Contextualization in Missions: what is it and why it is important?

13 Jan

Welcome to the first Walk Humbly Initiative post of the year. I hope you have had a good start to the year and are ready to jump into some more reflection on how we can love each other well.

To start this year, we have a post by Saray diving deep into a complicated topic - why we need to understand culture and context when trying to share the good news of the gospel. I am so grateful for Saray for being willing to write (in a second language!) in such a vulnerable way about the failures of missions in Cambodia and the effect on the church growth movement and how it has impacted his and others understanding of what it means to follow Christ. I hope this piece is as thought provoking for you as it was more me. - Stacie

Hello again, I’m Saray from Children In Families, project Rok Kern. In my previous video, I shared with you about my “Childhood Church” story. Today, I would like to share with you about “Why Christian Churches aren't contextualized here in Cambodia”?

Contextualisation is the missological term for adapting the way that the Bible is taught to the local culture so that people who have never experienced anything to do with Christianity can understand how it relates to them and how God has been working in their lives already.

Before I am going to share about that, I would like to ask you a question “ What do you think or what comes to mind when you hear about Cambodia?

I assume the answer will be “Khmer Rouge” or “Pol Pot” or something related to the regime. But if we ask Cambodians the same question, they will for sure point to the “Great Khmer Empire” that was from the 9th century to the early 13th century, and the Sihanouk’s era from 1953 to 1970.

A history of the church in Cambodia

So, what is related to Cambodian Christian contextualization here? As you probably know, Christianity was introduced to the people here in the 17th Century by a Portuguese “Roman Catholic Missionary” around the 1500s. Since then more missionaries had come to the country and to do evangelical work. CMA (Christian and Missionary Alliance) opened its office in the country and the work of bible translation began.

The first book of the bible of Luke was translated in 1897, and the New Testament was completed in 1934. The Old Testament was in 1940; and the first whole Bible was published in 1953. A printed edition of the Khmer version was presented to our late King, Sihanouk, in the same year.

Pastors were trained, bible schools were established and people were reached. Yet cultural understanding and what it meant to contextualize Christian faith and practices or emerging the biblical perspective in Khmer context and culture were left behind.

In 1975, some of you might have heard about it, the dark age of Cambodia began -the rise of the Pol Pot regime that took over the country. Religious activities were not allowed; no Buddhist ceremonies, no church services, and no mosques were opened. No holidays or birthdays were to be celebrated. After the Khmer Rouge from 1979 to 1993 was known as the transitional period and the time of restoration, healing and reconciliation.

Since then, I have noticed churches planting activities are emerging throughout the country. Churches have grown from 10 Protestant Churches to over 2,000 churches (at least if we measure buildings) spread all over Cambodia.

I am sure you all know that Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia and war has left the country in need of huge financial aid for country development. Missionaries all around the world, mainly from the west, have flown in the country for relief works and at the same time, taking the opportunity to plant the church. Since then, I have seen that different worship styles and church services have been introduced as well.

Showing respect

In Cambodia, the Sampeah (joining two palms together in a lotus flower shape) is used for greetings and worship of gods widely within the country. Sampeah is used when we, as Cambodians, worship Buddha, offer food to monks and to show respect to elderly people, parents, kings, and governance officials, and at church before worship as a greeting occasionally. I have observed that Sampeah is not used much for the time of prayer, and the way we dress for Sunday services at church is not the same when we go to the pagoda (Buddhist monastery) for any religious purposes. For some reason, Cambodian Christian may have chosen to wear common fashions for church rather than dressing up which is traditionally used for significant occasions. Christians are also free to set up the building, ways of worship, musical instruments, and songs in whatever way we like - mostly from copying the west. Local identity becomes less important as your heart for Jesus, but it seems that we are forgetting our wider non-Christian community is watching us.

"Jesus the God of the white people."

There’s research done by a local Christian group around “Respect and Worship God of Cambodian Christian at Church contextual theology.” This research has shown that, 65.22% respondents identified that missionaries they worked with had a lack of understanding about Khmer history and culture , and that pastors have not been well educated about the importance of Biblical Contextualization into the local context. 33.91% said that Cambodian culture and history wasn’t included in the Bible curriculum that is taught at Bible College, and that churches in Cambodia are much influenced by churches outside of Cambodia through missionaries.

It is very important to be born as a Cambodian Christian. We need to live by faith and show good examples. 85.22% of the research shows that as Cambodian Christians, we need to show respect to our elders, parents, and neighbors so that they can see that Christ is not a foreign God, and as well as to show our own families that we are born from our parents not by chance, but that God has chosen and prepared the family for us.

In the past, when Christianity was introduced to Cambodia, people viewed Christ as the God of the white people and tried to disown any family member who accepted Christ, and at some point, communities no longer welcomed them. The differences are hard to accept in this culture, but we as Christians work to build relationships with people and the community. We try to teach people that Jesus Christ is not the God that teaches us to hate or disrespect family members but to love them. That’s why contextualization into the Cambodian context is necessary to eliminate the stigma or misconception about "Jesus the God of the white people."

I am sure that because our economic position is weak, we need support both for economic and human capital development and even welfare and system work. That heavily depends on outsiders to provide that in terms of resources and financial support. And that aid somehow creates division among Cambodian Christian and Churches.

God is already here

If you would like to get involved with us in the future, please consider learning from our work, our language, and from what others are doing here in the country - both the challenges and success. Then celebrate with us. To celebrate and appreciate our culture, food, and friendship creates last long-lasting relationship. Please listen to our stories, our history, and customs and our tales so that you can get deeper inside our culture and use that to show that God is already here and cares about us. Join us to promote local cultures and traditions, and then trust that we can do the work with your support.

I think this is the end of what I would like to share with you today. If you have any questions, please reach me out by e-mail or through “Walking Humbly Initiative”.

What two questions does this raise for you?

What are some new ideas that you were introduced to through this blog?