What is my White Picket Fence & Church with a Steeple?

I have been living in a culture that is not my own for almost 11 years. From the beginning, my wife and I resolved not only to follow God's call to this place but to do so without imposing our passport-culture's baggage in our host culture.

You see, when I was in high-school I saw part of a movie on TV that was based upon James Michener's Hawaii. I now realise that the book and movie were based upon Michener's own misunderstandings of the issues of cross-cultural workers and how they related to locals. However, the story of a missionary who isn't willing to pass the baton to the locals when the time comes has stuck with me since then. Stories also abound of how people bringing God's message of Good News also brought with them their own cultures and forced locals to wear clothes, build churches with nice steeples and white picket fences around them.

When my wife and I arrived here, we resolved to leave the cultural baggage behind, and instead just bring the message of God's love.

Easier said than done.

I recently realised that I am a cultural imperialist! Of course, my version of imperialism doesn't include clothing and white picket fences. It does, however, include an innate belief that the way I do things is better than the way things are done here. When people do things differently than I would and problems arise I have an immediate solution: Simply start doing things my way and all your problems will be solved! After all, isn't that what transformation is all about?

If my goal as an agent of transformation is not to transform culture then what is it? My wife's words were apropos: "You are here to glorify God."

The realised that the problem is that I am assuming that transformation means that all must embrace my culture. Rather I should assume that all must embrace my God and let the culture sort itself out.

What is your white picket fence and church with a steeple?