I have always been the depressingly organized, go-to person with all ducks in a row. And colorcoded and cross-indexed. On this trip I got (or had?) to deal with Dominican time and ways of doing things. The culture there is a “warm” culture, and relationship-based, not task-oriented. I had to break away from my task-orientation. For the first time, I got the opportunity to really be spontaneous. I could walk up to people (unscheduled people!) and talk to them, pray with them, or just hold their hand. At first I was just trying to practice my Spanish, or use what influence I had as a white female speaking Spanish to attract attention to whatever activity I was doing, but after a while I really started to enjoy doing unexpected things. I might say hello to an cute little five year old in the market place, and five minutes later I’d be sitting in their best chair drinking coca cola with new friends.
Some pictures from the market. A little more “spontaneous” than ours, hm?
This is JCPenny’s, Dominican style, complete with cashier.
This spontaneity, even boldness, I’d call it, is something new for me, and I’m still processing it. However, I think it’s important to bring back to America, if only for me. I obviously can’t walk up to a child and start sharing Jesus in the supermarket here the same way, not without being arrested. However, I can do unscheduled, relationship-oriented things, like saying hello and making friends where normally I’d avoid eye-contact or do a nod.
I think that the church here in America can be a bit regulated. I don’t mean to say that we should start walking out, knocking on people’s doors and banging them over the head with a Bible. Or preaching on a table at lunch. However, I hope to think of some way to bring more relationship-orientation into the church. Too often I have remained silent when I could have said something. Not in an argument, per say, but maybe just meeting eyes and making new friends in the community.
