seriously, a different culture

I love to play board games. Card games, too. Really any kind of game with a group of friends hanging out having a good time is a game for me (except hide-n-seek in the dark, not a fan). Playing games in the states we always talk about luck. "The luck of the draw" or say things about the dealer not dealing us a good hand. It's about pointing the blame for a good hand or a bad hand on luck or another person in the room. And it can be about strategy. Making a conscience effort to play the game a specific way so that we win. I'm not good a strategy games because I just like to enjoy myself. Anyway, that's how we play games in our culture.

The other night we played a board game here. It's one we've played many times here, Ticket to Ride. It's a strategy game. We played it with a 2 other Americans and a national from here. He's a believer and a really great guy. As we began to play the game, he picked up another player's destination cards and began to whisper over them. We asked what he was doing and he said he was calling on his ancestors to put a curse on the cards. He was saying it jokingly and doing it to make us laugh. The rest of the game he would bring up his ancestors when he wanted something to go his way. I had to leave to use the restroom and I told Trey not to touch my cards or he would put a curse on Trey. Trey laughed and said that's not possible, I have the Holy Spirit. So I said ok, he'll put a curse on your cards. Everyone laughed.

Now, while this was a joke for us the whole night, it's a reality. It's something that we come into contact with often. The mindset here is just different than what we're used to. If something bad happens to a person, they began to think who could've put a curse on them to make it happen. I heard a story about a little girl who was very sick. She got to the point of her death bed and began to cry out for her mother. In my mind, that's a very natural thing. I still want my mom when I'm just sick with a cold! In the culture here, the father saw that as the mother was the one who put the curse on the girl. The mother was outcast from the community because of this.

It's difficult to know how to approach this mindset. We don't understand it because we haven't grown up with it ingrained in us. How do we talk about God allowing all things to happen and it's not because someone else has called their ancestors on you? If you'd like to learn more about this mindset I encourage you to read Quest for Power by Robert C. Blaschke. It will really open your eyes to life in a culture that is controlled by the spiritual world.