UGANDA LESSONS: New Cultures are Strange

New Cultures are STRANGE

"How long do your winters last?" The question was posed by a young man at the Bugongi Secondary School. "Well, in America, they differ depending on the region. For instance, the Housers who live in New York and Karen Hawks who lives in Pennsylvania..." I turned to Dean and asked him the question. He replied, "from October through March." "However the Swaydens and the Nederhoff's live in the New Mexico desert, and their winter is..." Again, I turned for guidance. "About 3 months" was Randy's reply. "Our winter in Chattanooga is about the same as theirs." I replied.

The faces on the students were riddled with confusion. One young man spoke up. "Then what do you do for food?" Another asked, "What do you do, do you just sit at home?" As I fielded these questions by talking about shopping markets, inside jobs, snow shovels, snow plows, ranges of snowfall in the US, it dawned on me that other cultures are "strange" to everyone.

In other words, often we step out of our "culture" to investigate another, only to find their patterns, behaviors, food choices, weather, etc. are very different from ours, and think them to be "strange". What we fail to realize is that the "norm" is defined by the culture, and therefore what is normal to one culture is strange to another.

Cultural Differences and Christianity

This fleshes itself out in the culture of Christianity as well. If we surround ourself with the culture of the American church, with the culture of popular Christianity, with Christian youth culture, we develop an understanding of who God is, what God is doing, what God is all about, what Christianity is, etc. The danger is that the "norms" of our culture can begin to define God and Christianity. This is helpful in the fact that we can relate to others within our "culture", but it is harmful when it hinders reaching others from another culture.

Exploring Different Cultures

How do we keep ourselves from being strange to other cultures? Study their culture, and allow yours to be studied by others. Don't put a moral value on differences unless the Bible speaks directly for or against it. Different music styles, different worship methods, different means of relating... Just because it's "strange" to us does not mean it is wrong. It just means it needs to be explored.

For instance... different or wrong

• Ugandan men hold hands walking down the street
  
• The Ugandan church sang a welcome song everytime someone new showed up
• The Ugandan church accepted food as offering - then auctioned it off at the close of worship
• Some Ugandan people "bathe" together in the hot springs
• Ugandan (Anglican) worship was structured in a book - very patterned
• Ugandan worshippers gave gifts to people performing special music in church during their "performance"
  
• Ugandans expect you to take a gift with you when you visit their home

This is just a few of the unusual things I saw in Uganda - but interestingly enough (with the exception of the hand holding) these "strange" occurances were very easy to mold myself to. If I lived there long term though, I wonder if I would be inclined to change their culture to reflect my "norm".

How do you react to new cultures? What can you do to respond positively to "strange" cultures?