Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures: Biblical Foundations and Practical Essentials

This book is a must read for those ministering (or at least starting to minister) to shame/honor cultures.Fast Delivery, Better Condition than stated

A year ago, I moved to an honor/shame culture to serve Jesus and it didn't take me long to realize that it was VERY different from my own American culture. I asked family and friends to pray for my understanding of cultural issues and how to handle problems in a culturally AND biblically appropriate way. I got an answer to this prayer in the form of this book!Oh, my! I wish I had read this before I came to this country! I read another book, which was similar, in my training called the 3-D Gospel which talked about three different culture types: guilt/innocence, which is typically America and Europe, fear/power, which is mostly cultures that have animistic beliefs (Africa), and shame/honor which is the Middle-east, South Asia, and South East Asia. (Although every culture sees aspects of each of these types, each culture has a predominate one.) "3D" is a great introductory book, but it mainly contrasts and compares the three cultures and shares why it is important to understand the type of culture in which you serve. This 'Ministering' books goes into much greater detail on how to communicate honor to those individuals within a shame/honor culture.This book first takes a reader through the cultural anthropology of a shame/honor culture and how it appears in real life and differs from the guilt/innocence culture. Then there is a section showing examples of shame/honor in the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments. Lastly, there is a section on using this knowledge in practical ministry using real life stories from the authors. It addresses the question of how do you bestow honor on people in a culturally appropriate way while rejecting their practices that are not God honoring without dishonoring them.This book covers an amazingly important topic: The ability to evangelize the remaining 6992 unreached people groups in the world! This is because most of those people groups are in shame/honor cultures.I would highly recommend this book to anyone serving among people from shame/honor cultures, especially to those who are new to ministry (like me) or are preparing to go. But I would also recommend this book to individuals working with internationals in the US and Europe because, of course, they bring their cultural beliefs to their new country just like I brought mine to this one. I truly believe that God brought this book to my attention and it has already been a tremendous help!

I read various books on honor/shame cultures years ago, before moving to the Middle East. Back then, it was just theory, like trying to learn to drive from a manual. Reading this book, with 15 years of experience living IN an honor/shame context has helped me tie together a lot of experiences that i hadn't been able to make sense of over the years living with Mediterraneans in several different countries. In other words, it took my 15 years of "real life" experience AND this book to "cross over" to understanding things better, and I am very grateful. I realized through reading the book that I have unknowingly acquired a lot of this sort of thinking over the years, and it has caused problems between me and other Americans, especially since I hadn't realized I had changed and they didn't understand why i see things "that way". Its a great relief to finally be able to consciously understand many things better. I may never become Mediterranean, but I will also never be pure "American" again. I hope that you take this book seriously if you read it. This stuff is real. But also understand that people are not "machines" and you can't learn to understand a culture just through a book. You will need some time to test out these ideas before you really understand them in your heart, perhaps re-reading this book every year for the first several years living in another country.

I have been a missionary for 12 years in Tanzania, Brazil, and Korea. I got my M.A. in Missions from ACU. But, by far, this book changed my entire perspective of missions. It is a "MUST READ" for anyone doing missions in Brazil, Africa, Middle East, or Asia. It helped me teach the Bible to Korean college students from an Honor/Shame perspective that they truly understood. I will never forget explaining what the Prodigal Son meant to Korean students at chapel. They were crying and one came up and said, "I hate my father, but am interested in God the Father." I had many come to me saying, "We never understood the Bible before but now it makes sense." I re-wrote my entire story of God study. I wish I would have had this book in Africa. I was still in a western mindset. I did not have the words, "honor/shame" to work from, but began realizing in Tanzania we were not getting into the hearts of the people. This is the BEST investment. Practical, simple, and lots of good illustrations.

This book is an essential read for anyone seeking to share the Gospel in a relevant manner among honor-shame societies. It articulated what I have long experienced but did not have words for. I have lived in honor-shame cultures for nearly two decades and could therefore easily understand the themes expressed by the authors. Over the years, I have had conversations about honor-shame cultures with certain friends and family members, and I wondered whether or not they might begin to comprehend through this book the cultural differences that they have never personally experienced. “Just as Westerners fail to adequately observe cultural underpinnings of honor and shame in today’s world, Western Christians also often overlook the prominent role of honor and shame in the Bible, though it comes from an honor-shame context.” The authors did an incredible job of clearly explaining honor-shame biblical contexts. I am confident to share this book with those whom I have discussed honor-shame themes with, knowing that the thorough explanations in this book will communicate with clarity a fuller depiction of the Gospel.

This book is a game changer is you have lived in one culture and do ministry in another. It has changes the way I look at ministry and how I reach other people with God's love. Honor-Shame cultures and Guilt-Shame cultures clash, and not being aware of and senstive to this difference can lead to painful and harmful mistakes. A must-read.

The book is detailed and well written on the subject. It is an invaluable tool for introduction to the challenge ofblending the value systems that are circulating throughout the world.Mary Jane Fandrich

One of the best books for understanding of the challenges to First Nation ministry.

Great book. I am learning so much!

Great book. Fast shipping.