There it was again: the culture clash.
Yeah, I understand that you don’t like surprise changes in plans, I mentally retorted to my son.
When you’re scrambling to imagine life without something? When it’s important to you? Pack it.
Sure, there are many things you will learn to live without (see my next point) and there are some things you don’t want to have to live without.
It’s okay to have certain things that are your “items” that you bring with you. Your list of essentials might be different from mine. The point is everyone has certain things they don’t want to have to live without and that’s okay.
I’m going out on a limb here, so I’ll put some disclaimers up in advance.
This post points out bad aspects you’ll not hear us normally say. It doesn’t mean I’m unhappy or unfulfilled.
I know what the Bible says and can give a counterpoint to each of these. For example, when I share how we feel about shortchanging my children, I know that there are 100 positive things that people can point out to me.
photo credit IMB.org photo library
My husband and I sat with a friend who’d spent years in Japan as a businessman. (He helped me with Go. Serve. Love’s post, Unreached People Group Focus: Japanese.)
We spoke of the culture of conformity of the Japanese. And my friend related a proverb–loosely translated, “The nail that sticks up gets pounded down.”
During the month of August, Go. Serve. Love is stoked to share stories from All Nations, a global training and sending agency.
All Nation’s vision is to see Jesus worshiped by all the peoples of the earth. Their mission? To make disciples and train leaders to ignite church planting movements among the neglected peoples of the earth.
We talk a lot over here about what you wish you knew before you went overseas. We’ve called it a rabbit hole. So maybe it’s a little like The Matrix: Red pill? Blue Pill?
So I’ll tell you today what you might want to know: Going overseas will mark you indelibly.
Back when my husband and I were considering adoption in our host country, I wrote,
(If you’re interested, consider signing up for Shane’s Muslim Connect, a 300-word weekly email –with 2100 subscribers–helping Christians think about Muslims the way God does and love them like Jesus does.)
Shane explains, “I live to help people who love Jesus connect with people who’ve never heard of him.”