Being a Follower

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus, to the ends of the earth, and not be pushing our "western" viewpoint of that on other cultures?

I would really like to know. I am tired of the "western" way of life being the only acceptable standard for our faith. Several visits to Bulgaria showed me how eager they were to show us how they are adopting our ways in worship, of doing church. Yet what was most powerful was the worship that was the deep, almost mystical Slavic cultural communications towards Yahweh.

Watching barefoot dance/worship, embodied prayer with a group full of followers who also are Hebrew by birth and by their rich life traditions, I saw a kind of worship that I cannot even describe because they were new and amazing vibrations in my soul. Sitting in the middle of the living room and having the blessing of Abraham prayed over us imbedded a new piece within.

I am leaving shortly for the Crimean Peninsula with a team from Linwood House Ministries. On our trip to Bulgaria we shared our stories and heard theirs. It is not about telling them the "western" way but about finding hope and redeeming threads in all our stories because of the God who has the most marvelous weaving colours for our life looms. This is the God who designed colour!

You might wonder what triggered this thought process. This article from Daily Dig is the trip wire to this meandering, especially these words:
My wife and two daughters and I have been sent to Thailand by our small community, not as missionaries, but with the assignment to learn as much as we can from the Thai people, of their suffering caused by December’s tsunami, of their resilience in rebuilding, and of their generosity to strangers.

It is not about any one culture but rather the diversity of all culture that the Almighty created. There is diversity but incredible similarity. The diversity is only a glimpse of this God I am learning to follow, this God who is so multi-dimensional.