The following article was written by Roland Lovstad for The Lutheran Reporter Newspaper about David Ficken, a second year student at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, who joined a short-term mission trip with CALMS to Belize. The story shares how being involved in a CALMS' mission trip helped him learn to listen and learn in a cross-cultural setting. He also shares how the trip helped expose him to new attitudes and view of life outside his normal Christian community.
NOTE: CALMS works with the seminary to lead two or three mission trips each year to help future Lutheran pastors grow in mission understanding and commitment.
Outside the classroom: 'engaging a whole new realm'
In a 21st century world, every pastor and congregation will do some kind of cross-cultural ministry, believes David Ficken a second-year student at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. One of the most important things he's learning is to listen to the questions of people who are outside the church.
Ficken has experienced diverse cultures through a seminary-sponsored trip to Belize last May and as an undergraduate at Concordia University Wisconsin to India. And for understanding cultures outside the church, he rates his work at Starbucks as an excellent exposure to today's cultures and concerns.
The experiences have exposed him to attitudes and views of life outside the Lutheran community, even the Christian community. "That's definitely a big challenge to hear the questions of the lost and what they want to know," he comments.
Last May, Ficken was among five students, a seminary staff member, and a pastor from Houston who spent a week in the Central American country of Belize. Guided by Rev. Steve Hughey, executive director of the Central American Mission Society, and his wife, Grace, the group met formally with people of different backgrounds, including Christian missionaries. English is common, so the visitors also conversed informally with people from all walks of life.
Discovering that family was a great concern, particularly the lack of a father figure, they asked many questions about family needs, Ficken says. They asked missionaries about effective ways to reach people with the Gospel of Christ, and often heard more about what not to do. "A lot of them said people will come here and impose their American Christianity and way of doing things and that does no good. It just isn't part of the culture here," Ficken notes.
He cites the example of a couple that was finding success with music in schools. "They stated investing in these kids' lives so they could love on them and build relationships with them," he observes. "That has opened tons of doors for them."
Ficken compares their experience to what he's learned while working at Starbucks. He cites the importance of "investing in people's lives" by showing genuine care, developing relationships, and building trust. That opens doors for sharing the Gospel and sincere discussion, he adds.
"It's an incredible adjustment," he observes. "Sometimes the questions at Starbucks are 10 times harder than any you face in the classroom. Everybody in the classroom is a Lutheran and so we all believe the same things. People at Starbucks do not believe what you believe and have a completely different way of thinking. Most find truth in science. Faith is just a completely different way of thinking for them."
Admitting that he doesn't always have answers to some questions, Ficken searches for references that will help him. "At the same time nothing gets me more excited-and I'm not exaggerating-than to have a conversation with someone who has been burned by the church, or doesn't believe in God at all, or who is teetering on whether to dabble in Christianity."
In early October, he preached his first sermon at his fieldwork congregation. He was pleased that some of his friends from Starbucks came to hear him and others asked to hear the tape of the sermon. When you invite, they're more than willing to come and check it out," he observes.
"Just understanding how people think, whether in Starbucks or in Belize, it's very likely they will think different than a seminary student or a pastor or a theology professor and they will ask different kinds of questions," he adds. People who have grown up in the church have less chance to think about questions lost people have. At Starbucks, he says, "I'm in a whole new realm that I've never engaged in conversation like I am now."
