Increasing Cultural Intelligence In Short Term Team Members, Their Senders And Their Hosts

INCREASING CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE SHORT-TERM TEAM MEMBERS, THEIR SENDERS AND THEIR HOSTS

by

Lisa Anderson-Umana

B.S., Penn State University, 1982 Master of Arts, Wheaton College Graduate School, 1993

FINAL PROJECT

Submitted to the faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for

ES 8624 Cross-Cultural Conflict, Duane H. Elmer for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Educational Studies

at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Deerfield, Illinois April 2008

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CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v BACKGROUND AND AUDIENCE FOR THIS PAPER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

DESIGNING A SHORT-TERM MISSIONS TRIP THAT INCREASES THE

CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE OF THE SENDERS,

THE GOERS AND THE RECEIVERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Mission defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Cultural Intelligence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Definition of culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Definition of cultural intelligence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Unique factors of the trilogy of participants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Process of nurturing CQ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 First: Pre-trip Preparation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Second: Post-trip integration of the experience into the lives of participants once they return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Third: During the trip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

APPENDIX B: KEY CHAIN FOR GOERS-GUESTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

APPENDIX C: KEY CHAIN FOR HOST RECEIVERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

REFERENCES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

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ILUSTRATIONS

Figure Page 1. Categorization of cultural differences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2. Apron: Be a servant! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 7 3. Cartoon depicting a particular cultural orientation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

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TABLES

Table Page 1 Common stereotypes Americans and Two-thirds World have of each other. . . . . . . . . . . .6 2 Cultural differences relevant to a 1-2 week STM trip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 11 3 Aspects to observe during your “Foray into a foreign land” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

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BACKGROUND AND AUDIENCE FOR THIS PAPER

The primary reader for this paper is my professor, Dr. Duane Elmer. My

secondary readers are myself, being that I am in charge of receiving short-term missions trips

in Honduras, since I live and serve in the host country, married to a Honduran, Alfredo

Umaña, with whom I would have already made most of the cultural blunders you can make!

I consider myself a host receiver together with six Honduran host families, Camp Villa

Gracia where we will build eight low ropes course initiatives, Santidad School and church

who serve children and families who live and work at Tegucigalpa’s city garbage dump and

over a dozen members of Christian Camping International (CCI) with whom I work year-

round. The CCI members will work alongside the North Americans who will be arriving.

The other secondary reader is my USA counterpart, Henrietta Doren, for whom this will be

her eighth consecutive STM trip to Honduras since 1999. She is in charge of the goers-

guests and serves as the liaison between the sending church and myself. Thirdly are those

readers who are fellow missionaries who serve in Latin America and receive short-term

mission teams as part of their ministry.

My home church, North Way Christian Community of Pittsburgh, Pa. has

been sending me a short-term missions trip each year since 1996. I was the first missionary

sent out from that church since it was founded over 25 years ago, so I will not be receiving

strangers, but rather friends and supporters.

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In light of the fact that I pretty much hosted the teams the same way year after

year, mostly focusing on construction work at camp, I am using the research done for this

paper and the ideas that it contains as my turning point. I am preaching to myself. From

now on, I would like to establish a new pattern of doing short-term missions and we will

experiment with this year’s team in order to “test out our new theories and practices.” The

short-term missions team members are willing and quite happy to serve as “guinea pigs” and

since half of the team has accompanied me on previous trips, they are looking forward to a

change! This being the case, the reader will note that I am combining theory with practical

ways to implement it. Thankfully, Henrietta and I are in a position to test each of the ideas

set forth in this paper within three months time with an eye towards creating a solid model

for many years of short-term missions trips to come.

By the way, I would love to see research done and material written for the

host receivers not from the angle of how to better serve (pamper in some cases) the North

American STM teams but rather, how to better teach the host receivers cultural intelligence

as well how to utilize this experience to grow in their own understanding of other cultures.

Most Latin American countries are homogeneous and not nearly as diverse in culture as are

the USA and Canada, with the exception of certain native Indian populations which are

usually isolated from the general population. Latin Americans can learn just as much about

Westerners as North Americans can learn about them through short-term missions.

