Week 5

Week 5, has been really great!  I made pasta and garlic bread for my host family this week.  Everyone gathered for the event.  There were about 12 plates in all served, and I’m surprised that what I made was sufficient for everyone.   So something I have been learning about in my classes is the effects of culture shock.  And all that has been described in the classroom and what I have read in books are not what I have experienced while here.  And I have come to understand why...

According to wikipedia, “Culture Shock is the anxiety, feelings of frustration, alienation, or anger that may occur when a person is emplaced in a new culture.”  Now, I may be in a new culture, and YES the Ugandan culture is much different than anything I have ever experienced, but this is not the first time I have been in a new culture.  Although I have never left the United States before I have experienced this culture shock.  The culture shock I’m talking about is the culture of Christianity.  Not American Christianity, but the truth that is found in the word of God…that Christianity.  It is a submission to the truth of the spirit.

Here is a poem I wrote for one of my classes:

The Ultimate Culture Shock: Submission to the Holy Spirit

I lie here thinking to myself, where is this Ugandan culture shock?

I’m not going through this…Howcome?!

I have read about this in books, talked about it in the classroom…AHH!  Then the clues begin to unlock.

Hmm…Culture shock I have experienced this before!  But it was back at home.

It did not take a different country, but…YES, a different culture.

The submission to the Spirit was what brought me out of my culture and comfort zone.

This submission was what brought me do to things that were unsure.

I learned that through this submission I was not alone.

When we submit to the Spirit, live by the law of the Lord, and act out our faith, we will be living in a   different culture.

Every encounter we have with our neighbor allows for us to experience this.

It does not matter whether that is across the world, family, a friend, or even as close as next door.

When we submit to the Spirit, in any environment, a culture shock is hard to miss.

Uganda is no different than home.

Because everyday the Spirit draws me near.

I could be as far as the city Rome.

But in Him, through every culture shock, pilgrimage is set in gear.

For the next 10 days I will be in the district of Siroti.  This is also nicknamed “Siroasti,” because of the intensity of the heat.  This part of the USP program is called the rural home stay.  Where we are going, there may not be electricity for extended period of times, there is the possibility of living at a farm, and there are some really nice waterfalls nearby (Sipi Falls).  While there I will not have internet or much contact with anyone, besides those who I will live with.  Friends and family, please pray for safety, a fun time, the intervention of the Spirit, and for me to be lead to times of worship.