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

Excellent! Very informative from a theoretical and biblical standpoint. Very practical in ways to apply the theory. Valuable not only for those planning on living in places where honor-shame cultures dominate, but also in the West where that aspect is increasing in the culture.

I appreciated this book for two reasons. The first reason is that, as a 2.5 generation Chinese American, this book helped me understand how to better understand and appreciate my father and stepmother's culture. Secondly, this book gives me greater insight in understanding, appreciating, and caring for my work colleagues. I highly recommend this book to anyone who lives and\or works with individuals from different cultures.

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!

Reading this book was like learning to speak another language. This book will help you understand how honor-shame cultures think and what they value. As a result, you will be able to better express the gospel in a way they can relate to. It is heavy reading at times, but also has lots of practical tips. Well worth the time.

I learned so much from this book that helps me in cross-cultural ministry. Bought several copies to share with my team. So interesting to discover how much God cares about our honor, and how we can learn to honor others and help them receive honor from God.

After living overseas for the last 17 years, I was able to read this book with new eyes for the people we were living amongst. I don't know how I would have read this book when we first started; would I have been able to truly understand these different situations and mindsets? Well, I do now and it will change how I work with and love people in the future. It should be required reading for one just starting, reread every 3-5 years as one is on the field, and then read again when retiring. It is essential that these main points are in the forefront of a Western mindset. God gives wisdom and grace in difficult moments but knowing what others have been through and gleaning from their experiences is invaluable.

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.

Great book. Fast shipping.

The book is detailed and well written on the subject. It is an invaluable tool for introduction to the challenge of blending 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!