Posted March 7, 2013 under Blog

When you feel like bomitting, reach for Bomit. Lessons on counter-culture.

I travel with a bag full of the remedies in case of emergencies. But no matter how prepared one is, there are times when we will encounter situations that need local answers.

I experienced a bad case of motion sickness while taking a long winding bus drive with our team in Taipei. So as not to inconvenience anyone I went to a pharmacy during the stop.

Accompanied by a lady from church the pharmacist at the counter presented the pills branded as Bomit. I've heard of Dramamine, Bonamine and others but Bomit takes the cake in global branding. I guess its the best way to remember that when "you fell like bomitting reach for Bomit."

Actually Bomit worked so well, I wanted to take some home for future trips.

My second pharmacy counter-culture encounter was in Johannesburg. I couldn't breathe and I didn't know why.

My South African friends told me it could be sinus allergy due to pollen. "The city happens to be the largest Urban Forest in the world with every possible pollen in the air you could be allergic to." They gave me a local anti-histamine called Dazit. Again, I could write the advertising copy, "Dazit daz it for you. Daz it with your allergy!"

Dazit worked wonders. I'm reserving the rest of the pills for future pollen encounters.

My counter-culture-remedies experience did not end there. While my allergy was solved my throat had become extremely itchy and sore from post nasal dripping. I was losing my voice. That's when they gave me this thing to get my voice back.

It's amazing how culture works. Something might be acceptable if not hailed in one place and is repelling if not downright insulting in another. The pellets did help.

By the time I landed in Singapore at 5:30 am on Tuesday I had little time to recover before my first meeting at 9:30 with Every Nation's Indonesian leaders.

By lunchtime my sore throat had degenerated into a bad cough and I was scheduled to speak to the EN Singapore church gathering of small group leaders at 7 pm. Not to mention preaching two services and be at a wedding on Sunday. I've got to get this licked.

In desperation I tried something I had never done before, go to a Chinese Herbalist to see if she could help. With one look she said, "you only have mild cough, not so bad." Then she said, "This what you need, lah" and proceeded to present me with a green box with a lone vial with dark powder in it.

She said, "This one very bitter, you first try, but need to take three time a day." Taking a small cup she mixed the mysterious dark greenish powder in hot water. I proceeded to drink it and thought "I know bitter tastes like lemons but this was bitter of a different nature."

It was then that I asked her "what is the ingredient of this thing?" She said, "snake gall bladder." My motion sickness had gone full circle. I felt like I was back in the bus in Taipei ready to throw up.

Here's the three point summary of my experience:

1. Cultural differences are a reality. Many of the barriers are because of language, communication, tastes and smells. I am reminded of a time I was at a worship service in another country. As the people sang "I worship you" in their language, it translated into "I defecate on you" in mine.

That was my first experience in serious cultural differences. And this was at church. Truth be told, I was taken off guard and struggled from bursting into laughter. Thankfully, the fruit of the Spirit (self-control) prevailed that day. It was also a moment to know that words are important but spirit is more valuable.

2. Not all cultural realities will agree with you. That does not mean it does not work for the millions of others in it. I told the Chinese herbalist that the terrible taste of her powder was enough to make me forget I had a cough. We had a good laugh. She offered me Loquat instead, an herbal lozenge that helped soothe things.

 

3. Focus on making the connection. Don't let cultural differences bog you down. Laugh if you need to but do it privately. If the person is someone whom you think will understand then share the difference and get a laugh together. More importantly focus on making the connection.

Remind yourself that while the world is culturally different the goal is to be spiritually one.

Jesus came to earth to cross our cultures in order to connect with us, our food, our jokes, our languages, our issues, more importantly our need to get saved from our sin. Don't let cultural differences hinder you from connecting. It is the first step to connecting with others in order to connect them to the Gospel and ultimately to God.