Urban Leadership Foundation

BONDING, and the Missionary Task

Establishing a Sense of Belonging

E. THOMAS AND ELIZABETH S. BREWSTER

Some quotes from: Brewster, E. T. & E. S. (1982). Bonding and the Missionary Task. Pasadena, CA, Lingua House.

In the animal world it is called imprinting. Most of us remember the picture in our college psychology books of the Nobel Prize winning naturalist Konrad Lorenz being followed by his ducklings. At the critical time, right after hatching, Lorenz and the ducklings were alone together and, from then on, they responded to him as though he were their parent. The imprinted duck experiences a sense of belonging to the man.

In summary, we have observed that the newcomer goes through a critical time for establishing his sense of identity and belonging during his first few weeks in a new country. If he becomes a belonger with expatriates he may always remain a foreigner and outsider. But at this crucial time he has the unique opportunity to establish himself as a belonger with insiders, in order to live and learn and minister within their social context.

_______________________________________________________________________

The authors were language/culture learning consultants and assistant professors (part-time) of Language and Culture Acquisition at The School of World Mission of Fuller Seminary (135 N. Oakland Avenue) in Pasadena, California. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona; she earned hers at the University of Texas. They are the authors of how-to materials for learning languages: LAMP - Language Acquisition Made Practical, and LEARN! - Language Exploration & Acquisition Resource Notebook!.