So often when we are thinking about ministry in Poland the topic of culture comes up, this can be a delicate thing to address because it isn’t easy to be objective since we’re attempting to see Poland through our American lenses. The ultimate goal is for us to capture in our hearts what Kingdom culture and values are, from there we will engage the power of unconditional love and respect. Doing this will be a long road, we’ll pour into those who have a heart and desire to see their nation turned to Jesus.
Cross cultural ministry is known to burn people out, and I believe much of this is stemmed from a lack of working from within kingdom values. I’m not naive to think we’re somehow immune to this simply because we want to focus on “being Kingdom” – because the truth of the matter is that we’re more American than we are kingdom. Our ministry approach has always been to love people as they are (just as Jesus did with the woman at the well), and respect them as humans. As time goes on and relationship is built we encourage people to walk in their God given gifts, to realize their identity in Christ, and ultimately to realize the story of their life is epic when God is involved and they are called to the ministry just as much as us.
Poland is a country with a very complex history, a history that we, as Americans, simply can’t connect with except through movies, history, and personal stories. The love we know can overcome anything, God’s heart is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So we know that in spite of the cultural challenges we face, that as long as we hang onto Him and walk closely with Him we will be engaged in creating a story that is unique and amazing. Interestingly enough my name (Travis), is old french for “from the crossroads”…