a lightbulb on our culture.

I described in an old post shortly after returning from Sudan how similar reverse culture shock is to one of the final scenes in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The four hobbits sit in the pub in the Shire together surrounded by their old friends in a very familiar place, and yet...their friends have no idea what they just experienced and the place seems strangely unfamiliar.

Recently, for my Second Language and Culture Acquisition course, I read an article describing core American cultural values.

The following are the American values, according to L. Robert Kohl, that most Americans hold or understand or notice in American culture:

1) Personal control over the environment (responsibility)

2) Change is seen as natural and positive (progress)

3) Time and its control (don't waste it, idioms, delayed gratification)

4) Equality/Fairness (can treat lower classes as important)

5) Individualism/Independence ("I can do it by myself", privacy)

6) Self-help/Initiative (so many words beginning with "self-...")

7) Competition (in every area, seen in economy)

8) Future orientation (always looking forward)

9) Action/Work orientation (ask questions like "What do you do?" "Where do you work?")

10) Informality (bosses going by first names)

11) Directness/Openness/Honesty (bluntness, direct confrontation)

12) Practicality/Efficiency (many inventions; prefer law and science, that which is rational/objective, over philosophy and anthropology)

13) Materialism/Acquisitiveness (benefits of work--lots of newness and innovation)

(See article here:  http://www.uri.edu/mind/VALUES2.pdf )


EYES OPENED.  Let me tell you why...

Since I've been back, now a year and a half since I landed on American soil, it has been a tremendous blessing to be with family and friends and be home in my own culture.  Yet, it has really been an adjustment, mostly a heart and head adjustment for me.

Time to be honest. I have really struggled with judging others inside and outside the church. I have been so quick to think "Why are you complaining about having to wait five extra minutes for your meal?" "How can you be so preoccupied with planning for the future?" "You are so rude, can't you let some help you?"  So hypocritical of me.  I've complained about five minute waits. I've been extremely anxious about what happens next and what will happen four years from now. I've been determined to do something completely on my own without any help, so it can be said that I did it.

Ugh.

But in reading this article, I finally discovered the source of the judgmental thoughts that I've struggled with since being home.  Culture shock!  I've been reacting negatively to the things of American culture that are oh so different from Toposa culture. I've been reacting wrongly to "different" and labeling it as "wrong" without a second thought. I've been expecting Americans to act more African.  HA!

Now, the truth is that there are good and bad things about every culture. Some of the things I've adapted from living in Sudan are good things from which we, as Americans, can learn. Some things to which I've been reacting to are things of American culture that go against the Word of God.

A lightbulb went on in my head. I really do, like the re-entry books said, have to treat my readjustment to my own culture the same way I entered into Toposa culture. I must intentionally be patient, keep an open mind, postpone judgment, and see differences as differences.

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to the promise."
Galatians 3:28-29 

save dying languages.

Read this!

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140606-why-we-must-save-dying-languages 

Language is much more than words and vocabulary. Language is the expression of a culture, of a way of life of a people.  Here's some insights into the dying Cherokee language, and the reasons we need to document dying languages all over the world.

to be an African woman.

Today, I presented my insider report for my Second Language and Culture Acquisition class, for which I portrayed a Zimbabwean woman. Over the past two weeks, I read the book Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter by J. Nozipo Maraire, and then today I took my place at the front of the classroom and in ten minutes shared some about my Zimbabwean life.

Here's me in my outfit.  (It's from Tanzania!)

A few good quotes from the book:

"The village is our library; the mbuyas (grandmothers) and sekurus (grandfather) are our encyclopedias."

"Our pride does not derive from material things. It is just that we are close to the soil. That is where the African foundation is. We are still standing on the ground of our ancestors; we are rooted, where others were scattered. Now we must fight the enemy within." 

The mother's response to her daughter's question: "What is an African woman?"

