Cultural Perceptions

A couple of events in the last day or so has made me think about cultural expectations and perceptions.

Earlier this evening, I was talking with a friend who just returned from Asia. While on a flight in Asia (Taiwan to Korea, maybe?), she noted the UNICEF promo video they played. The reference to "starving children on the other side of the world" caught her attention, since Americans normally think of "starving children on the other side of the world" as being from Asia. I suppose for Asians "the other side of the world" could also be Africa, or Latin America (Haiti comes to mind), but I found the reference of "other side of the world" interesting. Rather than face the fact we all have problems and people who desperately need help in our own backyards, we put a spin on it and make the problem seem far, far away - "on the other side of the world."

The past couple of days, I've been babysitting a three-year-old, which has been an experience in of itself. She was fascinated with my cell phone, wanting to look at it, the pictures on it, and play pretend with it. Today I brought her a really old cell phone of mine that doesn't even turn on anymore. I was much more confident to let her play pretend with an old brick she could throw around with no harm done.

Throughout the day, she would take it out of her pocket and make "calls" to her parents and friends. But what really caught my attention was her "texting." She would pull it out, punch the keys for several moments, then put it back in her pocket. A minute later, she would pull it out again, look at it, and then punch the keys again. I was amazed that at three years old, she had mastered the concept which comprises the extent of some people's communication. Technology has radically changed our world in the past two decades. When I was three, cell phones barely existed. Now, little children -even toddlers- know how to operate them. While technology offers many benefits, we may yet see negatives outweigh the blessings.

This three-year-old also liked to look at my phone. My default background is a picture of my brother and my guy cousins at a baseball game. While looking at the background, she asked a question that through me off guard. "Is this your boyfriend?" "No, that's my brother, and that's my cousin." I assume that the other girls who have babysit her have pictures of their boyfriends on their phones. But I found it pretty ridiculous that a three-year-old has an cultural expectation of boyfriends and dating and all that great stuff.

Kids soak up the culture they're surrounded by, and often reflect this back in statements and actions that can be surprising. I think it's crazy the things three year olds know and expect because they've been taught by their culture.

Preschool World Travelers

I was reading an article in the Dallas Morning News today entitled "Seeing the world with kids: Parents debate the best age for children to travel abroad." It was written from a purely secular, sightseeing view, but it had some interesting points.

"But Ms. Wheeler said that even if her children, who are now adults, don't remember their first trip to Nepal. they got something else out of their early travels. "I honestly think that it gave them an attitude for life because they learned to be very flexible," she said."

I would definitely agree with this, though I know some people who are experienced travelers and rather un-flexible. There are many benefits of traveling even without a spiritual dimension.

"If they're 4 or under, they might not remember seeing the Mona Lisa and feel the significance of that in the same way that an older child will. But a 4-year-old or 2-year-old will remember the sense of adventure, excitement, and growing curiosity all tied to the sense of travel. You're cultivating that adventurous, curious spirit."

Even more important than an adventurous, curious spirit, the love of God and His people all around the world was cultivated in my heart at an early age. The Holy Spirit began to stir in my heart a calling to missions.

My parents had a theory, and this theory ruined all hopes of normal childhood for our family. Their theory? You can't raise world Christians from within the bubble of suburbia. They have prayed that my brother and I would be world travelers with a heart for missions since before we were born. Since our births, they have gone out of their way to see that we experience what God is doing around the world. This was accomplished by hearing missionaries speak about their experiences, and taking us to the mission field so we could see it firsthand. My brother and I took our first missions trips as preschoolers. I was three when we went to Jamaica; he was four when we went to Russia.

Cultural and geographically changes do not go unnoticed by kids. Shortly after our return from Russia, the Elian Gonzales incident happened. My dad delights in recalling that as my brother and I heard the talking heads on the TV say he would be better off in Communist Cuba, my brother and I quickly refuted that by comparing formerly communistic Russia, which we had just seen, with America. At ages 5 and 9 we could easily see the massive problems of the Communist system, as manifested in the lives and problems of the everyday common people. An appreciation of our American system, and a longing to see justice and freedom for kids around the world, was already planted in our hearts. That kind of insight does not come from living within a bubble.

Looking back, I'm sure there were many moments when my parents thought traveling would be much easier without a pair of tired and argumentative kids. I'm also sure that many families don't feel called to do what my family did. However, I am extremely grateful that my parents didn't

"stick to the Disney and Carnival cruises until the kids are old enough to appreciate what they are seeing."

Even if I didn't absorb everything that happened as an adult would, my childhood and my worldview were forever impacted. My parents took the high road, and I am eternally grateful.

Harpaz, Beth J. "Seeing the world with kids." Dallas Morning News. 5 August 2007: 4I.