Enduring Silly Games and Songs at Church Events
One aspect of cross-cultural living in Thailand that I did not expect is playing silly games and doing song-and-dance hand motion type icebreakers at church camps and events. I don't really enjoy them but everyone else seems to think they are great. It may seem like a small thing, and in the grand scheme of things, it is not a huge deal. All the same, it certainly something to get used to.
In the Western context, it is not odd to do silly games and songs when working with kids or teens. But when you work with adults, you just don’t do those things. Maybe there are exceptions, but in my experience in the United States, you don’t require adults at a church retreat to stand up and do an ice breaker game with hand motions and a silly / cutesy song. Walk around, find a buddy, clap your hands together like this, etc. You just don’t do it. Western adults are happy to enjoy a laid back, friendly atmosphere at a camp or retreat, do activities in small groups, get to know each other, play sports, etc. But don’t ask them to do songs and games that are better suited for children. Yet in Thailand, this sort of thing is normal.
I will admit that Thai leaders will not do the exact same activities in the same way for kids, teens, and adults. They know that there are difference audiences who like different things. But for myself, and I think for not a few other Western Christians and missionaries, the silly song and game time at camps and church events are hard to endure. For the sake of being part of the group, showing team spirit, and building relationships with others, I often participate in the required games and songs. But I confess that I don’t usually enjoy it.
When ministering in a different culture, there are huge numbers of things that are not wrong, but they are just different. Maybe the song-and-games-with-adults part of Thai culture is simple one of those “not wrong, but just different” cultural differences.
That said, a Thai colleague mentioned that it is not only foreigners who don’t like these kinds of games, but also Thai men. Christian men in Thai churches are accustomed to these sorts of activities, but non-Christian Thai men don’t want to come back to a church or group that puts them on the spot to do embarrassing games and songs. Do these sorts of games make churches too feminine or too juvenile, thereby pushing men away? It is something to think about.