We have "Ladies Morning" on Tuesdays at the Lighthouse. I never know who will show up and how much food to buy. We always start with breakfast together and then have a discussion about all kinds of different topics. Usually we have 6-8 women but today I thought I'd buy enough for 12, even though it was snowy and slushy outside. Every woman has a baby and they all have baby buggies. It's quite funny to see them coming in with the parade of buggies. Today, much to my surprise, 13 women showed up plus a husband who stayed in the kids' area with Darrell and helped take care of the 10 children who accompanied their moms! We had a wonderful morning together, sharing breakfast,
and then gathering for a discussion on hospitality in the German culture vs the Arab culture. We have a German friend who joins us every week from one of the local churches and helps the ladies learn the language and culture. We also talked about greeting people and I was surprised to find out that Germans think Arab women are very rude because they refuse to shake hands with men or look them in the eye. This is very important in the German culture but for a Mus woman, it is a shameful thing (if she's veiled) to shake a man's hand other than her family members. We came up with some ways that women could greet men without touching them and make them know that they are happy to see them. There are probably no two cultures as diversely opposed as the Syrian Mus culture and the German culture. No wonder there is so much distrust and misunderstanding between them. I think today was a great start to the women understanding much better how they need to conduct themselves in this culture. We challenged them to think about things that they are willing to give up in order to be accepted more fully into the German culture. Things that they think are "religious" are often just practices/habits that have been passed on through the generations and have no religious value at all. At least we got them to THINK! I truly adore these women and long for them to know the love of Jesus. Their lives are totally void of love. They are bound up in fear and self-hatred. They hate their lives, they hate life here, many hate their husbands. It's really sad. Jesus is the only possible solution.
and then gathering for a discussion on hospitality in the German culture vs the Arab culture. We have a German friend who joins us every week from one of the local churches and helps the ladies learn the language and culture. We also talked about greeting people and I was surprised to find out that Germans think Arab women are very rude because they refuse to shake hands with men or look them in the eye. This is very important in the German culture but for a Mus woman, it is a shameful thing (if she's veiled) to shake a man's hand other than her family members. We came up with some ways that women could greet men without touching them and make them know that they are happy to see them. There are probably no two cultures as diversely opposed as the Syrian Mus culture and the German culture. No wonder there is so much distrust and misunderstanding between them. I think today was a great start to the women understanding much better how they need to conduct themselves in this culture. We challenged them to think about things that they are willing to give up in order to be accepted more fully into the German culture. Things that they think are "religious" are often just practices/habits that have been passed on through the generations and have no religious value at all. At least we got them to THINK! I truly adore these women and long for them to know the love of Jesus. Their lives are totally void of love. They are bound up in fear and self-hatred. They hate their lives, they hate life here, many hate their husbands. It's really sad. Jesus is the only possible solution.
2 comments:
Thank you for the post. It offers a lot of insight. It even helps understand our grandson's female soccer coach here in Philadelphia. She is Muslim and I have wondered why she won't shake my hand. She and her husband are very friendly people.
What a great discussion you had! So helpful for the Germans in your midst, as well as the Syrians. Beautiful ladies!
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