When two American men greet each other, they usually grasp one another’s right hand and shake it. Two Albanian men will often embrace and kiss both cheeks in greeting. But if one American man were to greet another in the Albanian way, he would probably make him uncomfortable.

Just imagine the reaction if either an Albanian or American man greeted his friend in the manner of the Siriano of South America where the greeting custom is to spit on each other’s chest!

Our culture includes our behavior, values, beliefs, and worldview. People all over the world tend to think (often subconsciously) that the way other cultures do things is rude, unmannerly, aggressive, uncivilized, or just plain weird. You can understand how important it is for missionaries to carefully study the culture of the people they live among. Although cultural blunders often seem humorous, they can seriously hamper our ability to reach others for Christ.

In Albania, we will face a very confusing and unusual custom. I wonder how long it will take for us to become accustomed to nodding our heads up and down to indicate that our answer is no. So what will we do to answer in the affirmative? Shake our heads from side to side, of course.

Please pray that the Holy Spirit will give all us missionaries the ability to quickly and thoroughly learn the cultures of our mission fields so we can effectively share the gospel. Pray that our inevitable blunders will not offend or alienate people but instead will endear us to them.

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