In Their Own Words

Cross Cultural Love

During our time in Southeast Asia, one of our language tutors couldn’t figure out why all eight of us were so polite or why we tried to observe the social customs. She was shocked that we weren’t like the Americans she’d encountered in her country or seen in movies or on television. She very eagerly asked one person on our team to tell her why we were all so much different. My teammate responded by explaining to her that it’s because we all follow Jesus. Our team was encouraged that our desire to meet the nationals in their cultural context was an example of Jesus’ love. By seeking to understand these Southeast Asian people and not demanding them to meet our cultural norms, we were able to stand out from the ways of the world. Although we may not see the full fruit of our conversation with that woman, I believe the conversation impacted her life.
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