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DESIGNING A SHORT-TERM MISSIONS TRIP THAT INCREASES THE

CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE OF THE SENDERS,

THE GOERS AND THE RECEIVERS

Mission defined

I begin with a confession. Only after having served for twenty-five years

on the mission field and having hosted no less than 25 short-term mission teams, has

cultural intelligence even appeared on my radar screen! No doubt God figured it was

time and I was ready for a new challenge. Or perhaps it was due to the convergence of

reading of Serving with eyes wide open: Doing short-term missions with cultural

intelligence (Livermore 2006) in 2007 and then attending this class in Cross-cultural

conflict that prompted me to focus first on my own cultural intelligence and now on the

short-term missions (STM) team that we will be hosting July 5-15, 2008, Tegucigalpa,

Honduras.

Lest I fall prey to making cultural intelligence an end in and of itself, I

want to clarify that “mission is not to be the focus of our life and faith…. God calls us to

a growing commitment to a Person, our Lord Jesus Christ, not a growing commitment to

a task, even one as admirable as mission” (Dearborn 1997, vi.).

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There has been a gradual shift over the last 20 years of viewing short-term

mission as the up and coming solution to reach the world for Christ to consuming

missions trips mostly for personal benefits in what Livermore (2006) calls the “drive-by

mission trip mind-set” to seeing short-term missions as one of the many life experiences

that impact us and others, albeit a good one! I have observed this last perspective in the

writings of a number of authors including Elmer 2002; Livermore 2006; Dearborn 2003;

and Stiles and Stiles 2000 to name a few.

My prayer for this paper and the ensuing short-term missions trip from my

home church is for all the participants involved to grow more globally aware, pray more

for missions and missionaries and become more missions-minded Christians (Borthwick

1996). By all participants, I will adopt Petersen’s, et al. (2003) participant trilogy of

senders, goer-guests, and host receivers. Senders represent the church or organization

sponsoring the trip. Goer-guests is a unique term meant to clarify the role of those who

go on a STM trip as being “guests” in another country. Host receivers refer to those who

receive the “guests,” serving as their hosts while they are in their country.

As an American married to a Honduran, serving as a career missionary,

living in Honduras, and receiving a short-term mission team from her home church, it is

clear I have a vested interest in all three participants! This vested interest is what

prompts me to design a STM trip that includes increasing the cultural intelligence of the

host receivers and not just the goer-guests.

As an interesting side note, my own area of expertise is Christian Camping

and I observe a strong parallel between the temporary community formed at camp (Slater

1984) and the one that is formed during a short-term mission trip. They even share some

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of the same limitations! (i.e. it’s temporary, it takes place in physically remote places,

it’s distant from the ordinary routine of life, and “we often take young people away from

their families and then try to teach them how to live in families! We seek to teach ways of

interrelating away from the primary group to which the campers must eventually relate”

(Slater 1984, 59). Part of my “hidden agenda” is to see if throughout this short-term

missions trip we discover some helpful insights that will help us deal more effectively

with these limitations in the camping ministry.

Cultural Intelligence

There are many aspects of STM that could be considered and a wealth of

material to investigate as has been noted in an article entitled All You Ever Wanted on

Short Term Missions, (Moreau and O’Rear 2004) which if you access on-line, will

provide you with links and more than you ever wanted to know about STM! In addition

is the website of Short-Term Evangelical Mission (http://stemintl.org/). I have chosen to

focus on one part of the short-term mission endeavor, cultural intelligence (CQ). Given

that learning is an active process, one that must involve action in order to apprehend new

understandings (Mezirow & Associates 1990), together with the theory base of cultural

intelligence, I have created very practical ways in which to nurture it. Since the

implementation of these practical ideas will be the key, I will literally provide a key chain

to each of the trilogy of participants to carry with them during the 11-day trip. Given the

myriad of pressing concerns and the rush of new experiences, a key chain will provide us

all with a handy tool to remind the senders to pray, and the goers and receivers to seize

the moment each time they put their hand in their pocket. Throughout this paper, I will

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describe the different “keys” that will hang on each of the key chains. Images of these

three key chains can be found in Appendices A, B and C.

My hope is while these ideas and practices are applicable to a 11-day trip

the lessons learned will also be transferable to other opportunities for cross-cultural

connections once the trip is over.

