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August Newsletter

SHANNON’S CORNER
August 2016


Hard.  Intense.  Time consuming.  Overwhelming.  Learning tons.  Homework.  Group learning.  Activities.  Ethnocentric.  Fellowship.  Worship.  Solitude.  Being silly.  Community.  These are all words or phrases that come to mind when I reflect back on my time at the Center for Intercultural Training (CIT).  The first four weeks centered on equipping missionaries for cross-cultural service in order to become more self aware of who I am, my identity in Christ, and the importance of learning the Dominican culture that will not only change outward behaviors but reach the heart level for lasting change to occur.  These last two weeks centered on second language acquisition that helps with first knowing how I learn best, tools to approach learning another language or even for me to enhance my Spanish because the language and culture go hand-in-hand to reach the heart level.

If you were to look over the last year to two years of your life, how many transitions have you gone through?  Either think or make a list of your transitions.  Just in the past year, I have had quite a handful
  • ·       A new boss in Honduras. 
  • ·       Finishing well in Honduras. 
  • ·       Living in the states again. 
  • ·       Exposure to winter---freezing. 
  • ·       Following the rules while driving in the states. 
  • ·       Speaking English full-time. 
  • ·       Getting to know four new nephews and nieces. 
  • ·       Having new bosses with Kids Alive. 
  • ·       Living in the Dominican Republic. 
  • ·       Getting accustomed to heat and high humidity. 
  • ·       Speaking Spanish again but hearing it differently so needing to learn new vocabulary. 
  • ·       Starting a new ministry. 

We all go through transitions some more so than others.  How we handle and cope while in transition is staying firmly rooted in Christ.

Culture.  What is culture?  Culture is the rules to the game of life.  It is like an onion, meaning it has many layers and at the core is where the beliefs and worldviews lie.  What does this mean for me living in the Dominican Republic?  In order to understand the Dominican culture, I first need to understand my own culture.  Our American culture is what has molded me and shaped me to who I am and how I will naturally view everything through those same lenses.

There is a story about a monkey stranded on an island.  The monkey saw a fish swimming against the current.  The monkey thought the fish was in need of help so the monkey decided to help the fish.  The monkey got onto a tree branch at risk to himself, reached out and grabbed the fish out of the water and carefully laid the fish on the ground.  At first the fish seemed excited but soon fell into a peaceful rest.  The monkey was happy because he had successfully helped another creature. (Duane Elmer, Cross-Cultural Connections pg. 14)

What was the monkey’s motivation?  What did the monkey assume about fish culture?  How do you think the fish felt about the help it received?  I would love to hear your responses so send it to me via email or mail.  Knowing that everyone of us is looking through a different set of glasses may not be right or wrong but just different and possibly a little weird.  Embracing the aspects of the Dominican culture that do not go against my core beliefs will allow me to understand better who they are and being able to share the gospel message in a way that they will relate and understand.  Worldviews are the frameworks of how we order reality around us.  Here is a list of words (Ancestor, Sand, Cow, Man, God, Fish, Whale, Angels, Lion, Girl, Bush, Rock, Woman, Demons, Deer, Virus).  How would you categorize them?  What would be the names of your categories?  Send me the name of the categories you came up with and what word(s) you put in them.  I will let you know what others came up with.  Knowing the culture will help to understand better in how to communicate cross-culturally, working in multicultural teams, resolving conflicts cross-culturally, cultural stress, and cultural expectations.

Who are the best language learners?  The answer is adults who are childlike.  How do children learn language?  Many ways such as playing, imitating, trial and error, questions, no expectations, toys, games, fearless, and constant praise are just a few.  Why do we as adults not learn that way?  Focused on being right, busy minds, fear/scared, high expectations, perfectionism, and competition to name just a few.  How might adults overcome these barriers?  Confident in your identity in Christ, teachable, playing, open, humor, and love the people of the language are just some ways of overcoming the barriers.  Learning the different approaches and styles of learning, and where I fall into those areas will help me to be more motivated in learning Spanish and taking charge in my language learning.  An hour of phonetics everyday has been fun and makes me laugh because of how silly I sound and my facial expressions as I look at myself in the mirror while making the sounds.

Learning language and culture is a blending of the two.  Some have said there is no language without culture.  You cannot know one without the other because you need context to be able to understand the meaning of the words and you need words to communicate.   I have learned more about myself because realizing that when I speak Spanish I take on a new identity than when I speak English.  This does not mean I have multi-personalities but that God is showing me more of whom I am.

This training has been super beneficial not just for my own self but also for my new ministry serving as a member care facilitator.  I will be able to reinforce what our new missionaries are learning, and encourage them during their transition at both language school and once they arrive to the Dominican Republic.  I am very grateful and thankful for this unique opportunity in order to grow. 

Ephesians 2:10
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advanced for us to do.”

PRAYER REQUESTS
Praise the Lord for an amazing time of training at CIT!
 Praise the Lord for all the friends I met at CIT!
Pray for me traveling back to the DR on September 2nd.
Pray for wisdom and discernment as God guides me in building relationships with my fellow KAI missionaries.
Pray for our direction as I help to organize and facilitate our Missionary Retreat in October.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Shannon Eaton
Address:  829 Kocher Drive
Grove City, PA  16127
Phone:  724-967-7205
Email:  shannon.eaton76@gmail.com  
Skype:  Shannon.renee.eaton
Facebook:  Shannon R. Eaton
Blog:  www.shannonreaton.blogspot.com
To donate, go to www.kidsalive.org/shannoneaton

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