IN THE KNOW
with Bill and Lisa Walker
Strategizing in an Honor-Shame Culture
In July 2024, Lisa and I took a team on Mission Exposure Monterrey. One of the things we did in partnership with our EMC congregations that week was to help clean a corner lot in San Blas of Garcia (a bedroom community outside Monterrey). You may recall that we wrote about that day of ministry with Elim EMC in the September edition of the Kerusso. We also interviewed church planters Jeronimo and Neri Salazar and posted the video on our YouTube channel @theThreadEMC. You can watch that video here.
Pastor Jeronimo shared that though they are in a good location, they’d like to acquire the corner lot just half a block down the street. This property had been abandoned for a long time, was in frightful condition, overgrown, and was full of trash! Pastor Jeronimo doesn’t know the owner, and the person never comes around. So, he devised a plan to get the owner’s attention: clean up the lot, even though he had not been asked to do so. The Mission Exposure team did that as part of our ministry with them.
The idea is that the owner will hear that someone has cleaned up his property, and he’ll come around looking to see what’s going on. That will be Pastor Jeronimo’s chance to talk with the owner about renting or even purchasing the property for the Elim EMC. In the United States, such a thing might constitute trespassing! But this is Mexico! To Americans, cleaning someone else’s property without being asked to do so seems like a fool’s errand. But this is Mexico! American culture is “innocence-guilt,” whereas Mexico is “honor-shame.” Click here to learn what that means.
If you’re scratching your head, let me point you to biblical precedent in 1 Samuel 25. David had taken
care of Nabal’s flocks and belongings without being asked. It’s not recorded, but 25:7 indicates this was the case. At an appropriate time, he asked Nabal to reciprocate. This was normal in their honor-shame culture. Unfortunately, Nabal was a rascal and refused, acting DISHONORABLY. Still, in David’s actions, we can see the principle of ingratiating oneself to another person with pre- emptive honor. This practice is not a biblical mandate for all places, but it is a cultural strategy. Israel and Mexico are both honorshame cultures.
Let’s pray that the property owner responds HONORABLY so there can be a path forward for the Elim EMC to acquire this lot!
The Walkers are full-time EMC missionaries serving exclusively in the EMC and are funded only by your generous support. They live near Athens, Georgia, but are your missionaries to ALL 5 GLOBAL CONFERENCES (Mexico, Myanmar, Asia Pacific, CFAN, and South Africa).
WE HOPE YOU WILL JOIN THE TEAM! To give to the Walkers’ missionary work, scan this QR code with your phone or visit: https://engage.suran.com/evangelicalmethodist/s/give/gift/walker-support
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