Whenever I am in a new or different culture I am aware of the differences. When I was in college I was able to travel in Europe. While staying with some friends in Germany one of the neighbor girls came to visit. She was about 4 years old. She started talking to them in perfect German. I was taken aback, which shows how little I knew about different cultures. Of course she spoke perfect German, and there are billions of Chinese children that speak perfect Mandarin. That is one of the joys of these trips.
It’s not just about languages either. On a recently trip to Sendafa, Ethiopia one of the team members started to play with one of the young Ethiopian girls. They were doing a game where they clap each others hands, slap their knees and things like that. No words needed to be spoken but there was a connection there. She got it and actually taught the team member a few new moves that she didn’t know. I was fascinated watching the process. This and so many more things are where joy is found on missions trips. Ready to go yet?
