"Redemption and Lift": How Missions Helped Me as an Occupational Therapist (Part 2)

One day, I would like to conduct a research study on worship as an area of occupation. I think worship should be in a separate category from all the other daily living activities because it is actually the foundation of all human activity. Even atheists participate in religious traditions that form their cultural identities, especially in East Asia. 

Who you worship and how you worship influences how you perform all the other areas of occupation. For example, I attended an Evangelical church during my childhood. It impacted not just my engagement in the spiritual disciplines. The late senior pastor of that former church was actually the strongest influence on many of my life choices such as career, specialty in occupational therapy (OT), graduate degree, Chinese language learning, diet, love for coffee shops, appreciation for K-pop, and even the sport that I like (arnis). One of his benchmarks for this application of a Biblical worldview was the work ethic preached by Korean missionaries. 

A mission field for every Christ follower

Each area of occupation consists of several activities that are necessary for us to fulfill our roles in the community. In the Evangelical world, one of the activities that fall under “worship” is missions. If there is a daily living activity that has revolutionized and will continue to transform the world, it is missions. Missions is the proclamation of God’s glory and His Kingdom to the nations through church planting and Biblical teaching. There are two kinds of missionary endeavors: cross-cultural and indigenous. Cross-cultural missions involves sending missionaries to engage people groups with cultural backgrounds that are different from those of the missionaries. In indigenous missions, missionaries minister to people who share their culture.

Every Christian is called to be involved in missions. Some are meant to become career missionaries. On the other hand, some are called to support missionaries in different capacities as well as serve the people in their spheres of influence. It is tempting to put “professional missions” on a pedestal by considering other careers and ministries as inferior to it or as mere tools for church planting. The truth is that the Biblical principles taught by missionaries will create impact only when their fellow believers apply them in every aspect of their lives to glorify God, which we call “missional living”. Hence, my former late senior pastor made sure to teach that even seemingly secular activities — from being a healthcare worker to playing sports — will have positive spiritual impact when accomplished to advance God’s Kingdom. 

The false god that almost made me quit OT

One of the biggest criticisms against missions is that it became a tool for colonialism that led to the oppression of many. Because this is a valid point to a great extent, missionaries have rightfully recalibrated to assimilating as much as possible to their host cultures. Yet there is a delicate balance to maintain. Adopting morally neutral cultural expressions and contextualizing Biblical teachings in a way that makes them clearer to the hearers are crucial for effectiveness in serving others. But if you will take that to the extreme, missionaries might end up adapting to the culture so much that the churches end up imbibing even the corrupt aspects of society instead of being the salt and light in it.

For example, Filipinos worship their families. The majority may not offer food to their ancestors but they will surely sacrifice their lives for their relatives’ desires no matter how stupid or immoral those might be. If missionaries are going to fully adapt to this aspect of Philippine culture, we’re all going to become drug mules and human traffickers to provide for our families! A hyperbole, yes, but many Filipinos have indeed become pimps and drug pushers to earn a living for their loved ones.

This was the toxic mindset that almost made me quit OT. You see, I left for Canada for a few months after getting my professional license. While I was there, I was beginning to think that it would be better for me to just take on any job even if it was a poor fit for me as long as I got to stay in Canada to earn dollars for my family. 

Thank God for the Canadian missions agency that I volunteered for, because the staff made me snap out of it! They corrected my mindset by simply explaining what indigenous missions is and by modeling the kind of person that I wanted to become. These Canadian missionaries earned very little, yet they were thriving, including their families. Moreover, the indigenous pastors who they supported were living a great adventure! They faced poverty and persecution on every side. But the lives of their people were changed for the better because God gave them the strength to be faithful. 

Christ Above Culture

On the other hand, many (not all) Filipinos ended up destroying their families and their own lives when they migrated to greener pastures. Some even ended up on death row because of drug smuggling! It made me realize that the best way to help your family is to follow where God leads, even if it means living in a poor country. That gave me the courage to return to the Philippines to practice OT even if it’s quite countercultural for a Filipino healthcare professional. I still wish to work in a more progressive country. But because my grandparents here in the Philippines needed me, I don’t regret giving up my Canadian permanent residency. Besides, my home country gives me a lot of great opportunities!

If my missionary friends compromised with the Philippines’ idolatry of the family because “it’s our culture”, I would’ve been reduced to a mere tool for funding my relatives’ vacation getaways or for bailing them out of drug offenses. I thank God that the missionaries proclaimed Biblical truths as supreme over cultural norms. Because of them, I developed a conviction that I’m a PERSON, not a cog in anyone’s wheel. That God gave me these professional skills, talents, and hobbies because He wants me to serve Him in His own way. There is no honor greater than that!