Bridging Faiths: Sharing the Gospel with Ibrahim Guye and Exploring Cultural Dynamics - Essay Sample

Introduction

According to the Christian religion, the disciples of Jesus were given a noble task of spreading the gospel and making disciples worldwide. The disciples hear and obey God's teachings, which are found in the holy bible. As a follower of Christ, I often spread the gospel while carrying out my daily activities. I intend to share the gospel with Ibrahim Guye, a lady of Ethiopian origin whose age is 25 years in this particular season. Ibrahim is from the Burji community, which consists of Arabs who speak in the Amharic language. Most Arabs follow the Islamic religion, and Ibrahim Guye is not an exemption. Currently, Guye resides in the state of California, America. She is currently pursuing her post-graduate studies in law at the University of California.

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Guye is my immediate neighbor, and with time our relationship has graduated from being good neighbors to friends. We often share dinner and lunch during the weekends, where we socialize and indulge in various activities, including game nights. She came to America since she was ten years old, but her paternal grandparents and other relatives live in Ethiopia, Africa. Due to the different environments, while growing up, she is open-minded and does not criticize other people's cultures. Guye does not adhere to all traditional cultural practices like arranged marriages but strictly follows Islamic religious practices. She asks a lot of questions regarding Christianity and sometimes participates in bible studies. She has, therefore, shown a lot of interest in Christianity and is open-minded to Christianity.

Cultural Systems

According to Livermore (2015), cultural systems are how different communities organize themselves to meet the people's basic requirements and maintain order. They create a deep understanding of the different cultures. The diverse cultural systems are; economic, marriage and family, religious, and educational cultural systems. The economic systems that compare capitalism and socialism focus on the different societies' different methods to meet people's universal needs. Capitalism is founded on the principle of individuals accessing various services based on their ability to pay for them. On the other hand, socialism states that the state participates actively in production' allocation and distribution of the universal needs to ensure everyone has access to them.

The marriage and family system compares kinship and nuclear family, which works out a system that determines and defines marriage. In kinship, the family finds identity in identity in many generations, and the household includes more than three generations. In contrast, in a nuclear family, the family finds identity in two generations whose members are related by marriage and comprises of parents and children. The educational system compares formal and informal education. It defines how values, beliefs, and behaviors are transmitted from parents to children. Formal education involves the use of professionally trained schools and books as a medium of education. Informal education consists of the passing of wisdom from one generation to the next.

The religious system compares the rational and mystical approach. It focuses on how different cultures explain supernatural occurrences. The rational approach seeks scientific-based explanation on every occurrence while the mystical approach focuses on supernatural power powers, both good and evil control the daily lives of the people. Guye’s culture consists of a religious system that is guided by the mystical approach. The approach focuses on how supernatural powers affect people, making her have an open mind and respect the diversity found within cultures.

Cultural Value Orientation

Cultural values sit on a continuum between two contrasting approaches to a societal problem. In the individual versus collectivist approach, individual societies consist of independent and personal thoughts, and interests prevail over group welfare. In collective societies, the members are integrated into cohesive groups. The value of sharing is highly emphasized (Caunenco, 2018). Guye's comes from a collective society that has enabled her to socialize and respect other people's cultures. Indulgence-oriented societies encourage people to seek pleasure in the indulgence versus restraint approach, and members involve themselves in fun activities for personal enjoyment. However, in restraint societies, fun and pleasure are restricted and regulated by strict norms. Guye's society is a restraint society. She is, therefore, hesitant in involving herself in fun activities.

In the being versus doing approach, the high doing oriented communities believe that each one has full control of their destiny. In a being oriented society, the members strain to understand the world and appreciate it instead of exploiting or changing it. The approach of time orientation compares future orientation and short term orientation. Future-oriented societies are healthy psychologically, and people often feel in control of their time (Leach et al., 2017). Guye comes from a long-term oriented society and has impacted her significantly. The decision to pursue post-graduate studies was influenced by the long-term oriented society greatly. Societies whose members are short-term oriented are usually focused on the present and past and has little concern for the future. The autonomy versus embeddedness approach focuses on compares an autonomous culture that encourages people to cultivate and express their ideas while embeddedness encourages collectivity and treats people as a group.

