By Neil Rendall
(geared toward use at InterVarsity events)
In order to meet the needs of students from diverse ethnic backgrounds, we staff of the dominant Western culture must be willing to change. We must be willing to change our attitudes, environment, worldview, and perspective of what is valuable (right) and what is not valuable (wrong).
What must we do to make the setting and environment safe and comfortable for our minority students placed in our dominant cultural setting? Truthful answers to this question will require extra effort and energy on our part.
A few suggestions that I think will take us in the right direction:
1. As you recruit minority students, tell them what they can expect to experience at the event and what they may find relationally difficult. Use students and/or student testimonies from similar backgrounds in recruitment. These students can help explain what the event was like for them. Try to recruit friendship clusters of minority students — so they have a safe place to turn during activities.
2. Talk to students about the worship experience. It might have been very different from what is "normal" for them.
3. For some urban students out of Hispanic and Asian backgrounds, this event may be their first experience in staying overnight in a home other than their own or that of a relative. Discuss this with them. When housing students, pair them with the person that brought them.
4. Who students see up front is vitally important. If the student group attending the weekend is ethnically mixed, then bring in a mixed team of staff and volunteers to lead singing, announcements, talks, small groups, recreation, and testimonies. Students need people with whom they can identify and know it is OK for them to be there.
5. Music is a big challenge. It may take you years to develop a multi-ethnic worship service that really honors all who come. That's OK…just keep working at it.
a. Count the languages represented by the students participating in the event. If possible, sing a song in each of those languages. See that it's well-taught. You'll be amazed at the number of languages, from Swedish to Spanish to Japanese. After such a service, one student's response was, "It was the first time anyone has honored me like this."
b. Use solos, choirs, and Scripture songs to affirm the variety of worship forms. Tell people it's OK to raise their hands, clap, dance, or be reserved.
6. Go talk with students who are in the minority. Never assume that everything is OK. Go and find out how they feel — be a learner with them. Encourage them to verbalize their feelings and responses. This may relieve some of the pressure they feel.
7. In your teaching, challenge dominant viewpoints. Help students explore truth from another cultural perspective. Realize that we all speak from what seems normal for us. Someone from another culture might see the situation very differently. Humor helps! Humility also helps.
8. Be willing to learn by trial and error. (It's scary.) Be willing to be wrong, accept criticism, change, affirm, be flexible, and listen a lot.
9. Have fun exploring the wonderful diversity of God's people. Help students enjoy their diversity as well.
