Realising that the man only spoke Arabic, plan B kicked into action. I reached for the green Arabic copy of Luke’s gospel. Proudly I held it up the right way. My cultural savviness was paying off; I know that this language reverses the reading direction. This is going well! Simultaneously he began closing the door as he said ‘Islam’. The conversation quickly progressed to plan C.

Yeah-soos?? Yeah-soos?? Yeah???

As the door closed, the smile on Robbo’s face said it all. Yes. I said Jesús in Spanish instead of Arabic.

I could justify my cultural faux pas by explaining to you that my mission team is very Anglo-Christian. It does include 3 Dave’s, 3 Matt’s, 2 Andrew’s and 2 Daniel’s. Or maybe I just need to work harder at understanding people and cultures…

THIS POST ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED HERE.

Filed under: culture, Moore, Moore Mission 2010