I just woke up from my NAP about 20 minutes ago. That's about how tired I am, however, now I am watching Hotel Rwanda for our movie night down in our lobby. I am extremely interested in how the guys will respond to the movie and I hope is spurs conversation about Africa in general.
My hall that I am in charge of has decided to sponsor a child, probably through World Vision, and naturally I'm looking into a child from Uganda. I'm really excited about how they have been involved with the decision and maybe they will catch a vision and begin to sponsor many children.
Today in chapel was the first time since being in Africa that I heard an African speaker. It was SO interesting with new perspective. The Nigerian accent alone made me smile, but his mannerisms and point-of-view was treasured.
Being a foreigner he took the approach of saying harsh words that needed to be said. He addressed specific sins and did not beat around the bush at all, which I appreciated. He seemed extremely confident as he spoke the word of God. Many people in the crowd did not have any perspective of where he was coming from though, and some things he said were not taken well. He was talking about sexual immorality and took it to the point that kissing was sin. The truely ACU crowd was horrified at this comment and a rush of commotion began to be heard in the crowd. He stepped on their toes and they disagreed, which is fine, but many wrote him off and stopped listening. A clash of culture who did not understand where a man was coming from, where males and females do not touch and where touching alcohol is out of the question.
We heard about intense spiritualism as he told personal stories about a fatal car wreck in where all places of the car were devestated expect where the good spirit (of Jesus) was in the trunk. Long story, but it was misunderstood by our culture as people cocked their heads.
It was interesting to hear perspective from my friends and to be in the shoes of those I spoke to in Africa, at least in the aspect that another was the traveler/speaker and I was the hearer.
Respecting cultures is so important and difficult because it is so difficult to understand something that you have never been a part of.
I think I want to end by asking you to consider something.
Go to Africa.
My hall that I am in charge of has decided to sponsor a child, probably through World Vision, and naturally I'm looking into a child from Uganda. I'm really excited about how they have been involved with the decision and maybe they will catch a vision and begin to sponsor many children.
Today in chapel was the first time since being in Africa that I heard an African speaker. It was SO interesting with new perspective. The Nigerian accent alone made me smile, but his mannerisms and point-of-view was treasured.
Being a foreigner he took the approach of saying harsh words that needed to be said. He addressed specific sins and did not beat around the bush at all, which I appreciated. He seemed extremely confident as he spoke the word of God. Many people in the crowd did not have any perspective of where he was coming from though, and some things he said were not taken well. He was talking about sexual immorality and took it to the point that kissing was sin. The truely ACU crowd was horrified at this comment and a rush of commotion began to be heard in the crowd. He stepped on their toes and they disagreed, which is fine, but many wrote him off and stopped listening. A clash of culture who did not understand where a man was coming from, where males and females do not touch and where touching alcohol is out of the question.
We heard about intense spiritualism as he told personal stories about a fatal car wreck in where all places of the car were devestated expect where the good spirit (of Jesus) was in the trunk. Long story, but it was misunderstood by our culture as people cocked their heads.
It was interesting to hear perspective from my friends and to be in the shoes of those I spoke to in Africa, at least in the aspect that another was the traveler/speaker and I was the hearer.
Respecting cultures is so important and difficult because it is so difficult to understand something that you have never been a part of.
I think I want to end by asking you to consider something.
Go to Africa.
posted by Heath at 8:40 PM
1 Comments:
HEATH,
I SENSE YOUR FRUSTRATION IN TRYING TO TELL OTHERS ABOUT YOUR AFRICAN EXPERIENCES, BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH THE SAME THING SINCE RETURNING FROM JINJA. I DON'T THINK THERE ARE WORDS THAT CAN ADEQUATELY CONVEY THE AFRICAN EXPERIENCE. SO I JOIN YOU IN SAYING, GO TO AFRICA!! I HAVE ENJOYED FOLLOWING YOUR BLOG.
KATHY LANGFORD(GRANDMOTHER OF ELI)
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