Mario Melendez

Third Culture Faithful

Empowered Ministry for Multi-Ethnic Believers and Congregations

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

An engaging introduction to the experiences of multi-ethnic believers and a path by which to increase engagement and service to these diverse communities, this book is an inspiring call to action for all church leaders to harness the power of the third culture faithful in their midsts.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Seitenzahl: 154
• Erscheinungstermin: 15. Dezember 2020
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 9mm
• Gewicht: 234g
• ISBN-13: 9781538147269
• ISBN-10: 1538147262
• Artikelnr.: 60072452

Autorenporträt

By Mario Melendez

Inhaltsangabe

Descriptive Outline
Introduction
The introduction will highlight the noted division of the church in 1960
and the continued division in 2019. Second, I will introduce the statistics
of immigration, interracial marriage, and trans-racial adoption. Third, I
will propose reaching these Third-Culture Kid's as a "Timothy" for the sake
of growing and healing the church. To support the data, I will integrate
stories of conversations between ministers of varying ethnicities, couples
with mixed children, and TCK ministers. I will give my personal life story
and the stories of many other third culture people, to reveal the
ministerial struggles and the ministerial potential of this growing segment
of the population.
The Psychology of Third Culture Syndrome
In the 1950's John and Ruth Useem, after studying the children of expat
Americans, proposed the term "Third culture Kid and Third Culture
Syndrome." In this chapter I will quickly survey the history of third
culture syndrome, and the major markers. These markers not only highlight
who has the psychological third culture syndrome, but also introduce the
benefits and challenges of living with third culture syndrome.
Your Third Culture Parishioner
Moving from the psychological study, consideration will be given to common
home life, language, and thinking attributes of the TCK. The aim of this
chapter is to give stories and testimonies of how preconceived notions can
quite often be wrong. Furthermore, these stories will help the reader to
grow empathy for those stuck in the third culture.
Your Ministry for the Third Culture Kid
In this chapter Paul's ministry to Timothy (a half Jewish & half Greek
disciple) will provide application for the modern church. The aim of this
chapter is to utilize social-scientific criticism as a means of inspecting
Paul's ministry to Timothy, a half Jewish & Greek disciple, as an
application for modern ministry to TCK's.[1] First, an inspection into
Paul's willingness to take on a disciple of mixed background should inspire
monoethnic ministers to seek out such disciples (Acts 16:1-5). Second,
Paul's advocation of Timothy to the churches should inspire ministers to
advocate for the third cultured who often do not fully fit into the norm of
many churches or organizations (1 Cor 4:16-17, Phil 2:19-24). Likewise,
Paul's advocation to Timothy to be more "Jewish," should encourage
ministers to help the TKC to be proud of their cultures and to serve those
they represent (Acts 16:3).
Making the Most of the Third Culture Kid
The final chapter is a reflection upon Paul's statement in 1 Cor 9:22 where
he declared that he "became all things to all men, so as to reach some." As
I matured in the faith and in biblical studies, I realized that God made
TCK's, like me, the embodiment of Paul's statement. This chapter is a call
for ministries to understand and seek out third culture kids to serve as
ministers. This also is a call for third culture ministers to be proud of
their cultures and to serve those they represent.
Points of Application
The conclusion reflects upon the previous stories and data for the purpose
of providing a quick survey of application points. Furthermore, this
section should aid those who return to the text for quick reflection.
[1] Stanley E. Porter, ed., Dictionary of Biblical Criticism and
Interpretation (New York: Routledge, 2007), 337-40.