My Unexpected Encounter

I just got home after having the most amazing conversation in a long time. I was at church for a teen youth rally. Just over 20 college students came in from out of state to help our youth group with the event. The night was a blessing; we all had lots of fun and souls were saved. Praise the Lord. But that's not all. After the event concluded, we all congregated outside and conversed. It was casual small talk at its best. To my delight, one of the 20 college students was a misisonary to Belarus. For Masha, a foreign exchange student from Kyrgyzstan who is also in our youth group, this happened to be unexpected bliss. Immediately, the two broke out in Russian. It was the coolest thing, to see their faces light up as they spoke affluently in their familiar tongue. Standing there, I felt dumbfounded, but amazed. When they came up for air (a.k.a. a pause in their Russian conversation), I interjected with questions. (Have I ever mentioned my favorite game is 20 Questions?...) So there I was, at church, talking with two Russian speaking individuals.

We talked for literally an hour. The whole time we were standing. Needless to say, my feet started to hurt after the 45 minute marker. But that didn't bother me. My ears were in heaven listening to these two speak about their countries. Every couple minutes, I posed a different question. The result was a piecemeal story of two colorful cultures:

Kyrgyzstan:
Known for its beautiful landscape, Kyrgyzstan is a third world country located near China. The country gained its independence from the USSR 17 years ago. For the most part, the country is open. My youth group friend said it all depends on the presiding president. Their current president is less open, but she can still practice her faith. She prays her situation doesn't worsen to the likings of neigboring countries, where by owning a Bible, you could be imprisoned. Drinking is widespread. Only the Christians abstain from this activity. Other activities include football, and American football. Besides our game of football, America's greatest influence on the country has been through television and music. MTV is very popular and has had profound affects on the culture. They respect Americans, but think we all live the "Hollywood" life of luxury---rich, big houses, sensual clothes, and sexual immorality. What a shame to think this is the kind of influence our country has had on their country.

Belarus:
Known for its famous WWII tourist attractions, Bealrus is a third world country located in Eastern Europe. Only the size of Kansas, it has the highest divorce rate in the world: 68%. As a Baptist, the college student I talked with recalled the mockery she received for her beliefs. She said the natives think Baptist Christians kidnap, sacrifice and eat children. With these commonplace misconceptions, her missionary family had their work cut out for them even before they began. It didn't take long before these misconceptions were proven false; not once did the natives see her family eat a kid! Something must be wrong. No. They just learned the truth. Unfortunately, the truth is rarely received in this country. Every media outlet is censored and their world perspectives have been corrupted. Take for example their view of Germany in relation to the United States. During the war, Germans cut through the country killing 1 in 4 of their people. Yet after the war, the people were brainwashed to love the Germans, but hate the Americans, the ones who actaully helped them during the war. To this day, they still hate Americans. To them, we are selfish and rich. The only influence America has had on the country comes again from the "Hollywood" style life. The natives save their money to mirror our standards. Indeed, they have cars, but most can't afford one until they are in their 30s. Material goods extend into fashion trends, as well. Television relays false messages of how the greater majority of Ameicans dress. Thus, they all wear skimpy clothes. Skirts are often but a belt, and modesty is not the policy. Outside of this false picture, American influence has contributed little more than four McDonald's restaurants. Just 4! How sad.

Tonight, these two stories came out of nowhere. But again, they underscore two truths: 1) world culture is everywhere, even when you least expect it, and 2) cultural collisions need to flood the world with the truth. From just this informal conversation, I learned about two cultures what two cultures learned about mine. That's the key: in a head-on collision, the exchange of force is mutual. The exchange is truth. Amen.