Daily Life
Ongoing Language Learning
Host Culture
Your Host Culture
Goals/Objectives
To define what becoming a ‘belonger’ in your new surroundings might look like, and identify ways you are moving forward in this process.
To identify various similarities and differences in cultural practices between your home culture and your host culture
Both at ABO and in the required reading for AIM, various aspects of ministering cross-culturally and specifically in an African context were addressed. This may be a good time to review Elmer’s Cross-Cultural Connections. This section is intended to help you dig deeper into the culture in which you are now living.
To become a ‘belonger’ in your community, it is important to have a learner attitude, be observant, and ask questions.
Some suggestions for areas of cultural attitudes and practices you may want to explore and discuss (or issues you may encounter) are listed here:
- Concept of time
- Possessions (and use of your vehicle for others)
- How people communicate (in various situations)
- Local security
- Social interactions and gender roles
- Children (Engaging with Children in Africa)
- Greetings and hospitality
- Bribery
- Generosity and loans (and expectations they may have of you)
- Poverty
- Spiritual beliefs and practices
- Conflict management, discipline and justice
- Decision making
- Relationships with neighbouring tribes, clans or ethnic groups
- Rites of passage and how the church engages in those rites of passage
Think more about how to engage with the religious, political and social scene in the country you will be working in.
To Discuss
As you continue to pursue becoming a belonger, here are a few questions to think through regularly and to discuss with your facilitator:
- What are you doing to actively seek out cross-cultural relationships and experiences?
- Who do you consider a friend in your host culture? How are you spending time with nationals in gender-appropriate activities to build relationships?
- What are your children doing to make friends in your host culture? What new play activities are they adapting to?
- What would it look like for you to be a belonger in the community you live in?
- What cultural advice are you seeking from nationals and how are you acting on it?
- How are you handling being asked for money? How are you determining whether or not to give?
