Now that I am home in southern Mexico again after a summer
of fund raising partnership development, I’d like to continue the discussion
from last week on the shift in the English language and how some words are
taboo and new ones are deemed appropriate.
We used to laugh at a notorious old linguist here in Oaxaca
who would purposely cling to old vocabulary no longer in use. He would talk about visiting “the
tribe” (instead of the language group) and about working with his “informant”
(instead of language associate).
All the while I was snickering at him, some of you were
maybe cringing to read all the posts where I continue using the outmoded term
“missionary.”
After talking with some women who frankly don’t read this
IRL blog, I concede that it’s time I change my vocabulary and clean up
my act if I intend to be an encouragement to women of the harvest whose internet connections are not secure, and
where eyes might be snooping to see what websites you are accessing.
More and more brave souls are now branching out to work
among people whose lives would be in jeopardy if they associated with people
known to be (whispered)
missionaries. That alone is reason to tread softly in
identifying ourselves with that word.
Another thing is that on the field, the translated
equivalent of the “M” word is associated with Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons,
not necessarily with evangelical “C’s.”
It’s becoming necessary to clear up any confusion there.
This has been an eye-opener for me. What I envision
when I hear the “M” word is not at all what other people see in their
minds. When I was growing up, my
heart was tugged to serve God in a radical way outside the U.S. because of
stories I heard from missionaries who proudly wore the label missionary.
Nowadays younger recruits are shunning the “M” word in favor
of other more relevant terms that are less obvious. In order to attract these hip new global workers, we should
tread softly over the “M” word and start using language that better reflects
the work they will be doing overseas.
So, what is the word you prefer?
IRL: I’m
willing to join the young folks and drop the moniker of missionary if someone will just tell me what to
call myself now.
No idea what to call us, but you are right in that the M word has all sorts of negative connotations back home. I remember joining a gym last home assignment and one of the joining questions was about my job. I innocently said "M..." and the trainer was really taken aback. It took quite a number of weeks for her to lose her suspicion of me as a very weird member of the human race! I'm lucky in that my husband is a teacher at an international school, so very often I just use that as a description of what we do. I'm also a magazine editor, but that also provokes interesting reactions. If people probe more deeply the M word usually comes out, however.
ReplyDeleteSo true. I try to maneuver my way out of using the word when I'm traveling or else it stops all conversation dead. People stateside do tend to think we are weird, but that's okay. (Some of us really are weird.) It's the overseas connotation that concerns me more.
DeleteWhat do you mean by the "overseas connotation"?
DeleteI find it disturbing that people who don't go outside their own country can call themselves "missionary."
I just mean the way we refer to ourselves in our host country (to not be confused with JW or Mormons) as opposed to what people in the U.S. think of the word "missionary."
DeleteYes, and there is that added twist that nowadays people call themselves missionaries when they live and work in the U.S. "Women serving cross-culturally" is a distinction WOTH has used.
But..... you **ARE** a Missionary!
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/MKZSqd5Y8nA
What movie is that clip from? :)
DeleteSo true, I "am" a missionary, and I've always worn that label openly, but there is danger for people associated with "missionaries" in areas where believers are persecuted.
We need to be more discrete, and if changing our title (even the name of our organization?) might help those in creative access countries, then I'm open to change.
Thanks for this post! I work in a country where the "M" word means you're a terrorist and want to overthrow the government!!!! (slight exaggeration, but not much.) My own children did not know we were "M"'s for the first 5 years we were in country.
ReplyDeleteIn our country, we use the word "worker," but that is in country jargon. I use cross-cultural servant on my blog, but I'm not entirely happy with that either. I'll be looking at the comments to see if there are other suggestions!
Thanks, Olive. I was hoping you would join the discussion. Folks in Latin America are a bit behind on the times, *cough* but this is an important issue for many of you.
DeleteHow about "Disciples"? It is scriptural, it is accurate and true no matter where on the globe we are.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else? I don't know....
DeleteI personally don't have issues with the M word. But when I think about it, if I'm introducing myself to strangers I usually describe what I do. Since I'm in the medical field I usually start out talking about my medical work in a rural village in Africa. I'm looking forward to seeing other comments on this topic as I'd like to get more up to date with the terminology!
