Experts in cross-cultural studies tell us that culture shock will manifest itself by homesickness or compulsive behaviors. We are told we might experience a sudden aversion to the people and our new surroundings. However, culture shock may turn out to be a lot different than we ever expected.
Our family noted strange emotional times that were not typical of culture shock while adjusting to life in Mongolia. About six to nine months after arriving on “the field,” we experienced a time of intense, psychological and spiritual suffering. It was like passing slowly through a dark tunnel for several months. In short, it was a time of questions, fears, and burdensome thoughts. These feelings of despair contrasted greatly with the enjoyment that was first experienced in our first months in the culture.
My husband refers to this rough time as “diamonds in the dump.” Let me explain. Near our home in Mongolia was a field where people dumped garbage. From afar we saw what appeared to be diamonds glittering on the open plain. But as we approached, we found that they were not diamonds at all; they were pieces of broken glass. This trash scattered about made it a truly hazardous place to walk!
Like the diamonds in the dump, at first the missionary finds her new home is full of adventures. New friends have opened their arms to her family. The holidays, the foods, the countryside, the blue sky are all welcome after the many of years of support raising and preparation. She is anxious to make herself at home.
These initial beautiful moments are the “diamonds.” But as the missionary gets closer to the people and digs deeper in the language, she realizes how far she must travel to be fluent. Her ministry is just a new little bud on a bush— not yet a full-bodied tree. Further, as the missionary looks around, she sees that she is really in a dangerous place. She is in a land far from doctors, in a land full of thieves! People around her are desperately poor and are giving their allegiance to false gods. She must walk carefully through the “broken glass.”
Just knowing that this process is normal and will naturally pass on its own is an encouragement! But how do you walk “through the glass” without getting hurt? Having a strategy will not only get you through the dark time of culture shock, it will enable you to live a healthy, balanced life in your new home and have a successful ministry for years to come!
