I haven't posted on this blog in a long time. That's unfortunate, because I've had much to share and few people to talk to about it. One step I'm going to take in a better direction is to change the name of the blog (something I've wanted to do for at least a year) and to redirect the purpose a little.
I'm changing the name of the blog to "Servant, Learner, Storyteller." Too often people who are entering a new culture with the idea of "helping" the people try to come in as the leader, the teacher, and the judge. That can lead to a negative reception among the people they're trying to help. And even those who are receptive can then fall into a position of dependency, of continued reliance on the foreigner to lead them, teach them, and tell them what they're doing wrong. We want our friends here to get the respect they deserve, we want to see something more sustainable happen among them, and so we want to try a different model. Hence the name of the blog.
From now on the blog is going to focus on stories of our experiences (and eventually our service) here, with occasional lessons that I'm learning. I am going to move most of my theological reflections and other thoughts to another blog. I'll post the name and URL when I create it.
I should also note that I have no connection to the organization called "World Servants". I found out that they use the same motto, but though I'm sure we got the idea from the same source, I hadn't even heard of them until I googled the motto just now.
I'm changing the name of the blog to "Servant, Learner, Storyteller." Too often people who are entering a new culture with the idea of "helping" the people try to come in as the leader, the teacher, and the judge. That can lead to a negative reception among the people they're trying to help. And even those who are receptive can then fall into a position of dependency, of continued reliance on the foreigner to lead them, teach them, and tell them what they're doing wrong. We want our friends here to get the respect they deserve, we want to see something more sustainable happen among them, and so we want to try a different model. Hence the name of the blog.
From now on the blog is going to focus on stories of our experiences (and eventually our service) here, with occasional lessons that I'm learning. I am going to move most of my theological reflections and other thoughts to another blog. I'll post the name and URL when I create it.
I should also note that I have no connection to the organization called "World Servants". I found out that they use the same motto, but though I'm sure we got the idea from the same source, I hadn't even heard of them until I googled the motto just now.
1 comment:
Great! Please do post more. I'm always eager to read your stories.
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