Divine Opportunity in Diversity

It used to be true for most New Zealanders that to encounter people from very different cultures we had to move and base ourselves in a new country.  The skills and attitudes necessary for cultural adaptation used to be only for missionaries, diplomats and the like.

This is no longer the case.  In 2010 New Zealand cultural awareness and cultural skills are more vital than ever before. Unprecedented worldwide migration patterns have blurred national borders and distinctions.   God is moving the nations around.  Particularly since the mid-80’s the DNA of a typical “Kiwi” has been undergoing a rapid cultural shift as a result.  While no place is totally immune, the larger centres have noticed the most dramatic change. 

At the last census (2006) Auckland’s residents were ethnically 44% non-European, with 37% of its inhabitants born overseas.  That’s one of the highest figures in the world for a city of its size.  New Zealand’s third largest ethnic background is now “Asian,” up 50% from the previous census and numbering one in five Aucklanders.  To paraphrase an eminent statistician, if worldwide trends continue, “we ain’t seen nothing yet.”

In the wake of increasing cultural and religious diversity the New Zealand church faces an incredible, if not divine opportunity. We are experiencing now what many other countries have long since grown accustomed to.  With
geographical distance removed cross-cultural encounters and relationships are open doors to share Christ.

How can we learn from other country’s experiences and position ourselves to respond better? What does the world of missions have to say to us on these cultural complexities?  Some might suggest that missionaries have been the destroyers of culture and have very little to contribute...think again.

Go to Gospel Revives Amazonian Culture to fuel some of that thinking!