When Anointing Oil Isn’t Quite What You Think

One of the things I learned very quickly while living and ministering in Thailand was that you can pray, prepare, study your Bible, and have a very clear idea of how you think something should go, and then something completely changes your plans.

I learned that lesson in a memorable way at a women’s retreat in Thailand.

During our earlier years in Thailand, I was asked to speak at a women’s retreat where women had gathered from several different churches from Laos. I was excited about the opportunity. I prayed for the women, prepared my messages, sought the Holy Spirit for direction, and asked God to use the time to encourage and strengthen them. I was ready.

Well, mostly ready.

The retreat went really well. The women were engaged, hungry for God, and eager to learn. I was enjoying every minute of it. There was just one little humourous factor. My translator occasionally seemed to forget that his job was to translate my sermon.

He would translate what I said, and then he would keep talking. And talking, and talking. Sometimes I would finish making a point and he would carry on for what seemed like another five minutes. When he finished I asked him, “are you preaching or am I?” We laughed together! Sometimes he was preaching his own sermon. (Honestly they have to often fix our messages to fit better in their cultural context, especially humour AND sometimes they just add more).

I learned very quickly that when you’re ministering in another culture, you have to learn to roll with things.

By the final night, I wanted to do something special with the women. I arranged for them to gather in groups with women from their various churches, and I purchased anointing oil for each group. I thought it would be a beautiful way to end our time together.

I stood in front of everyone and announced that I would like the women to pray for their church leaders and anoint them with oil. It seemed like a great idea to me.

Then my translator leaned over and quietly whispered, “We don’t do that.”

Oh.

He explained that in their churches, the leaders prayed for the members. The leaders ministered to the people and anointed the people. The members didn’t anoint their leaders. Once again, I had just discovered a cultural difference.

In many cultures, especially those shaped by strong hierarchical and honour-based relationships, there is a very clear understanding of leadership and authority. In Thailand this is evidenced even in the greeting (where you place your hands on your face, indicates the level of respect) There are people who lead, and people who follow. What felt completely natural to me didn’t feel natural to them. So, I did what you learn to do when you’re working cross-culturally. I pivoted.

I explained that instead of the women anointing their leaders, I would like the leaders to pray for and anoint the women in their groups.

Problem solved. Well, not exactly.

The leaders began praying for the women and applying the oil. Everything seemed to be going well until I started noticing something. The women’s eyes were watering. Their faces were turning bright red and it wasn’t the power of the Holy Spirit on them. They looked uncomfortable. Then I looked a little closer and I realized something. The oil was medicinal. There are a lot of oils in Thailand, and apparently I had purchased the wrong kind!

Oh my word.

This wasn’t the gentle, fragrant anointing oil I had pictured in my mind. This was some kind of medicinal oil that was intended to help with aches and pains.

And apparently, it was very good at doing its job.

There I was standing at the front, watching these beautiful women being anointed while their eyes watered and their faces turned red. And I had absolutely no idea what was happening. I intended to create this beautiful spiritual moment, and instead I had accidentally organized something that looked a little more like a group needing medical attention!

I can laugh about it now, but that experience taught me something important about cross-cultural ministry. You can love people deeply and still misunderstand their culture. You can know your Bible and still make assumptions. You can have the right heart and still get the method completely wrong.

Sometimes you simply have to stop, listen, laugh at yourself, and change direction.

We all bring our culture into church. We bring our ideas about leadership, authority, family, communication, hospitality, conflict, time and even what spiritual ministry should look like. We often don’t recognize those things because they feel completely normal to us.

That night in Thailand I learned more about honour, hierarchy and leadership. I learned that I couldn’t simply walk into another culture and assume everyone would understand ministry the way I did.

And, apparently, I also learned that it’s probably a good idea to ask a few questions before you start pouring mystery oil on people.

Looking back, I’m grateful for those moments. They taught me to listen before assuming and to ask questions before acting.

Sometimes the best ministry lessons doesn’t come from the sermon you prepared. Sometimes they come from the moments when your carefully prepared plan goes sideways.

And sometimes they come with red faces, watering eyes and medicinal anointing oil.