Abstract
We all grow up in groups which exert increasing influence on us, and as we grow up, we become more and more “tribal” without realizing it. The tribalism which often develops is all too often a millstone around missionary necks, alienating them from the very people they hope to influence, and making it difficult to first learn from those they hope to teach.
Learning to identify, describe, and evaluate one's tribal experience, an exercise in de-parochialization, should become a central organizing principle in exit (pre-field) orientation. A five-stage program for transcending tribalism is developed.
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