Are you Ready to Dip your Toes into the Honduran Culture?
Preparing for a short-term mission trip does not stop when your funds are raised, and your flight is booked. Before leaving, it is critical to have an understanding of the culture in which you will be living and serving. Having knowledge of your host country’s unique customs will engender the respect you need from locals to be successful in ministry. It also might save you from a cultural blunder or two!
While culture is an abstract concept, it has concrete effects on everything from our clothing, how we spend a Friday night to the jokes we find funny. Before your mission trip, you cannot learn everything there is to know about your host culture, but you can build a foundation that will greatly increase your ability to participate in community life.
Questions to Help You Prepare for Mission
~Is my host culture honor/shame based, fear/power or guilt/innocence based?
~How do people in my host country view authority & age?
~What is the appropriate clothing for the climate of my host country?
~What is the typical dress of a person my age & gender in this culture?
~What is the culture’s standard for modesty in dress?
~How do I greet a peer? How do I greet an authority figure?
~How do I express gratitude in the local language?
~What expectations are placed on giving and receiving gifts?
~What dining etiquette should I be aware of?