II. Every Church with an Effective Spanish Ministry Has Been Willing to Immerse in a Different Culture

Another important essential for reaching Latin Americans is understanding that ministering to them requires much more than functioning in a different language. It involves working with a culture that views the world completely differently than we do. Reaching Hispanics involves being willing to learn, accept, and function in their unique culture.

I love the kenosis passage in Philippians chapter 2. Verse 7 says that Jesus, “… made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” Of course, we call this Christ’s incarnation, where Jesus willingly gave up the use of some of His attributes some of the time to become a man. The verse says that Jesus, ‘made himself of no reputation.” The New King James translation quotes, “He considered it not robbery to be equal with God.” In other words, Jesus did not view his position in heaven as something to be grabbed hold of or kept. Instead, He humbled himself, becoming a man and even became obedient unto death.

Missionary Earl Dannenberg always talks about the importance of having an incarnational ministry as a missionary. By this, he meant being willing to immerse in a different culture and become like them in order to reach them; not taking on the negative or sinful aspects of any culture, but being willing to give up some luxuries to go out of our comfort zone to better reach people with the gospel.

This idea of having an incarnational ministry is so very important when it comes to reaching Latin Americans. Within the Hispanic community, there are many cultural aspects to understand. Here are just a couple:

• At the dinner table a Hispanic hostess will fill your plate before she places it in front of you. You will offend her if you do not eat all the food on the plate. Unfortunately, if you eat it all she often will insist on serving you more. You will, again, chance offending her if you do not accept the seconds! An incarnational ministry first involves being willing to go out of your comfort zone to simply visit the homes of Hispanics. Then it may involve being willing to eat two or three helpings of food that you might not care for.
• Hispanics are notorious for not being governed by time or schedules. If you are invited to a birthday party at a Latin American’s house and show up on time, you may be the only one there! Therefore, it requires patience when beginning a Spanish Bible study or a church service. Very few will get there on time. The encouraging aspect comes in that no one will be in a hurry to leave either.

While there are many other cultural nuances to learn, foreign missionaries will tell you that the best way to learn a culture is to simply spend time with its people. Immersing yourself into the culture in this way will give you a validity among Hispanics that cannot be gained otherwise.