“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
Romans 8.26-27
My western mindset has been struggling over the past months with a conversation we had while in Uganda. We were sitting in the church tent talking with the missionaries and some of the Ft. Portal Church leaders. The foundation of the discussion was based on community. The conversation itself centered on decision making. In our western world the result or the final answer is the most important. Maybe it goes something like this:
We sit in meetings (business and church leadership) or if we are trying to answer something for ourselves we think in our heads. We have something to discuss that needs attention or most likely needs a decision made so someone or something can move forward. Our focus is solely centered on the decision itself. You say, “Of course it is. You are meeting to discuss something and find a solution.” We sit and talk, sit and talk, sit and talk. Then either by the result of meeting or thinking in our head, we have an “aha!” or due to being tired of meeting we make a decision. The meeting is over. We move “forward” in whatever direction it has been decided. Successful meeting? “Yes.” We did what we were supposed to do. We decided the answer. We kept to what our culture values–progress, decision making, the end result.
Now what if you were in the same circumstance and nothing was decided. You met and conversed but nothing was decided. We, as westerners, would walk away from that type of meeting and be utterly and completely frustrated. “Nothing was decided!” “What a waste of time!” might be phrases said to each other outside the meeting. Chances are no one would want to come back and “meet again”.
But what if the values that drive our meetings weren’t progress, decision making or the end result? What if the values that drove our meetings were relationships, community and humanity? How would those values change the way we came together and met?
Let’s go back to the conversation we were having in Uganda. The missionaries and Ugandan leaders were talking about how “meetings” were done. People show up to the meeting “when they get there”. (Remember the beginning of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, when Gandalf the Grey is riding in his cart and Frodo jumps in. Frodo proceeds to tell Gandalf that he is late. Gandalf responds to Frodo by saying a wizard arrives precisely when he means too.) That is kinda the idea here. The meeting begins when the people get there. (See previous post about time.) The conversation commences and everyone sits and listens to everyone. By the end of the conversation nothing may have been decided on, there were no action plans made, BUT the conversation “feels” complete. Everyone goes home believing what needed to be accomplished was. And what was that? The values of the Ugandan people were reinforced–Community and Relationships.
When have our meetings valued people more than the bottom line? When have our conversations valued the voices of the people more than the decisions that are made?
Welcome to a culture that is not like ours. Welcome to Uganda! I think they may be on to something.
P.S. Decisions are made. I am told they take a lot longer.
