just grow in my understanding of truly how diverse this world is.
While this wasn't necessarily true of my mindset when I went to Florence (because of my lack of a regenerate heart at that point in my life), today I am so deeply passionate about living with and ministering with other cultures than my native culture because my eyes are opened to an even more beautiful revelation of who God is and how the body of Christ globally makes up His beloved bride and works corporately to advance His Kingdom in all the earth. I am deeply impacted and transformed by the experiences I have in worship, prayer, fellowship, and outreach with people who are from a different culture, and in ways that I would never encounter if I were to remain in my comfort zone.
But the whole topic of my comfort zone leads me into why I am also very nervous about this aspect of culture immersion. I do speak Spanish but really only conversationally, and I haven't been practicing the language for a few months now so I am very slow to process when listening and responding. The whole language barrier doesn't intimidate me in terms of living with my host family and having every-day conversations. I am most nervous about what it will be like to share the gospel, work in ministry, and share my testimony in this second-language for me. I already get nervous trying to effectively communicate the gospel or my testimony in English, and I have no idea what to expect of my ability to do the same in Spanish.
This is also why I love the way this program is structured in that during the summer portion, the primary focus is on learning the Mexican culture, language, and just adjusting to life in Mexico City. As much as I would love to just jump right in and prove to people that I can do anything I set my mind to, this program and this next season of my life is not about "building my resume" or making much of myself anymore. I know the Lord has placed this desire for international missions upon my heart, and I have fully surrendered everything I am and have to His will for my life. I have learned that my decisions have lasting impacts beyond what I can see in my temporary circumstances, therefore I must be the best steward to the gifts which God has entrusted to me for the work of His Kingdom. I know this foundation-laying time in this program will be extremely beneficial for my potential spiritual growth throughout the program and also just the fruitfulness of my growing in ability to labor for the Lord's Kingdom in a foreign place. Although I will be in a completely unfamiliar place going through experiences unbeknownst to me right now, I have found increasing peace in the assurance of God's faithfulness to His promises:
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession —to the praise of his glory.
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
- Ephesians 1:11-23
