There is a whole 'nother side of culture shock...stress...observations to enjoy when you return from a time overseas. Church Culture.
My first Sunday back in America was mainly spent missing my church in Armenia. Thankfully, I had a good family friend to distract me throughout most of the service. One of the main things I noticed was how much extra space I had in my mind to think about things other than the sermon! You see, for the past 2 years, I was either listening to translation, translation in one ear and Armenian in the other ear, and then finally just listening to Armenian in both ears. Now, I feel like I have all this extra brain space during the sermon that I don't know what to do with. Kinda funny.
The clothes. Some churches are dressy and some are casual, but I was pretty surprised to see so many youth this Sunday morning in shorts. In Armenia, people basically only wear shorts to play sports.
The sound. Only those who worked with me in Armenia will understand this one. The sound here seems so.....quiet.
The bulletins. We definitely did not have those. It's strange to me now to look at all the songs we will sing and the sermon outline before church even starts. I think I learned to enjoy the surprise of it all.
Standing and sitting. It's funny how you get used to a certain way of doing things. I found myself watching people around me to know when to sit and stand.
Back to the beginning. I went to the church where I grew up this morning. It was really neat to see people that I had not seen in a long time. It was also good to just walk the halls a little bit and let the memories flood in. Some good, some sad. It felt nice to get hugs from the older generation that had kept me in their prayers. It was funny to see little kids all grown up. And in some ways, it really did feel like coming home. God knew how much I needed that today.
3 comments:
I really enjoyed spending a couple of Sundays in Armenia with you. It really would be quite the culture shock coming back after spending so many Sundays in Armenia. Judging by your post, it would seem that you had a good Sunday though. I'm glad. I hope you are able to come up and enjoy a Sunday in Neosho. I enjoy my parents' church a lot right now.
I'm so glad you felt that you were coming home. The older and often wiser people are so precious and their prayers are mighty. I never thought about not having a bulletin. A surprise? that's interesting. Churches may differ here and there but if they are preaching the Bible and salvation through Jesus Christ then we are united and much more the same than different.
lol! I love that you have extra brain space in church! I do the same thing and listen to Arabic and English when I am at a church here. And for sure the dress will be different. Why don't ladies cover their heads at church in America? But still, I have to say that a church service is something I am looking forward to. Singing worship songs in a large crowd in English sounds amazing!
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