Reflections: Culture Shock

It has been 2 days since the Chapel crew pulled back into the church parking lot after the 1,300 mile return trip from Lakeshore, Mississippi, to Cedar Grove, New Jersey. It has taken nearly that long to clear my mind enough to even begin to reflect on what I saw and did there.

I suppose the best term for what I experienced would be "culture shock." Normally that is applied to being exposed to life in another country. But this time I faced that odd sensation while being in our own!

This had nothing to do with a Northerner living in the context of the deep South. This was not about hearing accents unlike my own or seeing vegetation that cannot survive in a colder climate. This was not about the one or two instances of sampling local food (most of which was outstanding, that would never be found on the menu of a North Jersey Diner – like Alligator!).


No, this was a striking contrast between a culture that was all but totally destroyed, and one in the same nation that was not. This was about a group of fellow citizens, and some of them fellow Christians, who no longer take for granted things like a job, food, water and even a roof over their heads when most of us generally do. It was a culture shock not unlike what one might feel on a vacation to a foreign country. This was something that assaulted the senses from being with those whose whole world was taken cruelly and suddenly. And this was a culture shock that cannot be fixed by simply returning home and getting back to normal life – at least it won’t be for me and hopefully not for those who ventured there with me.

Last night I stood in line picking up a few items of food at our local Shop-Rite grocery store. We had prepared a short list, partly because I felt too tired to do a major shopping. But as I stood in line preparing to check out, my mind shifted back some 36 hours earlier to another "line." For parts of 2 days, members of the Chapel crew helped give out food, ice and water on a "POD" (Point of Distribution) which is a FEMA-run program.


As we stood there for hours we were able to see the nameless faces of fellow citizens driving through and getting the items to help them survive for the next day or two. Pastor Elbourne, whose church we were there to serve under, said in his message on Sunday that the POD there was the most pressing need in that community at the moment. Without those supplies, many there would have literally nothing in the way of the basic needs to sustain life.

This was just one small example of the "culture shock" I have been feeling since my return. There have been others, like watching a very healthy tree being pruned by a local landscaper on my way to work at church this morning. What a striking contrast to seeing tens of thousands of trees smashed like small twigs, many falling on homes, with the damage extending 100 miles inland!


Yes, I am in culture shock today as I look around me at a beautiful Fall setting and the soon coming preparations for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. But somehow I suspect that this holiday time will be very different for me, and for those who can envision what life will likely still be for those we helped last week and for those we did not have enough time to assist.

I just pray that the Lord will raise up others to pick up where we left off. I pray that many more will take the time to experience "culture shock" in their own nation. I pray we can work out the time and means for our next trip. And I pray that this "shock" will remain as shocking to me six months from now as it did when I first pulled into the parking lot of where the buildings of Lakeshore Baptist Church used to stand.

Next, Pastor Bill continues the "Journey to Lakeshore, One Story At A Time," telling what it was like to reach the Gulf Coast with the Chapel Mississippi Team. (Note: Click on each picture to enlarge.)