Truthfully my first thought was quite selfish, two weeks of pay without work sounds awesome I�ll do it! At that point, I didn�t know what I was getting myself into. As I packed my bag and said my goodbye�s to my
As we got deeper into the training, the more difficult and uncomfortable the training became since it involved what I would call �exposing our innards�. These instructors were destined to expose each student as far as what their racial prejudices, biases, and preconceptions we had about ourselves. I specifically recall an activity called the �fish bowl� where two individuals would sit in the middle, as others would encircle around you. The purpose of the activity was to express your truth feelings, perceptions and much more about the person that was inside of the fish bowl with you. This activity was quite intense since sometimes you would hear things (sometimes truthful) about yourself that you didn�t really want to hear as well as share your thoughts to the person about them.
This training consisted of activities, videos, booklets, and test and guest speakers. All in all, I started to learn a lot of things about myself that I didn�t like and wanted to change. I didn�t realize how many prejudices I had that I wasn�t even aware of! I discovered that deep inside I had issues with white males, African Americans and even my own race Latinos. I was feeling ashamed and yet some of these preconceptions I had were on the subconscious level. These things that I discovered about myself were mainly learned behaviors from my family, the media, friends and environment. I was at the point that I wanted to change! I was feeling like I was deceived and that angered me.
I also realized that I couldn�t be an effective Christian that could show the love of Jesus Christ thru me if I had these prejudices against others. This was preventing the love of Christ to fully show and work itself thru me. I believe that I had a �Peter experience� the disciple of Jesus Christ, Peter said In the Bible, in the book of Acts chapter 10 verse 34 when he came upon the realization that God doesn�t show favoritism toward his creation. � �34Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism".
I learned that becoming a Christian doesn�t mean that our stereotypes and racial prejudices are instantly removed from our lives. Sometimes Christians say that they are beyond this level of prejudice etc but unless they truly expose these feelings by digging out this way of thinking and recognize where they originated from and finally acknowledge them, then can they only can we start the process of change. Unfortunately, sometimes we don�t see that we have prejudices and stereotypes by ourselves, this sometimes requires some form of godly revelation, others telling us or training.
In conclusion, although this cultural diversity training was one of the most uncomfortable and emotionally strenuous experiences I had, it was also a momentous time in my life because it opened the doors to a deeper level of relationship with all kinds of people. By acknowledging my stereotypes I was able to set them aside and work closer with people that God wants me to minister to without any barriers. I was able to take this training not only my place of employment but I was also able to share it with my children. I am now able to be more sensitive to others that are being discriminated and in turn help them because of it. I believe that this type of training, although provided to my by my employer was actually ordained by God to make me a better servant for his glorious plan.
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route to the Garden of Gethsemane)