ReplyDeleteIf only we were all teachers, technicians, medical people, or had easily defined occupations.
DeleteLast spring at missions week at church the missionaries were called "international workers", but I didn't really like it. I'd say if we are in place where you can safely say the "m" word, then say it! If not, then just describe what you or your husband do. :-)
ReplyDeleteWe can safely say it here, but what about my readers? Are they safe to access a blog that is liberally sprinkled with the "M" word?
DeleteI'm asking because this blog as we know it, will only continue through the end of this year. After that, I am pondering the wisdom of having a more reader-friendly blog like The Yellow Dress Girl, who carefully avoided hot terms that Big Brother might have intercepted.
Working as I do in a country in which is is normal and accepted to use Religious/Christian/Biblical/ (I don't even know the correct term for these) terms, but where I have have lived in extreme isolation, I really appreciate being able to have a safe place to go to to share struggles and hear what God is doing in other women's lives. I'd be sad therefore if this and other blogs like it disappeared. I know that there are many women who can't speak openly, and need to have a forum to write in a guarded way, but where we don't need to do that, I think it's important to be able to write openly. That's especially true as those in our home countries become more hostile to (or lacking in understanding of) our words. I doubt that a "one size fits all" blog is the solution.
DeleteJenni (PNG)
Thanks for this insight. Maybe a better solution would be to find another blogger like Sarah who will write from her corner of the world, sharing the unique struggles of not being able to be open about matters of faith. I'm listening....
DeleteI'd feel so happy and safe in a church that called us all "international workers"! What a relief that would be! It would tell me that perhaps they get it, and I don't have to stop by the sound booth and make sure they didn't record our section to put on the internet. I wouldn't have to tell people, "please, please, do not take pictures, even if you love our outfits, and do not post our photos on your facebook." It would be wonderful to go to a church that you have some idea that they might understand in a small part the reality we live with every day, and have come up with a better option than that dreaded "M" word which can get people killed or kicked out.
DeleteWe were missionaries in Eastern Europe for seven years and have now been back living in Australia, our "home" country for the last five years. I have always used the word "missionaries" to describe us, but now that you mention it, many people don't know quite what to do with us when we say that, and I'm talking mostly about Christians. Attitudes seemed to have changed and we really have battled to fit back into Western culture.
ReplyDeleteNice to "meet" you, Linda. That "fitting back into Western culture" is a whole other topic, but yeah....
DeleteWhen talking to C's, I will say 'we want to do M work' and they understand totally, but when talking to non-C's, I will say 'we want to do international humanitarian work' because the term 'm' tends for them to think that we are taking western ideals over to other lands to press them on the native people there, and to force others to follow JC - which, of course, is not what WE think being a M is!!
ReplyDeleteHi, DoulaDownSouth. It's interesting how many of you are responding to the stateside dilemma of what to call ourselves. That's an issue, too. Hmmm.
DeleteSo is there not some generic term we could adopt for our blogs that would protect our readers? We're not all doing humanitarian work, per se.
I just say what we do: Professor, school administrator. A friend says he is in the communication field.
ReplyDeleteAgain, these work well, but I'm looking for a generic term. I think some are leaning toward "global workers." Do y'all like that?
DeleteI liked both the "global workers" and "ex-pat" ideas. I'll continue pondering, but that is a bit of a tough one!
DeleteHow about "Ex-pats"? :)
ReplyDeleteCan I be totally off topic here? Well, not completely, because this popped into my head at the first sentence you wrote. Yesterday I was talking to an older woman (who, incidentally, is a former ex-pat)and she asked about my children. After we discussed them I asked about hers. She cheerfully told me that her son was divorced and was a "gay bachelor"!! I, naturally, had quite a picture in my head. She continued to tell me that he travels and has girlfriends all over the place. :) Her 'gay' and my 'gay' are totally opposite things!
Thank you for allowing this rabbit trail.
