The following is a true story.

The Nakivale Refugee Settlement is near Lake Nakivale and named for the lake. It has been in existence for decades with the first refugees coming from Kenya, Rwanda, and Congo – then Zaire.

In a 1960s experiment, anacondas were brought from Brazil to Lake Nakivale. 

The snakes have grown and proliferated around the lake. They attack children and small animals. 

One day, a man came upon one of the snakes, sunning itself beside the lake. He managed to kill it. They pulled the body from the lake and discovered it was 38m long (124.5 feet long). The refugees skinned and cut up the snake’s body for food.

Not long afterward, this same man went for a swim in Lake Nakivale. Witnesses watched a larger snake, the mate of the snake that was captured and killed, grab the man and drag him under. He was never seen or heard from again. They still haven’t caught the bigger snake. Residents have seen it sunning itself by the lake but it has returned to the lake before they could catch and kill it.

At least that’s how the story was told to me.

When I wrote the blog post about having a rough week, I used the word stress several times. I realized later what I really meant was culture stress.

Everyone deals with stress. It’s a fact of life. Culture stress is like stress on steroids and there is nothing you can do to get away from it. All you can do is learn to manage it so it doesn’t manage you.

Miriam Webster defines stress as:

constraining force or influence: such as a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation; strain, pressure.

a state resulting from a stress;  especially  :one of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium 

In our society today, stress is common. We live stressful, busy lives. We have stress at work, stressful schedules, financial pressure that adds to our stress. Slowing down and reducing stress takes focus and intention. 

Culture shock is defined in Miriam Webster as: 

a sense of confusion and uncertainty sometimes with feelings of anxiety that may affect people exposed to an alien culture or environment without adequate preparation

Most people have heard of culture shock. To be fair, a person can experience culture shock moving from one part of the US to another. I’ve heard it’s worse when you move between cultures that share a language because you expect things to be the same and they aren’t.

Culture shock resolves itself in a matter of weeks or months. Initial adaptation to the new culture takes place. The “newness” wears off. Things around you don’t surprise you as much anymore. You know what to do, what to expect. But you still haven’t grown completely accustomed to the new culture. Culture shock turns into culture stress.

Culture stress is defined for missionaries as: 

the adjustment stage in which people accept the new environment, adopting new ways of thinking and doing things so that they feel like they belong to the new culture. This takes years, and some missionaries never complete it.

How do stress (as experienced in your country of origin) and culture stress differ and how are they the same?

Let’s start with the similarities. Both are brought on by tension, anxiety, or circumstances around us. Both are an inescapable fact of life. Both must be dealt with properly or they will cause physical problems.

However, there are some significant differences between stress and culture stress.

• Culture stress is brought on by the process of adaptation to a foreign culture. All familiar cultural clues can be thrown out. You have to completely relearn how to respond in every situation. Sometimes this is easy and sometimes it isn’t.
• Culture stress is exacerbated by an inability to communicate in the new culture. Even if the language in the host country is the same as your native language words have different meanings. You have to relearn all of these. Then there is the obvious issue of having to learn to communicate in another language (or languages)
• Cultural values play a huge role in culture stress. If the perceived value system of your host country differs from your country of origin you can become resentful or frustrated with the host country and react to what they do and how they do it.
• Culture stress cannot be avoided. Ever. It is a fact of life that every person living outside their country of origin will experience. You will never completely adapt to your host country. 

Sadly, as adaptation to your host country takes place, your country of origin becomes less and less familiar. Every time you visit, you struggle with culture shock similar to what you experienced when you first arrived in your host country. All the things that seemed “normal” before aren’t anymore. Cultural cues aren’t familiar. You say and do things that people in your country of origin can’t understand, but you don’t notice you are doing them because it’s “normal” in your host country.

Consequently, people who live overseas for any length of time end up in a constant cycle of adaptation wherever they go.

There are positive ways to manage this stress and there are negative ways. I’ll be covering some of this in another post.

When you pray for your missionaries, pray they have the grace and wisdom to adapt to their new culture so they can effectively reach the people with the gospel. This is not always easy. Our desire is for others to see Jesus in us. But when the culture is dealing with me instead of me dealing with the culture, it’s hard for this desire to be realized.

I read this verse today and thought of our church people when I read it. 

