BGMC

Some of you may be familiar with a children's church program called BGMC, an acronym for Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge. The leader of the program will pick a different country every session (whether it be weekly, monthly, etc.) and describe to the children what's going on in the country. From popular foods to social issues faced in the country, it's actually a pretty cool way to get kids interested in other cultures.

However, this lovely program has a surprisingly destructive caveat.

You see, the focus is mainly on problems faced in a particular country, and what missionaries are doing to solve these. Learning about feeding the hungry and helping impoverished children go to school is wonderful, don't get me wrong, but it warps perspectives. Only
seeing this side of things can cause a child to be oblivious to the similarities held among people groups around the world, and to view other cultures with negativity. Seeing children in Ethiopia who live in garbage dumps can make the people of the country seem primitive.


As someone who's grown up with BGMC, I can honestly say that if it weren't for this program, I probably wouldn't have decided to study Intercultural Studies in college. There are some amazing benefits of learning about the rest of the world, including knowing facts about countries your peers have never even heard of. And, to be perfectly honest, there is an amount of knowledge about cultural differences which can be incredibly useful to know when dealing with someone of said culture. However, it would not be beneficial to anybody to pretend that there aren't any problems with the aftereffects of not only BGMC, but also potential repercussions from other programs teaching about other cultures in schools, communities, and anywhere else.

My family recently began hosting foreign exchange students. First from Spain, then from Mexico. One of the things which surprised me was how normal these people were. Average teenagers like myself. They listened to some of the same music as I, and loved hanging out with friends and getting coffee and so many other entirely normal things. Sure, there were cultural differences to learn about, but one thing appears to be the same across national and geographic borders: human nature.
People value relationships everywhere. Though different people have different standards for how affection is expressed, the core feelings are the same. Love doesn't have to be expressed with bouquets and chocolates to be valid.

Teenagers experience the emotions of growing up all around the world. Insecurities as their bodies change, the beginnings of understanding physical attraction, worry about belonging and being accepted. Competing with each other in games and giggling about who you find attractive are things which are not unique to typical western, first-world culture. It's important that when teaching children about cultural differences, we also teach them about the similarities. We are all human beings, and there are things which have connected us since the beginning of time. Growing up in a different environment with different resources and expectations can change a lot, but not everything.

I think that what doesn't change is more important than what does.