Definition of culture

Culture, in the era of computers, can best be understood as the software

that runs our minds, mental software (Hofstede and Hofstede 2005). As a mental

program it contains the patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting that are likely to happen

given one’s past and social environment. Culture determines, to a large degree, what

people value, what they regard as right or wrong, what they believe to be true or false,

their likes and dislikes and what they regard as acceptable or unacceptable. It is passed

down from generation to generation. “Culture is in the person, not the setting or the

context” (Storti 1994, 40). Let us not be fooled by appearances, even though the

computers and office equipment may look alike all around the world, those sitting behind

the computers retain their distinct cultural orientations. Sadly, many STM projects pay

little or no heed to culture sensitivities, perhaps they perceive modernization and

globalization to pretty well have flattened the world and minimized the major cultural

differences, or they believe culture to be more a product of the context (Friedman 2007).

Definition of cultural intelligence

I have read a number of approaches designed to help the people deal

effectively with cultural differences. The authors use different terminology to describe

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more or less the same objective, like cultural sensitivity (Stiles and Stiles 2000),

adjustment competency (Elmer 2002), learning to delight in differences (Dearborn 2003)

and making the transcultural connection (Hales 1995). Here are a few highlights

gathered from their expertise combined with some practical “keys” for implementation.

Growing in cultural sensitivity is best considered a journey. Mack and

Leeanns (Stiles and Stiles 2000, 63) trace the journey traveled by our beloved St. Peter

concerning his own prejudices against Gentiles. Even though Peter had an earth shaking,

paradigm shifting experience at Pentecost regarding God’s desire to draw all cultures to

himself, it was but a stop in his journey since he needed further work, which prompted

God to give him a dream (Acts 10). Likewise, no short-termer should consider himself

“cured” of cultural biases just because he successfully completed a missions trip.

Mack and Leeann recommend the journey start like Peter’s did: with

prayer. It was while Peter was praying that God gave him the vision. “We need to ask

God to show us our cultural bias before we enter another culture. Name your fears about

other cultures to God and examine them in light of God’s love for all people” (Stiles and

Stiles 2000, 63). To this end one of the keys provided on the key chain for the senders

will be a prayer calendar (see Appendix A) which suggests how to pray according to each

segment of the pre-during-post trip.

Dearborn’s (2003) workbook contains a number of excellent exercises

with reflection questions to start you on the journey of discovering your cultural fears and

biases as well as exercises designed to help you learn to delight in the differences. Just to

give the reader a flavor of his exercises, Table 1 provides an example followed by

suggested questions for reflection and discussion (Dearborn 2003, 25-26).

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Common stereotypes Americans have of people in the Two-Thirds World

Common stereotypes people in the Two-Thirds World have of Americans

lazy aggressive inefficient preoccupied with tasks emotional harshly pragmatic slow and unmotivated tense and pressured rooted in traditions discontented and lonely corrupt leaders corrupt leaders naive educated strongly interdependent strongly individualistic eagerly seeking a better life securely enjoying the good life highly spiritual highly materialistic Table 1 Common stereotypes Americans and Two-thirds World have of each other

Evaluate the list of stereotypes. To what extent do you share these

impressions of people in the Two-thirds World and of Americans? Which stereotypes

would you delete? What stereotypes would you want to add? What challenges and

opportunities do these stereotypes create? Our short-term missions team is using

Dearborn’s workbook (2003) to prepare for this trip.

Elmer’s approach throughout all three of his “cross-cultural” books is his

strategic use of the concept of differences. He defines cross-cultural conflict (1993) in

terms of differences, “the existence of differences which when misunderstood or

unresolved create distance in relationships”. In Cross-cultural connections (2002) he

admonishes us to broaden our category of differences in order not to label the cultural

differences we observe as right or wrong, prompting us to declare “It’s not wrong, it’s

just different!” when facing aspects of a culture we do not understand. I have modified

his diagram to add yet another category called “Not as good” in light of my own

tendencies to maybe not declare something as being “wrong” but rather just “not as

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good” as my way. Sadly, it may have been my way of rationalizing my rejection of some

difference.

Right Differences Not as good

Wrong

Figure 1: Categorization of cultural differences, adapted from Duane Elmer, Cross-cultural connections (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, 2002), p. 27. Used by permission.

This simple diagram will serve as a key on the key chains of both the

goers-guests and host receivers (see Appendices B and C) to remind them to broaden

their category of differences.