Paul had been in Philippi. While there, he was arrested, beaten, and thrown in jail. He and Silas sang in jail and God opened their bonds. Their jailer and his whole family were saved as a result. 

He then traveled to Thessalonica. He was only there for a month, but many people were saved and baptized and a church was born. Sadly, only weeks into their birth, that church suffered persecution because of Paul and Silas.

Yet, we see here that they suffered that affliction with joy. They gladly turned to God from idols and served Him. Their witness spread through the whole region. Paul didn’t even have to preach because of the testimony of the Thessalonians.

I was thinking about our churches today as I read this. Yes, we have struggles. People don’t always get along. They are still growing in their sanctification, just like me.

Yet their testimony (in most of the communities at least) is well known. They are known as churches where God’s Word is preached and followed. They are known because of their witness. People from the community are coming and they are being saved.

And all this is in the face of their affliction. It isn’t the same affliction that Paul faced, but it is just as legitimate.

Ngarama church lost another section of their roof this last week. Roughly 1/3 of the roof remains. Yet the church was full today, just as it was last time. Everyone sat in the sun. James sweated it out in the front of the church, facing into the sun the whole time he preached. The people are praying for God to provide for their roof to be repaired and they are believing He will do it.

The UN hasn’t brought food out for our refugees for over a month. The primary affliction these people have faced is hunger.

We heard that the people who process the refugees into the camp are demanding a fee and won’t give the refugees the basics they need for food and shelter until they pay it. They aren’t supposed to do this. Yet our people are trying to find ways to work around it, to meet the needs of the newcomers who don’t have anything, even though they themselves have nothing.

Could I stand and be as joyful as they are in the face of the affliction they face on a daily basis? I don’t know if I could. I fear I’d let the worry and self-pity overwhelm me.

Every major urban center in the United States has a significant immigrant population. The uttermost part of the world has, very literally, been brought to America’s doorstep.

You, dear reader, can’t necessarily go to another country to minister to people there, but you could minister to the other countries that have been brought to your neighborhood.

How can you go about doing this? Here are a few ideas to reach out to the immigrants around you:

1. Befriend them.

Having moved to another country myself, I know how meaningful it is to have nationals reach out in friendship. We are still friends with many of the first people we met when we came. We enquire after each other’s houses and children. We’ve visited them for weddings, baptisms and funerals.

You can do the same there. When you see immigrants, don’t avoid them. Introduce yourself. Look for ways to find common ground with them. They are entirely out of their depth in the US. Everything is strange. A kind word or smile can go a long way toward easing their discomfort and helping them feel at home.

2. Help them acclimate to their new country

When you move to a new country you have to relearn everything. Where are the schools? Where should you shop? How do you find your way around? It’s always easier when someone local helps you out. 

If you know an immigrant family, help them find these places. I know our refugees who have resettled in the US love to find small local ethnic groceries where they can buy things that are familiar to them. This is a great way for you to get to find out more about this family’s country of origin.

3. Have them over for a meal

Nothing says “friendship” to someone from our area of the world like an invitation into your home for a meal. Food is the universal way to signify you are friends. This is also a way for you to introduce them to American culture and food and vice versa if you invite them to bring a dish from their country.

4. Learn to teach English as a Second Language

This alone will give you a chance to meet and interact with immigrants, even if you can’t do any of the other things. All immigrants want to improve their English. You can even offer to tutor their children. Education is important for most people when they enter the US and they take it very seriously.

5. Be sensitive to the fact that they don’t do things the same way you do.

People from other countries are going to do things like they’ve always done them in their home country. They won’t cook like you. They won’t clean like you. They won’t shop like you. They might not dress like you. This doesn’t make the way they do it is wrong, it just makes it different. It isn’t our job to change them.

They may adapt over time and they may not. I’ve lived in Uganda for 7 years. I know how to cook like they do here and I know how to make most of the food they eat here, but I still cook and eat like an American most of the time. It’s what I know.

6. Ask questions about their country of origin and learn all you can about it.

Most expatriates are very lonely. They feel out of place. There is no one in their new country who understands their background and most people aren’t interested. If you can ask questions and try to understand, you’ll make a forever friend. 

I’d love to hear any other suggestions you have for making refugees feel welcome in the US!