Can you imagine yourself riding in an air conditioned bus along a perfectly paved road and then

all of a sudden, the road breaks and becomes dirt. Theres trash everywhere and little kids are running
beside your bus with tears streaming down their faces begging you for food. Can you imagine the way
you would feel about these people? Would you want to help them? I do. Im extremely passionate about
global mission work, and I want to tell you about who missionaries are and give you a description of the
work they do. I also want to describe the global mission field culture using a few of Hofsteeds
dimensions.
The global mission field is filled with people from all over the world. Global missionaries are
people who love to serve others. They put others needs before their own because they have a heart for
helping people. There are not many requirements when it comes to being a missionary. Anyone can
become a missionary! Men and women both are both very involved in this form of work. The global
mission culture is an extremely feminine culture. Both men and women can be leaders in this field, and
gender roles tend to overlap when it comes to teamwork on mission teams. Liz Kunz, missions director
at Southland Christian Church, explained that men and women almost always will be working with each
other in teams on the mission field. She also explained that men and women are rewarded for showing
both masculine and feminine characteristics. An example of masculine characteristics is being a leader
and showing strength and an example of feminine characteristics is being nurturing and loving. The
global mission field was not always a feminine culture. In fact, it used to be the opposite. Women,
especially single women, were looked down upon in the mission field, but after reading Making Sense
of Martha: Single Women and Mission Work, I see that people came to realize that women were
needed to reach other women and their children on the mission field. Now, men and women are
essential to reaching and serving unreached people around the world. Each gender plays specific and
important roles in the global mission field.

The next Hofsteeds dimension that I want to cover is Monochronic vs. Polychronic. The global
mission field is a very polychronic culture. In the global mission field, time is a continuous flow.
Missionaries usually live in the country they work in, so they have to be prepared to work at all times.
Global missionaries are people who have to be comfortable with doing multiple things at one time. They
are selfless in the ways that they serve people and making time to do everything that needs to be done
is hard, so multitasking is an important skill for a missionary. After reading Mission Fruit the story of a
man who did missions in California in the late 1700s, I can see that people in the global missionary
workplace are comfortable and have been comfortable with multitasking for a long time. This man was
in charge of construction projects, agriculture projects, evangelism, and teaching language all at the
same time. In the global mission workplace culture, relationships are valued more than anything else.
Deadlines are less important to missionaries than relationships with people, so they are likely to
disregard deadlines if they weaken relationships. Missionaries have to be flexible with time and
deadlines. Interruptions in this culture are considered annoying but natural. Working with people in a
different country is hard, especially if there is a language barrier. Interruptions from weather to illnesses
are annoying but common, there is no way to avoid them. Missionaries use these interruptions to
further develop their relationships with people.
The last Hofsteeds dimension I want to talk about is Individualism vs. Collectivism. The global
missionary workplace culture is a mix of both individualism and collectivism. One of the individualistic
characteristics of this workplace culture is the way conflict is dealt with. Conflict is confronted directly
and promptly in this culture. Liz Kunz explained to me that conflict is dealt with in ways that preserve
relationships with people and that help each person grow a bit more spiritually and as a person in
general. Growing as a person is important to missionaries. Growing in a spiritual way is important to
them if the mission work they are doing is for religious reasons. Liz Kunz explained that is important for
people to value themselves and succeed in their work so that they can further their relationships with

people and with God. Now for the collectivistic aspects of this culture. The primary value of this culture
is placed on the well-being of the group instead of ones own self-interest. Relationships are extremely
important to missionaries because they want to help people grow in their faith and help them learn
skills that are important to their lives, like Martha did in Making Sense of Martha. Decisions are made
by the group and for the groups best interest. Each group members opinion is valued and important to
other group members. Another collectivistic aspect of this culture is that missionaries value working well
with others. Missionaries almost never work alone, they work in teams and with people that they may
not know. Missionaries place a high value on cooperation and teamwork. Maintaining harmony in the
group is important because you live with most of the people that you are working or teaming with.
Ive told you about who missionaries are and what they do. Missionaries work in a very feminine
culture where men and women value relationships very much. A missionarys main goal is to develop
and maintain relationships with people. They work in teams most of the time and try to help people
grow spiritually and help provide for their physical needs as well. Next time youre driving in your air
conditioned car or sleeping in your soft bed, I hope that you will think of those little kids running beside
the bus crying and begging for food. I hope that by learning a little bit more about the global missionary
workplace culture that you are more interested in mission work and possibly will want to go on a
mission trip yourself.