In Cross-cultural servanthood (2006) he makes a sharp difference

between serving with a towel or with a robe. His biblical exegesis leaves no doubt that

since God connected with us as a servant in the form of his Son Jesus Christ, we best

connect with others across cultures choosing not the robe of royalty and special

privileges but rather the towel of a lowly, humble, obedient

servant going not to be served but to serve. To remind the

goers-guests and host receivers to choose servanthood, each

keychain contain a small apron, see figure 2, which is a more

culturally appropriate symbol for Latin America since many

people have servants (domestic help) and they often wear

aprons to work in).

Expectations play a huge role in life in another culture. “Every

disappointment or frustration you experience is a result of some expectation that has been

violated or unfulfilled” (Elmer 2002, 54). That being the case, I have adapted an exercise

from Elmer’s book (2002, 56) to help our goers-guests and host receivers bring to the

surface their expectations by naming them, owing them and comparing them with what

Figure 2 Apron: Be a servant!

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may be reality. This, in the hope of closing the gap between expectations and reality and

thus allowing us all to have a “more positive experience, leave a positive impression on

each other and thus have a greater impact for the kingdom of God. In the final analysis,

your single most important goal is to represent Christ to the people in the other culture.

That is more likely to happen when you are not struggling with all kinds of unrealistic

expectations” (Elmer 2002, 57).

The modified comparison chart, found in Appendices B and C contains

four columns. The first column contains a brief reminder of how the senders will be

praying for the goers-guests, the second column describes the basic segments of the 11-

day trip schedule, the third column, entitled My expectations, is to be filled out by the

goers-guests (a Spanish version will be provided for the host receivers), after which

information for the fourth column named Probable Reality will given to them. My co-

leader, Henrietta Doren and I will provide this information for them. This chart would

serve several purposes: (a) to inform everyone of our schedule, (b) to prompt them to

foresee possible areas of conflict, (c) to allow Henrietta and I to shape their expectations

by informing them what “reality” will probably be like, and (d) to remind them daily that

they are not alone, they are being prayed for and that short-term missions is first and

foremost a spiritual exercise (Reese 2008), one to be approached with and covered in

prayer.

While there are numerous other points of counsel that could be

incorporated from a multitude of books available to prepare short-term mission workers, I

will dedicate the remainder of this paper to expounding on cultural intelligence (CQ)

(Livermore 2006).

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Livermore adapts cultural intelligence for use in the missions arena but the

framework for CQ was originally developed by P. Christopher Earley, Soon, and Joo-

Seng (2006) for cross-cultural interactions in the world of business and the hospitality

industry. I have taken the liberty of drawing exclusively from chapters nine through

twelve of Livermore’s (2006) book to explain cultural intelligence (CQ) through the

excerpts found below.

Cultural intelligence is just a way of measuring our ability to interact effectively when we cross cultures. …CQ will help us sharpen our focus and service in short-term missions, and it will enhance our missional living wherever we are, all the time. …CQ is a matrix that consists of four different emphases, all of which are linked together. …The four interconnected elements of CQ are: (1) knowledge CQ, (2) interpretive CQ, (3) perseverance CQ, and (4) behavioral CQ. …The interdependence of these four factors is important, because having one without the others may actually be worse than having none of them. (Livermore 2006, 110-112) Knowledge CQ refers to our understanding about cross-cultural issues and differences. …The most important part of knowledge CQ is gaining general knowledge about how cultures vary. … The point is not to master our knowledge CQ before we take off on our next trip. Knowledge CQ continues to stretch and grow throughout our lifetime. Interpretive CQ is simply the degree to which we are mindful and aware when we interact cross-culturally. …It is turning off the “mental cruise control” we typically use as we interact with people, stepping back, paying close attention to the cues and intentionally questioning our assumptions. As we interpret the cues received through interpretative CQ, we continually adjust our knowledge CQ. These two elements of CQ are very dependent upon one another. Perseverance CQ refers to our level of interest, drive, and motivation to adapt cross-culturally. It is the traveler’s robustness, courage, hardiness, and capability to persevere through cultural differences. …It is soaking in the culture and setting the tone for others to do likewise. It is persisting through difficult interactions, trying the food and the language, continuing the hard work of journaling and seeking to understand what is really going on beneath the surface of what you see. Behavioral CQ is the extent to which we change our verbal and nonverbal actions when interacting cross-culturally. …Behavioral CQ is being sensitive and appropriate with our actions and behavior as we engage in a new culture. At the

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end of the day, our cultural intelligence and, more importantly, our short-term mission endeavors, will be measured by this element: our behavior. The things we actually say and do and the ways we go about our work become the litmus test for whether we are doing STM with cultural intelligence. Our ability to draw upon all the other CQ elements and act appropriately is behavioral CQ.

