Temperament.
The greater the difference in your personality and the average personality in the culture, the greater the stress. A reserved person may find it difficult to feel at home where most people are outgoing extroverts. An extrovert may never feel at ease in a reserved culture.
Ronald L. Koteskey
As a family on the field, we are certainly aware that our temperament has a significant impact on how we cope in this culture. God made us all individual and totally unique. It can’t be assumed that because we are a family, we have identical personalities. As husband and wife, we are poles apart. Roy is an introvert, and I am an extrovert so we share the same life experiences but processing them in very different ways. We recently took a D.I.S.C. personality test, and we quickly discovered that together we spelt out all of the letters in D.I.S.C.
While I am as a general rule, quite comfortable with changes in schedule, or adapting the way I do things. Roy finds adapting quite difficult. Roy, on the other hand, has a quiet confidence in areas I feel weak or inadequate. We have found the same to be true of the children. They each handle change in a unique way! They get frustrated with each other if someone is not sympathetic to the emotional turmoil experienced when encountering a new obstacle. The cultural differences have been most obvious within the school system. We are constantly reminding each other of a valuable lesson we learnt when we were on missionary training. DIFFERENT IS JUST DIFFERENT IT IS NOT WRONG! Share on X
If the culture you are experiencing is different from what you are used to; remember that it is just different. God hasn’t made a mistake placing you there. You will be good for the culture, and the culture will be good for you.
Psalm 139:13-16 (ESV)
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a]
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