Strategy for Communication

To effectively communicate the cross (gospel) message, I will consider the collectivism approach, where sharing is highly valued. I will use the discussion approach since we discuss a lot of issues together. I will communicate in English since I am not competent in speaking in Amharic. Based on their mystic approach in religious culture, I will explain how supernatural forces affected man's relationship with God and explain to her concerning God's plan for salvation and how it was achieved.

God’s Story

Creation

On the first day, God created light and darkness. On the second day, the sky was separated from the earth. On the third day, the water bodies were separated from dry land, and trees and plants were created. On the fourth day, the heavenly bodies were made. On the fifth day, sea creatures, flying animals, and all other animals were created. On the sixth day, God created man in His likeness, and on the seventh day, God rested.

Fall-sin

Man and woman were created in the likeness of God and were placed in the Garden of Eden. They were commanded to eat fruits from all trees apart from the middle one. However, Satan disguised himself as a serpent and deceived Eve to eat the fruit in the middle. Eve shared the fruit with Adam, and this was an act of disobedience. They were banished from the Garden of Eden and thus the fall of man.

Promise-covenant

It began with the call of Abraham, where God promised to make him the father of nations. His descendants were promised the land of Canaan after years of slavery in Egypt. The healing and mending of God's relationship and his children would start by setting them free from slavery and entering the promised land for them to be established again.

Prophecies

Prophet Isaiah prophesied that the sign of a messiah would be a virgin woman giving birth to a son, and he would be called Immanuel. Prophet Jeremiah prophesied that a righteous branch would come from the house of David. The branch would be a king who would reign with wisdom and would be just.

Virgin birth

The NIV Bible (2014) states that Mary and Joseph had gone to Bethlehem in Judea for the census as the law required them. There was no empty room, and therefore Jesus was born in a manger. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger. The angel of God and announced the birth of Jesus to them.

Incarnation

The incarnation of Jesus is that God took the form of a man by becoming man for salvation. The conception of Jesus was by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Deity

The deity consists of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The three persons exist as one person. God, the father, created the world, God the Son brought salvation, and God the Holy Spirit acts as a counselor and comforter to the disciples.

Jesus’ life

Jesus was brought up by his parents and was loved by both God and men. At the age of 12 years, he went to church as his age mates, and He was talking with the teachers at the temple. Jesus was later baptized by John the Baptist and later went to the wilderness to fast where the devil tempted him. Jesus performed many miracles in his lifetime.

Jesus’ death

Judas, who was a disciple of Jesus, betrayed him with a kiss. Jesus was beaten and forced to carry his cross to the garden of Gethsemane for crucification. He was crucified together with two thieves, and after his death, darkness filled the day, and the curtain at the temple tore into two parts.

Resurrection

On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead. Mary and Mary Magdalene had gone to his tomb where they found the stone on the tom's entrance were rolled. They became the first witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus. He later appeared to his disciples, where Thomas doubted his resurrection, but Jesus showed him his marks.

Ascension

Jesus led his Bethany out to Bethany and lifted his hands, and blessed them. As he was blessing them, he ascended into heaven as the disciples worshipped him. The disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

Return

Jesus will come again to judge the living the dead. The day of his return is not known, and he will come like a thief. It will be a day of sorrow, pain, and judgment for the lost but a day full of happiness for the faithful.

Reconciliation

Jesus reconciled the human race to God by offering us forgiveness of our sins. The church's curtain tore into half and signified that the barrier of sins between humans and God was removed.

Kingship

Jesus is seated at the right hand of God and reigns with him. The kingship of Christ is Jesus, who is the messiah and refers to intercession and the session of Christ.

References

Caunenco, I. (2018). Ethnic identity and cultural value orientations of Moldavian youth in a transitional society. Societies and Political Orders in Transition, 259-279. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72616-8_15

Livermore, D. (2015). Leading with cultural intelligence (2nd ed.)

Leach, E. C., & Gore, J. S. (2017). The link between time orientation and religious orientation among American College students. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 20(2), 154-161. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2017.1329286

NIV Bible (2014, October 9). https://www.thenivbible.com