All across the globe everyone in every culture has their own trends. Through time many have meshed together, but there are still hundreds of countries and tribes that daily dress in their own unique dress. In some countries everyone has the same national dress. In some countries, it is a melting pot of many cultures. In some countries, there are dozens of individual casts or tribes of culture.
As missionary ladies board a plane with their family and belongings and head to a foreign land, they many times step into lands of very different trends and styles. They many times seem very foreign and strange in the beginning. It can go against our group mindset. We are all comfortable inside our own "herd". And it can take time to adjust to a new genre of style. Others on the hand, may jump into the most wild and bombastic styles with much gusto. Either way, we all try to mesh and mingle into the culture as we minister, lead and love. That is if the national dress belongs in the context of, "clothed and in their right mind".
As the time passes, you find yourself being more attractive to the styles of the country you live in than the country you came from. The language of dress can be a blessing. When we can't speak clearly and we don't know all the cultural rules or procedures we can at least attempt to join the crowd and look the part. We will still probably make mistakes as we try to be "trendy, cultural in touch foreigners" but we will draw smiles and happy faces of the natives. They love to see foreigners embrace their way of life.
I thought it might be fun and interesting for all of us to see some of our missionary ladies and mini-ladies as they serve in their countries. They have filled their roles of pastors wife, friend and counselor with love and grace. They have embraced the culture the Lord has placed them in with joy and beauty. You will see many countries and sometimes some ladies such as myself who minister to different cultures in the same country.
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Loved this post and seeing the different pictures!! Thanks for putting it together.
ReplyDeleteLoved this post and seeing the different pictures!! Thanks for putting it together.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting to note how certain areas of the world dress similar. Meaning that Nigerian dress is very similar to how they dress across the continent in Kenya, and people in Vanuatu and Micronesia dress very similar to the way they dress in Papua New Guinea. I love this post! Culture is such an intriguing study.
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