Baker Books, 2006, 187 pages, US $12.99,
www.bakerbooks.com
I was planning to visit Honduras this June to rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. But after reading Serving with Eyes Wide Open, I’ve started to wonder if this trip will take jobs away from Hondurans. Perhaps you’ve never looked at short-term missions this way. I didn’t.
Livermore’s aim is to provide the reader with a model for developing what he calls “cultural intelligence.” The book is packed with good facts, statistics, and resources for leaders of short-term trips.
His most unique contribution comes when confronting the American tendency to point to biblical principles as culturally transcendent. In other words, biblical principles apply to everyone exactly the same way we believe they apply to us. Or do they? Perhaps culture does — and should — impact how we read and apply Scripture to our lives. After all, are we that sure we have the right application for the host culture?
After finishing the book, I realized that I couldn’t take a job away from a Honduran just to go on a trip and that I needed to spend time talking with Honduran believers about how best to minister in their culture. We could all use more cultural intelligence, and Serving with Eyes Wide Open is a great place to start.
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Review by: MATTHEW MONBERG is a freelance writer in Denver, Colorado.
