跨文化人才的溫床 YWAM, A Cultural Incubator

(苗栗據點主任的見證 Testimony of the Miaoli Director)

許多宣教士一生僅需要經歷一次跨文化適應，就是從他們的生長環境跨越到宣教工場當地的文化。然而，崔中麗卻經歷了兩次跨文化的過程。在臺北出生及長大的他，曾在苗栗的客家族群中服事，後來與他的先生一起去夏威夷，擔任檀香山青年使命團的負責人。當他回想起這些經歷，看到當年在臺灣青年使命團的訓練是如何幫助他走過一次又一次的文化適應。他的經歷也驗證了臺灣青年使命團是培育跨文化人才的溫床。

Many missionaries experience just one cross-cultural transition in their lives, from the culture of their upbringing to the culture of their mission field. Vivian, however, experienced two. She went from being a city girl who grew up in Taipei to living as a missionary among the Hakka people in Miaoli, to then becoming the base director of the YWAM base in Honolulu, Hawaii with her husband. Looking back, she is able to see how her experience in YWAM Taiwan equipped  her to undergo all these cross-cultural transitions. She is a testimony of how YWAM Taiwan is a cultural incubator. 

相較於其他人，崔中麗領受宣教呼召的時候年紀相對已經比較大了。他的牧師聽聞青年使命團如何幫助基督徒將信仰應用在每天的生活中，因此，鼓勵他參加青年使命團的訓練。在Crossroads門徒訓練課程中，崔中麗經歷了人生中第一個跨文化體驗，在這樣的環境中，崔中麗學會如何與來自不同文化的弟兄姊妹同工，並建立跨文化且合一的團隊。

Vivian felt the call to missions at an older age. Her pastor, having heard how YWAM helps believers apply what they learn to daily life, encouraged Vivian to pursue training through YWAM. Vivian took her pastor’s advice and did a Crossroads Discipleship Training School (DTS), where she was exposed to a multicultural environment for the first time. This unique environment helped Vivian learn how to partner with people from other cultures to function as a unified team. 

崔中麗將他的生命全然獻給神，並且渴望向最難觸及的未得之民傳福音。當時，臺灣青年使命團有個團隊希望能到苗栗的客家民族中建立教會，而崔中麗在參與宣教福音課程(School of Missions and Evangelism)的同時也去了苗栗。在課程中，他領受了神的呼召，決定加入這個植堂團隊，繼續待在苗栗服事當地的客家人。藉由在臺北青年使命團的訓練，崔中麗可以順利地融入這個跨文化的團隊。在剛開始時，難免會經歷跨文化的磨合，例如，他會質疑在這個以中文為母語的國家宣教，為什麼要用英文開會。但是經過與其他的外國同工溝通後，他了解到，為了使整個團隊能夠合一，他們必須打破「我們當地人」和「他們外國人」的隔牆，而建立真正的「我們全部人」的概念，這樣才能讓整個團隊發揮到最大的功效。這個學習使崔中麗更了解如何建立跨文化的團隊，並且幫助他在未來跨文化的環境中更加敏銳。
Vivian always desired to give her life to share the gospel among the most unreached people. While she was in Taipei, YWAM Taiwan had a church planting team among the Hakka people in Miaoli. Vivian went there as a part of her School of Missions and Evangelism (SOME) training. During the school, she received a call from the Lord to stay and continue to minister among the Hakka people. That is when she officially joined the church planting team. Having experienced a cross-cultural environment in Taipei, Vivian had a smoother transition into this new team that was also multicultural. At first, Vivian ran into some cross-cultural tensions. She questioned why her team had meetings in English when they were in a Chinese-speaking nation. After multiple conversations with her foreign teammates, Vivian realized that in order for a cross-cultural team to thrive, there could not be a perspective of “us” (locals) vs. “them” (foreigners). Rather, there should be a perspective of “we” (together). This paradigm shift was a tremendous help for Vivian as she worked among foreigners. Little did she know that she would also benefit from these experiences in her next season.  

2000年時，崔中麗和他的先生Michael回到了當初差派Michael的檀香山青年使命團。一開始，他們只打算在檀香山待一年，沒想到神的計劃使他們一待就是12年，在他們成為據點負責人之前，他們也負責了許多不同的事工。檀香山青年使命團有許多來自世界各地的同工，而崔中麗發現，他非常懂得幫助來自不同文化的同工互動及連結，特別是幫助從西方世界及亞洲來的同工了解彼此的不同。他知道這一切要歸功於當初在臺灣所經歷的跨文化訓練，使他能夠成功的搭起各種文化間的橋樑。

Vivian and her husband, Michael, moved back to Michael’s original sending base in Honolulu in 2000. They initially thought that they would be there for just one year, but God extended their stay to 11 years in total. During their time in Honolulu, Michael and Vivian served in various roles before they eventually took on the responsibility of being the base directors. The base was filled with people from many different cultures, and Vivian often found herself being the bridge between different cultures. She was able to help staff from different cultural backgrounds interact, connect, and understand one another. She found her efforts were very successful, especially among Asians and Westerners. She now credits this success to her cross-cultural training and experience in Taiwan. 

現在，崔中麗和Michael回到了苗栗繼續地服事客家民族，他們也參與臺灣青年使命團拓荒宣教部門的規劃。崔中麗透過訓練的方式，將自己最拿手的跨文化溝通及跨文化團隊建立傳承給年輕一代的宣教士。因著當初他在臺灣青年使命團的學習，現在，他也能夠陪伴下一代踏進這趟跨文化學習的旅程。

Today, Vivian and Michael are back in Miaoli serving the Hakka people once again. In addition to this, they also oversee the frontier missions department of YWAM Taiwan. As for Vivian, she now passes on her wisdom in cross-cultural communication and team development to younger missionaries. As she first experienced YWAM Taiwan as a cultural incubator in her life, she is now able to lead others through that same journey.