Celebrating Our Cultures
A "Nations to Nations" event shows what YWAM is all about

If you've attended any big YWAM event, you've probably participated in a part of YWAM's culture: a roll call of the nations. It's a fun part of many YWAM family gatherings. In November of 2006, I experienced such a roll call in Amsterdam, at a "Nations to Nations" consultation. A West-African choir had just finished leading us with drums and songs in several languages when the meeting's leader began calling forth the nations. Everyone had come to the meeting wearing their national dress. As a country was called, everyone from that nationality came forward to dance or sing in their own way.

As I watched the nations come forward and express themselves, two things struck me. First, I thought, the diversity among us is amazing. From the Dutch dressed in orange and clogs jumping and shouting, to the Venezuelans dancing salsa, everyone had a unique expression. And, secondly, this roll call wasn't something we did after the worship time, but a continuation of it. "We are not celebrating the nations," said Armando Benner, cofounder of Nations to Nations. "We are celebrating Jesus." We worshipped the God who created nations and loves diversity.

Nations to Nations is a YWAM ministry that is becoming a movement. I think one reason for their growth is that the worship and celebration that takes place at these events is based in the very DNA of YWAM and in the heart of God Himself. When the nations gather together and worship God through their own cultural expressions, the Lord consistently releases a new sense of dignity and identity to people and gives them His heart for the lost.

YWAM's Call to Be International

From its foundation, YWAM has been about nations. When God called Loren Cunningham, it wasn't to a particular nation or region, but to the whole world.

That call has carried into our corporate identity and values. When Darlene Cunningham spoke during the Nations to Nations consultation, she said that YWAMers hold at least 150 different passports, and probably more. Our eighth foundational value reads: "YWAM is international and interdenominational in its global scope as well as its local constituency. We believe that ethnic, linguistic and denominational diversity, along with redeemed aspects of culture, are positive factors that contribute to the health and growth of the mission."

People from different backgrounds obeying the word of the Lord together will inevitably have a huge impact. What an amazing witness when a team of people from many nations and backgrounds minister together in unity. And often different nationalities bring a unique key to the mission field that no one else can bring.

Multicultural Teams Impact the Nations

In 2002, Todd Johnson, a YWAMer and one of the world's foremost experts on global Christianity, addressed YWAM's Global Leadership Team (GLT). Based on his extensive research, Todd believes that YWAM is uniquely placed to help evangelize the world in the 21st century. He explained to the GLT eight distinctive qualities of YWAM that led him to see so much potential in our organization. Many of the qualities he mentioned deal with YWAM's multiculturalism. Todd said, "Our great challenge is to take advantage of this opportunity, making sure we allow the cultural diversity of YWAM to define who we are, not settling for a watered-down western culture to dominate. No other mission is as diverse as we are. If we emphasize this in our mission, we are more likely to succeed in mission among cultures not yet penetrated with the gospel."

One example of YWAM's multiculturalism in action happened at the World Cup Outreach in Germany last year. An Indian YWAMer named Charles led a DTS team's outreach there. Normally, it is the students' responsibility to preach on Sundays, but one particular Sunday Charles really felt like he should minister in the church they were invited to.

It was an old, stone church, and the congregation seemed reserved. After the sermon, the pastor of the church came to Charles and with an outpouring of emotion thanked him for bringing the gospel back to their church. Charles was surprised by his reaction, so the pastor explained what he meant. He took Charles to the side of the church where there was a statue of the man who had founded it hundreds of years ago. That man had gone to India as a missionary, and in fact was the man who first brought the gospel to Charles' state, Tamil Nadu. And now God had brought it full circle by sending a Tamil as a missionary to post-Christian Germany and to minister in the very church from which his people had first received the good news.

Area of Attack

Though multiculturalism is a big part of our strength and identity, we experience a lot of difficulties in our efforts to work together. I remember one DTS team that was made up of about half Europeans and half Koreans. They ended up extremely frustrated as they raised money for outreach. The Europeans complained about the Koreans' lack of initiative and felt they were carrying the load themselves. The leader called a meeting to talk through the conflict and all the westerners were surprised at what came out. The Koreans felt shut out, like their contribution wasn't welcome, because the Europeans hadn't asked them to participate in the fundraising.

According to Ah Kie Lim, a YWAM member care leader from Asia, this kind of problem stems from fundamental differences in culture. "In the Korean culture, and many other Asian cultures, people need to be invited or asked to do a project. [We think] it might appear that we want to `show off' [if we take initiative without being asked]. It has to do with honoring and respecting the leaders."

Through the meeting I witnessed, the Europeans and Koreans were able to better understand each other and release forgiveness which brought unity to their team. But if this situation hadn't been brought out in the open before their outreach, it would have been an explosive situation as they ministered in disunity and bitterness.

Kingdom Culture

Misunderstandings are bound to happen, especially when many different nations work and minister together, and the enemy will always try to use these situations to bring disunity. So, how do we work together when there are sure to be conflicts? During the Nations to Nations consultation, Darlene Cunningham spoke about a helpful concept: kingdom culture. "Kingdom culture promotes servant leadership," she said, "which is different than the leadership in any of our cultures."

We have to recognize that our culture's way of doing things isn't necessarily godly or superior. For example, people from some cultures have no problem giving their opinion in a meeting. They feel free to express themselves at any time. But in other cultures, you must wait until you are asked to speak or until it is your turn, and you never interrupt someone else who is speaking. Neither way of doing things is necessarily better than the other, but it takes humility and open communication to make sure that everyone in a meeting has an equal voice.

In YWAM, our goal is that the nations would know and worship God. That vision can unify us. When we see that we all have one vision, one purpose, one Lord and one task, we can release the value and gifting in one another and realize our full potential.

--by Cristin Bruggeman