Mickey D's, Peruvian Style

There's a McDonald's right next to the cinema where we do church on Sundays. Actually, there are probably more than 20 McDonald's in and around Lima, Peru, and they seem to do a pretty good business. The McDonald's right next to our cinema does a particularly great business on Sundays, after our services are over, since hundreds of people are spilling out of the cinema at about noontime, hungry and looking for lunch, and the Golden Arches are right next door. It works out quite nicely for Ronald McDonald & Co. on Sundays next door to us.

Of course, you are all familiar with McDonald's, no matter where in the world you are doing church or ministry.

You all are very familiar with McDonald's, the most successful fast food franchise in the world, and a place where you can get great fried chicken, fried yuca, and Inca Kola.

What?

You say that you can't get fried chicken, fried yuca, or Inca Kola at your local Mickey D's? They only have Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, and great fries?

What McDonald's has done in Lima, and very successfully so, is to integrate the franchise with Peruvian food culture. So, of course, you can walk into any of the Golden Arches in Lima and wolf down a Big Mac, or a Quarter Pounder, or large fries, and they all taste exactly the same as they do in the USA, or anywhere else, but McDonald's also has added items to their Lima menu that specifically appeal to Peruvian taste buds, such as fried chicken (chicken is more popular than beef in Peru), fried yuca (somewhat like french fries, but not exactly the same), and Inca Kola (the #1 soda in Peru).

Any McDonald's in Lima is about 95% the same as any McDonald's in the USA or anywhere else in the world, particularly in terms of look, environment, and taste, but McDonald's also has smartly left a little room to integrate Peruvian food culture into their franchises, and this has worked to their benefit and bottom line.

How can you follow this model in your international church or ministry? While you may have certain beliefs, rules, regulations, norms, and traditions that are non-negotiable, how can you integrate your local culture more, in order to give more local flavor to what you are doing?

Doing so will benefit your church or ministry, no matter where you are in the world.

If McDonald's can do it, then so can you, and so should you.