Slowly building relationships

Someone asked me recently what the hardest thing about cross cultural relationships was, and I said, "Not knowing whether I'm doing the right thing." As I sit in silence with people at morning tea, I know theoretically that it's the 'right thing' to do, but when I don't get the encouraging signals that I'm used to – greetings, small talk, smiles, eye contact – it's hard to judge how successfully I'm building relationships. It might sound counter-intuitive, but visiting Sydney recently actually helped me build relationships here. When I was in Sydney, I met with a supporter who used to work in Arnhem Land. She showed me an old photo of a now Aboriginal translator. The translator was at Nungalinya in Darwin when I got back, so I showed her the photo, and she was very pleased.

I also caught up with a CMS couple in Sydney who used to work on Groote Eylandt. So one morning tea at Nungalinya, when the church leaders were in, I sat with some ladies who I thought might be from Groote. Asking where someone is from seems to be acceptable, so I found out they were from Groote and told them about the people I'd met up with. Their faces lit up and they were very interested. I may get a chance to work with them in the future (see below), so I was pleased to plant a seed of connection.

Give thanks for opportunities to build relationships with Aboriginal Bible translators when they visit Darwin. Pray that I will be humble and willing to be uncomfortable as I relate to people cross-culturally.