Unique factors of the trilogy of participants

Having explained briefly what cultural intelligence consists of, I will now

explore ways to increase the CQ of the trilogy of participants, not just of the goers-guests.

There is a growing body of research available -http://www.calvin.edu/academic/sociology/staff/kurt/

but most of it focuses on the positive impact of STM on the goers-guests and the senders.

I am thankful to be in a unique position to promote, plan for and verify the positive

impact a STM trip can have on the host receivers.

Process of nurturing CQ

I will use the following order to describe how to nurture and increase

cultural intelligence.

The most important aspect of short-term mission service is preparation; the second most important aspect is integration of the experience into the lives of participants once they return home; and third most important aspect is the trip itself. The long-term impact of your service will be deeply affected by the quality of your preparation, and the long-term impact on your own life will be deeply affected by the quality of your debriefing and integration. (Dearborn 2003, 22)

First: Pre-trip Preparation

Knowledge CQ: The easiest element of CQ to work on prior to the trip is

the Knowledge CQ. Becoming aware of your own cultural frame of reference will enable

you to better understand your host culture. Rather than read a long grocery list of

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“culture does and don’ts” I would recommend reading a user-friendly version of cultural

orientations. Sarah Lanier’s book, Foreign to familiar: A guide to understanding hot- and

cold-climate cultures (2000) is a very easy read, it offers plenty of examples from Latin

America and highlights the cultural differences most likely to be relevant for a 1-2 week

trip (see Table 1: Cultural differences relevant to a 1-2 week STM trip).

Westerners Cultural Differences or Orientations Majority World Task 1. . . 2. . . 3 . . . 4 . . .5 Relationship Direct communication 1. . . 2. . . 3 . . . 4 . . .5 Indirect communication Individualism 1. . . 2. . . 3 . . . 4 . . .5 Collectivism or group identity Privacy 1. . . 2. . . 3 . . . 4 . . .5 Inclusion Clock time 1. . . 2. . . 3 . . . 4 . . .5 Event time Achievement focus 1. . . 2. . . 3 . . . 4 . . .5 Status focus Categorical thinking 1. . . 2. . . 3 . . . 4 . . .5 Holistic thinking Secular (scientific) mindset 1. . . 2. . . 3 . . . 4 . . .5 Spiritualistic (animistic) mindset Cold-climate hospitality 1. . . 2. . . 3 . . . 4 . . .5 Hot-climate hospitality Table 2: Cultural differences relevant to a 1-2 week STM trip (chart format adapted from Dr. Duane Elmer’s handout, Differences, 14 December 2007, ES 8624 Cross-cultural conflict)

Table 1 conveys the fact that these differences are on a continuum; tension

exists between both extremes. You cannot talk about culture without generalizations, but

remember that while stereotypes may be accurate about groups, they are never going to

be wholly true of individuals (Storti 1994). There are many excellent books available to

study these orientations apart from Lanier’s book (2000). I highly recommend Elmer’s

(2002) approach because he provides you with the basic cultural anthropologic research

illustrated with stories, then he takes you to the Bible for further insights and tips and

then leaves you with very thought provoking personal reflection questions and group

discussion questions. Remember, knowing the differences will save you some confusion,

while understanding yourself and others will reduce judgmentalism (Elmer 2002, 142).

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Scenario with low cultural intelligence

Scenario with increased cultural intelligence

Negative Action

Situation: The entire team is to meet at 4pm, it’s 5pm and half of the host fami-lies have not yet arrived with their guests.

Same Situation

Negative Action

Positive Action

Clock vs. Event Time

Negative attribution Negative attribution

Scowls, grimaces; looking at watch; flurry of activity to “get the show on the road”.

Avoidance of others who are uptight; faces downcast.

Approach others to converse and discuss observations of their host family experience.

