Bamboo and Cactus 

When living and working cross-culturally, there are many things one doesn’t think about as far as how different life will be. For instance, when I was living in Southeast Asia, I learned  the bamboo in my courtyard was too tall, and the leaves were falling into my neighbor's upper deck of their house. I had absolutely no experience with bamboo other than owning some cool bamboo furniture! I did have experience with cactus in my yard needing trimmed from living in Arizona. This background knowledge actually helped me know what to do with my unruly bamboo shoots. I bought a saw, cut some of the bamboo, and then had my more experienced gardener help with the rest. Different contexts, similar issues!

I think in cross-cultural situations, we are sometimes more prepared than we think to deal with the different contextual issues that arise. Just because something looks completely different doesn’t necessarily mean that it is.

I believe this principle applies to living and working with people in cross-cultural contexts as well. Though our cultural upbringing might be different, there are basic human realities that remain the same. For example:

1) We all want to be valued.

2) We want others to value what we value.

3) We want to be treated fairly.

There are other needs that we share, universally.  While the way of valuing someone, or showing that we value what others value might look different, the root of the issues remains the same across the contexts. It’s part of our job as cross-cultural workers to figure out how to value others in the context where we are working and living.  Sometimes, though, it takes employing an “expert”, like my gardener, to help us know the solution to a situation that we have faced before, maybe in our home context, but that looks different because of the context in which we now work.   

Questions for Reflection: 

Even if you don't work in a different country, what cross-cultural contexts do you find yourself in right where you live and work?

How can you "love your neighbor" in a way that makes sense to them?

What does God want you to know?

What does God want you to do?