E1, E2, or E3?

August 18, 2012

            Another successful day! Today was full of classes and lectures. Our classes were mostly about mission anthropology and worldviews. And they were pretty interesting to me! Jeremy talked for a while, and then his father, Shawn Daggett, came and taught the class about culture shock. Something we talked about with Mr. Daggett really stuck out to me. He was talking about the 3 different types of missionaries. You have your E1s, E2s, and E3s. E1 missionaries are people who reach others that have a similar language as theirs, but have a different worldview. An example would be an American reaching another American that is lost. An E2 missionary is someone who reaches others with a different language, but similar worldview. This would be someone from America going to France to encourage and teach people there. And then there are E3s. E3 missionaries are people who reach others having a different language and worldview. This would be what most people think of when they hear missionary. But anyway, the thing that stuck out to me was when Mr. Daggett said, “If you find yourself adjusting easily to E2 or E3 culture shock, do you think that perhaps that is how you were meant to serve the Kingdom of God?”

It stuck out to me because I’ve been thinking and hoping that this trip would tell me if an E3 or E2 missionary is what I would be best at, but I haven’t really figured out how I would know when I find that answer! And that was so true! Maybe the way I handle this culture shock will be what lets me know the answer to that.

            But in all, every class was wonderful today and so thought provoking. It really caused me to think deeply and realize that there is an underlying psychological issue within the world, affecting the worldview of us all. It really opened my eyes to just how much people are searching for the truth. People just want to make sense of the world and figure out why things happen, so they think of reasons and superstitions and explanations for it. They just don’t know it’s Christ that they’re looking for. We need truth. We need it.

            We ended the night with s’mores and half of the group watching The Lion King and a few of us playing Risk. It was so much fun. Can I just say that I love our group? I don’t think that I’ve said that yet ;)

Oh God, save us from this world. Save us from ourselves and the mess we’ve made. Give HIZ 2012 the words You would speak and the touch You would give. Give us boldness in Your Spirit and the peace of Your Son. Never stop loving us. We need You. I love you my God and my Lord. Here I am. Use me.