I love rabbit trails from "unknown" people. :) That's funny. I was just telling my kids about a neighbor of mine when I was young. Her name was Mary Gay. Isn't that sweet? It was a sad day when we were all informed to no longer call her that. She's just plain Mary to this day, I am sure. Such a shame!
DeleteEx-pat doesn't quite work, since all foreigners use that, believers and non-believers alike. We want something at least remotely descriptive. Then again "global" doesn't imply Christian either.
Actually, "ex-pats" is something we call ourselves. Usually we know from context whether we are "ex-pats" or just anybody.
DeleteI use ‘living cross-culturally’ a lot, but that is more about our lifestyle than any ‘job’. Carl Medearis’ book, ‘Speaking of Jesus’ was powerful in our life and discusses all these issues. When asked this same question, Mr. Medearis gave this answer, “We are people trying to follow Jesus”. A little longer than a one word title, and it might involve a bit more conversation – but I don’t think that’s a bad thing ;-)
ReplyDeleteI just clicked on your name and was directed to your blog. (I left you a comment over there, too.) "People trying to follow Jesus" is a good concept, but still would be dangerous in a country where that's not encouraged. In the U.S. that would not distinguish us from the rest of the American church. Still, I like it as a concept for myself to keep in mind.
DeleteI like the term global outreach worker for use on my blog. I personally cringe when I am referred to by someone else as an "M" because our foreign exposure began in a country where we were told the word is absolutely a no-no. Even though we are in an open country now, I'm leaning toward global worker, and sometimes adding the word outreach for those who identify with that term and function. Now that I am finally living cross-culturally instead of just trying to get here... that may be a phrase that b/c more a part of my vocabulary going forward.
ReplyDeleteAh, so at least one person relates to the "cringe" factor in being referred to as an "M." Global Outreach Worker sounds like a good one.
DeleteWe've usually called ourselves either a generic "worker" when talking among ourselves "over there", or other times just "expats", but you're right that "expat" can be used to identify foreigners who are not "m"s. So at times to clarify, we might say someone is an "expat worker". If questioned on it, we can simply say "Worker? That means they work overseas." (As opposed to what? Tourist?) But it has been the language of the closed countries we've been in. There are many other code words that we'd use to identify ourselves to ourselves or to clarify what other people are, but without any need to see those used, I wouldn't put them into print.
ReplyDeleteNow that we've been "over here" for a few years, we've reverted to at times calling ourselves missionaries because otherwise people in churches just don't get it, but when we lived "over there", we tried really hard NOT to call ourselves that in a church or in public. Two reasons - one, you get used to the word, and it will slip out. Kids - they'll forget. And its those lovely helpful, kind people who write and tell you they are praying for their missionaries in their missionary work... sigh... So we avoided it in churches, too, trying hard to teach people to just call us "workers". We are. Fellow workers together in the harvest.
Even Global Outreach Worker would be too much for some countries. And, yes, our kids had no idea what we did when they were little, not until we got home. Our cover story was also what we told them, and that was ok in the toddler age.
But I think you will have a hard time training people enough to make a site like this safe for workers in closed countries. People in South America also can live in danger, but it is in a different way from a different source. The learning curve is so high, and its hard to explain enough to make something where the public can post safe enough.
This was VERY helpful. Thanks so much for taking time to type it up (and fight with the "prove you are not a robot" security code). Hopefully WOTH will leave this site "active" as it is even if/when we move on to a different format.
DeleteI just call myself a volunteer. By the fact that not so many people would work for "no salary" helps interested people open a little bit more asking questions about why i do what i do. For those not interested or for govt people it is a bland word that is easily dismissed...at least in our area.....interesting conversation here!
ReplyDeleteVolunteer is a good neutral word. Thanks for adding your input.
DeleteI'm a bit late joining in this discussion but here goes.
ReplyDeleteI never knew "missionary" was a problem but I guess I can see how it would be in some countries. We've never sensed any difficulty in calling ourselves that. However, if I were to choose another term I'd prbly use what Jesus called His workers: "laborers". Maybe Gospel laborers or workers would be good. Or are we trying to get rid of any spiritual sound? I guess I'm a bit confused!