Be aware of the humor gap. I was sitting in a full movie theatre in Manila, Philippines watching Jackie Chan star in Rush Hour. The main plot was like most action movies where the partners are trying to get along while they attempt to search and destroy the bad guys. About half-way through the movie, I noticed that my American friends and I were often the only ones laughing as the two cops tried to fulfill their mission in a rather bungling manner. Often, the entire theater was silent in the parts that I thought were the most funny. Then, near the end, Chan's partner expresses that his father died unglamourously while working on the job as a New York cop. It was a very somber moment. However, the entire theater burst out laughing. At that moment I realized that there is a humor gap between the Philippines and the United States.
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Sometimes our humor fails because of language subtleties. Scholars say that Jesus was making humor when He compared a rich person's entrance into heaven to a camel and a needle. I understand the point, but it is not a knee-slapper for me.
Some kinds of humor in the pulpit may erode the initial respect that we are given. Even worse, the laughter may be out of politeness rather than effectiveness of communication. Many cultures know that Americans place a high value on wit and laughter. I once regularly used a translator who would announce in Amharric, "The pastor is telling a joke, make sure that you laugh afterwards."
My basic rule for humor is that every culture values a story. Few cultures value a English-language pun. No two cultures have exactly the same sense of humor. I have found that the best humorous stories are based on my own experience in adjusting to a biblical truth or cultural difference.
Watch your statistics. Most statistics that pastors quote are bound to a cultural context. One pastor spoke to a group of immigrants about the evils of the media. The fact that most Americans spend seven hours per day watching TV was not a problem to them. The immigrants were watching over ten hours per day because TV was the easiest place to learn English and American culture. Quoting statistics about the American divorce rate may have little effect on a group that sees itself as decidedly outside of the American mainstream.
I am learning to tell stories. Instead of quoting that only 3 out of 10 Americans pray every day, I tell a story about one woman who prayed and one who did not. Most non-western cultures identify more with story than statistics.
Choose a good translation. Try covering the right half of the next paragraph when you read. Even though you see only 50% of the words, you may be able to guess the general meaning. If a vital word is hidden, you may draw the exact opposite conclusion from what was intended. With 50% of the words covered, you are functioning at the level of a person who is learning English as a second language.
If you substitute a tenth of the visible words on the page with new meanings or spellings, then the comprehension level drops dramatically. Songs that speak of sin and error pining and stars drawing nigh can lead the non-native speaker astray. Most updated versions of outdated translations have substituted words like froward with the understandable term, hostile (1 Peter 2:18). It is sometimes humorous to discover that an American church wishes to donate its used KJV collection to a church overseas. Modern English is hard enough already.