Approach to reassure them that the host families were probably just talking and not to worry.

Positive attribution Positive attribution

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Positive Action

Can’t these people do things on time? Time is money ! We need to get going.

Why is everyone so uptight? What’s the rush? We’ll leave when every -one gets here.

Hmm, our hosts are not worried, their concept of time is oriented towards the event. I’ll just relax.

Hmm, Westerners operate by the clock, they seem to be anxious right now because we’re behind schedule.

As a help to those who learn and retain best visually, the key chain for

both the goers-guests and host receivers will contain little 3x5 cards with cartoons

depicting cultural differences that are likely to experience (See example in Figure 3:

Clock vs. Event Time orientation). The format for each cartoon: (a) starting from the

middle of the page, a typical situation that is likely to happen during the STM trip; (b) in

the top tier, branching out from center to the left for North Americans and to the right for

Latin Americans, possibly two different thought patterns take place, this is called

negative attribution which can breed negative actions; (c) in the bottom tier, the North

American and Latin American use their increased CQ to generate understanding and

positive attribution (giving the benefit of the doubt) and thus fostering positive, edifying

behavior.

Figure 3 Cartoon depicting a particular cultural orientation

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Perseverance and interpretive CQ: This element is related to your

willingness to move out of your comfort zone into what in camp we call the groan zone.

You have to persevere through the groan zone in order to move into the growth zone, in

our case, to grow in CQ. One way to assess the goers-guests and host receivers

Perseverance CQ before the trip would be to ask them, as a group preferably, to frequent

some place (restaurant for example) where they could be exposed to people and customs

of that culture and then debrief afterwards. In the case of the host receivers in Honduras,

the group could go to a Hotel lobby or English-speaking church service where they could

sit and observe North Americans. In the case of the goers-guests, they could eat a meal

in a Mexican restaurant (must be an authentic restaurant with Latin personnel, not “YO

QUIERO TACO BELL”!). This experience would be combined with a written and

verbal debrief. Journaling, in order to increase interpretive CQ must go beyond recording

the superficial details, you must think and write about the meaning behind what you

observe and analyze the why’s behind your own reactions and those of others. Some

aspects to observe and comment on amongst the group members can be found in Table 2:

Aspects to observe during your “Foray into a foreign land.”

Food /Comida Clothing/ Vestimenta Architecture / Arquitectura

Personal space / Espacio personal

People interaction / Interacción de la gente

Manner in which people are served / servicio

Tone of voice, inflection /Tono de voz

Concept of time/ concepto de tiempo

Misc. Gestures, body language / Lenguaje corporal

Table 3 Aspects to observe during your “Foray into a foreign land”

Behavior CQ: The last activity done prior to the trip is studying about the

country, culture, trends, language, and customs and implications for proper behavior.

The internet has made that much easier. Since it is almost overwhelming the sheer

volume of information you can acquire, I recommend the following process.

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1. Filter your choice of information through this question: What do I need to do to blend in well in Honduras (or for the host receivers, to get along with North Americans)? Focus is on how you should act and behave.

2. Distill the information so it can fit on 1-2 typewritten pages, including phrases and expressions to learn in their language.

3. Meet face to face with someone from that country (or a neighboring country) to discuss the information and get their first-hand input.

Interpretive CQ: For the brave of heart, I would encourage you to check

your interpretive CQ by reading Craig Storti’s book: Cross-cultural dialogues: 74 brief

encounters with cultural differences (1994). It will test your ability both to notice the

subtle cues and then to interpret them. I guarantee you will quickly discover how

“clueless” most of us Americans are.

Second: Post-trip integration of the experience into the

lives of participants once they return

As the host receiver I have much less control over this aspect than what

the goers-guests/host receivers do during the trip, therefore I will offer a series of

questions whereby each participant can test him or herself to assess any increase in CQ as

well as be challenged to apply their new skills and understandings. Ideally, one would

take this test one month after the trip, then three to six months afterward and lastly, right

before they take another trip. Knowledge CQ Interpretive CQ Perseverance CQ Behavior CQ What do I know about the other culture that I did not know before? Am I more accepting of differences? Is my category for differences broader? Am I continuing to read and study about other cultures, as well as read biographies of missionaries?

