Chapter 1

Introduction

            Moving from one culture to another is not a new phenomenon.  Though recent advances in transportation have made it easier to do so, people have crossed from one culture to another for thousands of years.  At some times they moved to a different culture because they were carried there as captives.  At other times they moved to a different culture because they wanted something found in the culture.

Part 1: The Longest Reentry

            The move resulting in the longest reentry transition recorded in the Bible began as a way for a people to survive, a way to get food during a widespread famine.  We find the record of this move in the last few chapters of Genesis.

• Joseph was sold as a slave in Egypt (Genesis 37).
• About twenty years later ten of Joseph’s brothers went to Egypt to buy grain during a famine (Genesis 42).
• A couple years later those brothers again went to Egypt to buy more grain (Genesis 43-45).
• Soon Joseph’s parents as well as all of his brothers and their families moved to Egypt (Genesis 46).
• The Israelites (family of Israel) settled in the district of Rameses in the region of Goshen where they could pasture their flocks and herds (Genesis 47). 

            From the beginning the Israelites were a scorned minority even though Joseph himself was in charge of distributing all the available food in Egypt.  In fact, Joseph told his family to answer honestly that they tended livestock, and they would be allowed to settle in Goshen even if “all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians” (Genesis 46:34).

            The Israelites lived there another seventeen years buying property, increasing the number of their livestock, and having many children to greatly increase the size of the family (Genesis 47).  Even though they lived there for many years and the children born there had never seen their passport country (Cannan), those who had moved to Egypt still saw it as their host country and longed ultimately to return home.

• Israel (Jacob) made Joseph promise not to bury him in Egypt, but to take his body back to their passport country for burial (Genesis 47:29-31).
• After Israel (Jacob) died and the seventy days of mourning were over, Joseph and his brothers took Israel’s (Jacob’s) body back to their passport country for the funeral and burial (Genesis 50:1-14).
• Years later after several more generations of Israelites were born, Joseph was about to die.  He also made his family promise to take his bones with them when they returned to their passport country (Genesis 50:24-26).

            At that same time Joseph again noted that God would somehow get them back to their passport country, the land He had promised to their great-grandfather Abraham, their grandfather Isaac, and their father Israel.  That reentry did not take place until more than 400 years later, and the reentry itself took nearly 50 years.

Part 2:  Reentry Today

            Reentry in the 21^st century usually takes far less than 50 years.  Though it may take several years, most reentries occur in a matter of months.  However long it takes, we may think of it in several phases.

• Involved.  Though not a part of reentry itself, we need to begin at the time people are involved in their host culture.
• Leaving.  From the time they first seriously consider returning to their passport country until they actually close the door as they start on their way is a time of leaving.
• In Transit.  From the time they actually walk out the door to the time they unpack their minds (not just their suitcases), people are in transit.
• Entering.  From the time they get their mind unpacked until they are fully involved in their passport country which usually takes months or even a year or more, people are in the entering stage.
• Involved (again).  People are now fully re-involved in a culture, their passport culture.

            Following you will find at least one chapter about each of these phases.