"It is to be strong, Zenzele. It is to be at peace within…being an African woman is what you make of it, Zenzele. But never forget that for the majority, it also means to rise out of bed before others, to make the cold kitchen warm, to work the fields in the blazing heat, to walk for miles on dusty paths carrying water on your head, wood under your arms, and a baby on your back."

She closes with this statement:

"It is a pity that I have not more to leave you than words. But what is life, after all, but a story, some fiction and some truth? In the end, there are words. They are the very manifestations of our immortality. Your own life is a story yet to be told, and wisdom, when it comes, is simply to understand at last the beginning of the word and the story of our birth, death, and rebirth.”

It was fun and interesting to tell a life story from someone from another culture.  Eye-opening to say the least.  It is true for all cultures, though, that all we have at the end of the day, at the end of time, is our story.

What is your story?  What words do you leave behind?

He who cares for children.

A typical question to ask in America, following the "how are you?" greeting is:

"What do you do?"

We don't ever ask the question, with strangers or dear friends, "Who are you?"  Whoa.  A little much. Right?  Our culture defines who we are, generally speaking, as what we do.  You are what you do. 

But what if we asked God that question?  Is He what He does?

In my phonetics class, we practice all the sounds of the world by practicing words from many different languages.  For each word, before we practice pronouncing it, we learn the language and its English gloss (or brief translation). We were discussing voiceless vowels, something prevalent in many Native American languages, and this gloss struck a chord, so I jotted it down quickly.  In Cherokee, one word means:

'He who cares for children came back after me'

In Cherokee, the above phrase is one word.  One noun.  One definition and characterization for a specific person. 

He who cares for children.  That is God.  That is what He does right?  He came back after me, after I turned my back and strayed so far from His way.  And He is faithful.  When I wander even now, He invites me back in.  Why?  Because He is He who cares for children.  It is what He does.

But it is also who He is.

I think God does who He is.  He acts out of His character.  Always. Whether He is Father to the fatherless, Shepherd to the lost sheep, Guide to the seeker, Hope to the hopeless, Provider to the poor, Healer to the sick, Judge to the unjust, or Savior to the sinner.

Yes, we all define ourselves by the things we do or the roles we serve in life.  One may be a lawyer and a mother and a wife. Or a secretary and a niece. Another a doctor and a father and a treasurer. Another a student and a sister and a granddaughter and a tutor.

But no matter what we are doing, or what role we are acting in at the moment, we are who we are.  Even we pretend to be someone else.  At the very least, we are who we are to ourselves.

We do who we are. 

I do who I am.

And who am I?  

Yes, I'm a student, daughter, granddaughter, cousin, and in the process of becoming a linguist.

But above all, I am a child of God. 

And I am to do, to act, to be in every place and role and situation who I am.

The child God went after.

Who are you?

the truth about love.

"The Truth About Love."

The title of the artist Pink's new concert tour is written in huge pink letters on a billboard somewhere along I-30.  On my new commute from my apartment in Dallas to the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, I've noticed this sign, and today this unfolded in my head...

The truth about human love in this life and in this world is...that it runs out.
It is self-centered.
It is based on feelings and emotion.
It is conditional.
It doesn't last forever.
It isn't happiness (which also runs out).
It is always and will always be incomplete.
It does not complete you.
It is not enough.

The truth about this love is that it fails.

I don't know Pink's lyrics on her album, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to find out what she believes to be the truth about love.  Ok, well, I happened to notice she has a song called "True Love."  I looked at the lyrics...something like "I hate you, I really hate you, so much, I think it must be true love."  Hate is love now?  WHAT??!!?!?!?!  Oh, and "no one can break my heart like you."  So broken hearts = true love.  This makes me want to run from love.  Oh wait!  She also says in "The Truth About Love" song, which by the way has some terrible lyrics, that "it is regret, it is rage, it is hate." Hmmm...

However, Pink did get something right in her song for which her album is named: "the truth about love is it's all a lie."  Yes, Pink, love in this world is a lie, because of all the other truths I listed above.

