Time Oriented or Event Oriented?

oldclock.jpgSherwood Lingenfelter talks about time oriented people and cultures versus event oriented people and cultures in his book, Ministering Cross-Culturally. There are some cultures that follow clocks. There are others where time doesn’t rule the day. Mexico is definitely an event oriented culture, which conflicts with the American time oriented culture. Wanna know how? Here are two examples:
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Spurts

It always seems like ministry comes in spurts. I mean, some weeks I have very little work to do, and other weeks I am so busy I cannot stop. That’s what the next few weeks are going to be like.

I have a lot of work to do because it’s a new quarter at the seminary. That means I have to grade all the final projects from this quarter and prepare for a class I have never taught that needs to be adapted to Mexican culture. It’s about campus ministry, which is going to take a whole new form in this culture based on the laws of the land and high school culture here.

I’m also preparing two courses for Cuba in January, which it’s looking like I’ll be teaching myself. I have not taught these other classes, either, so we’ll see how they go. Needless to say, it’s a good thing we had a little rest this past weekend.

Our trip to Querétaro

Queretaro Trip (40)This weekend, we were supposed to speak at First Baptist Church of Querétaro, in a city about 2 hours away from where we live. However, the church canceled on us, so we went to Querétaro for a family weekend away. It was relaxing since we didn’t have anything on our schedule, and it’s always nice to get out of the city for a while.

We stayed at an inexpensive bed and breakfast in the historical center of this very historical city, and we spent two whole days just hanging out, walking around, shopping, and enjoying being in a different place as a family. It was well-needed, since it seems like we’ve been going like crazy since we got back in August.

I really like Querétaro for its charm and atmosphere. It’s a safe city, with little crime and it is very tourist friendly. There are shops and gardens and plazas and restaurants all over the place. We had a great time.

Check out our trip photos on Flickr.
Check out our video from the weekend.