Then I remembered. I sang a song also called "True Love" this week.  This version is by Phil Wickham.

Come close, listen to the story
About a love more faithful than the morning
The Father gave His only Son just to save us

The earth was shaking in the dark
All creation felt the Father's broken heart
Tears were filling heaven's eyes
The day that true love died, the day that true love died
When blood and water hit the ground
Walls we couldn't move came crashing down
We were free and made alive
The day that true love died, the day that true love died

Search your hearts, you know you can't deny it
Lose your life just so you can find it
The Father gave His only Son just to save us

Jesus is alive
He rose again

I know the Truth.  I know Love.  Jesus Christ is Truth and Love.  And He never forsakes.  His love is constant.  It is more than emotion.  It is unconditional.  It lasts forever.  It is enough for every need.  His love never fails. Never.

He died for you, for me, when we turned our backs on Him, hated Him, disregarded Him, ignored Him.  It doesn't make sense.  But...

That's the real Truth about Love.

close to home.

Terror attack.  Westgate Shopping Centre.  Nairobi, Kenya.

I don't know if you have heard the story of what happened in Nairobi about a week ago now, but it hit me close to home.

Perhaps people who frequented the World Trade Center Towers or the Pentagon before September 11th can relate.  I am having a hard time explaining my feelings to people at this moment.  You see, Westgate Mall was a place to which I went often when I was in Nairobi, Kenya (about every three months of my two years overseas).  The pictures and videos are all too real.

Me and friends at Westgate in July 2012

I walked those hallways.  I shopped in that supermarket.  I ate at the outdoor cafe.  I saw movies in that theater.

The hospital to which they took victims was the hospital where I spent six days last June, being treated for a kidney infection.

The photos from a distance of the smoke rising from the mall were taken from the homes of my friends in Nairobi.

And more than all this, a dear missionary family was trapped inside.  Please read this article about the Suels: http://www.commissionstories.com/africa/stories/view/imb-missionaries-recount-terrorists-seizure-of-nairobi-mall Then, please join me in thanking and praising God for their safe escape and His protection.

And continue to pray for all of those hurting in Nairobi, Kenya and around the world.  Over 60 people were killed, and 175 injured.  There are still people missing.  Many are in shock.  Pray that His great grace would meet each person where they are.  Pray that this terrible event draws people to Jesus. Pray for those who were behind the attack...God desires that all men may know His name and repent.

When the Lord speaks to Moses as He delivers the Israelites from Egypt, He declares:

"I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”  Exodus 7:4-5

But His demonstration of His might in Egypt is not only for the Egyptians...

"Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord."  Exodus 10:1-2 

Whether this hits close to home, or not:

Pray that ALL would know that HE is LORD.

common men for His glory.

Continuing the theme of my last post...speaking of Jesus and His twelve apostles...

"Notice the natural progression in their training program. At first, they simply followed Jesus, gleaning from His sermons to the multitudes and listening to His instructions along with a larger group of disciples...Next...He called them to leave everything and follow Him exclusively" (22, Twelve Ordinary Men by John MacArthur)

 They, like Ruth, possessed nothing in themselves that made them worthy of redemption and were not gifted in any area as to be loved and brought close.

"Although they were uncommon men, theirs was an uncommon calling. In other words, the task they were called to, and not anything about the men per se, is what makes them important" (22).

It is the kinsman-redeemer who makes Ruth complete again.  It is Christ who called the Twelve to His side, that He might make them whole and train them in Truth.  It is the Holy Spirit who empowered them to follow Him and love like Him and further the kingdom of God to the ends of the earth.

“Brothers think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him. It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’”  1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Thank You, Jesus, for being my kinsman-redeemer.  Thank You for accepting me and choosing me that Your Name might be seen and known.  Thank You for creating me to glorify You.  I am complete and whole and satisfied when You are exalted in my life.  May I never boast of anything in me.  May my boast always be of You.