How have I grown more sensitive to cues? Can I read more between the lines of what people say and mean? As I reread my journal, what new insights did I gain about myself, others, the world, and God? With who have I shared these insights?

You are in a foreign country and are hungry, at what place would you choose to eat? a. Find a familiar fast

food chain b. Find a local restaurant

(local cuisine) Will I participate in another STM trip? How inclined am I to get to know people from other cultures?

Do I have a vocation or calling to be a missionary? Will I give financially to missions? How willing am I to adjust my behavior to other cultural conditions? How much effort will I put forth to learn and use another language?

There is a similarity between the control we have over campers and the

control we have over the goers-guests once they return. The key is the long-term

partnership established between the senders and the host receivers (Stiles and Stiles 2003.)

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Third: During the trip

Appendices A, B, and C contain the bulk of the theory and practical means

of nurturing cultural intelligence during the short-term missions trip.

Interpretative CQ: As the hosts we have the liberty of creating a daily

schedule that best suits the needs of all parties involved. Given the vital importance of

time to pray, reflect, study scripture, journal and listen to the Lord we schedule sixty

minutes of quiet time each morning before breakfast for all and everyone to find a

tranquil place where they can comfortably sit, write and pray. In addition, we will stop

work or ministry early enough to leave time and energy at night, to reflect and debrief as

a group. In regards to CQ, journaling is one of the best ways to self-monitor particularly

in terms the perseverance and interpretive elements.

Knowledge CQ: Every evening, after dinner, we will take turns sharing

our stories of how we came to know the Lord. This type of exchange adds greatly to our

understanding of how God works in the people of other cultures.

Perseverance CQ: In order to persist in staying on the growing edge once

the novelty wears off, participants will be coached to identity what makes them

comfortable and what makes them groan in order to learn to how push past the

discomfort and grow through it, with the help of others. (See Growth Circles in

Appendices B and C.)

Behavior CQ: “As we nurture the other aspects of CQ, they have

inevitable implications on how we act. In a sense, behavioral CQ is the outcome of the

other three factors of CQ” (Livermore 2006, 157). I will provide on-the-spot training

immediately before we shift from one major segment of the trip to another. For instance,

right before we release each pair of North Americans to stay with their host family, I will

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review a short list of pertinent “does and don’t’s related to proper conduct, likewise right

before we begin the work project with the Hondurans, as well as when we are on the way

to play with the children who live and work at the city garbage dump. This amounts to

on-the-job behavioral training which Livermore (2006) highly recommends. The

schedule for the trip can be found in Appendix B.

Conclusion

I started this paper by stating that missions is not the goal, but rather

learning to love God and grow in our commitment to love Jesus Christ and others is the

goal. My belief is that a lack of cultural intelligence can diminish our attempts to love

God and others (Livermoore 2006, 174) so my hope is that this paper and its ideas have

served to increase the cultural intelligence of the senders, goers-guests, and host

receivers, thus enhancing our efforts to love God and others.

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APPENDIX A: PRAYER CARDS FOR SENDERS

Appendix A: Prayer cards for senders

Audience: The senders The primary audience for these prayer cards are those individuals who have responded to the Lord’s prompting to prayerfully and/or financially support one of the goers-guests who will be participating on the short-term missions trip to Honduras July 5-15, 2008. We call you the senders because of your obedient support, the goers-guests can go! The informat ion provided is designed to make you more knowledgeable about how to interact effectively when crossing cultures (increase your cultural intelligence so to speak!). Further-more, we wrote these cards to guide you praying for the one going on the trip (goer-guest).

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www.lisaander sonumana.blogspot.com

Pre-trip segment I ask you to prayer with me so God can show me my cultural bias before I enter another culture. As part of our team preparation I will be naming my fears about other cultures to God and examin ing them in light of God’s love for all people. Pray that I would work through my cultural bias by asking: Is this difference I see right, wrong, or just different? Pray that I would broaden my category of differences and not see everything that is different as being wrong or not as good as “the American way.”

Right Differences Wrong

Diagram tak en f rom Duane Elmer, Cross-cultu ral connections (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: Inte rvarsity P ress, 2002), p. 27.

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Day 1: Arrival — (S aturday) Pray for me to be curious about the other culture. Curiosity is essential for cross-cultural service. When encountering a different culture in the airport, upon my arrival, on the bus ride from San Pedro Su la to Tegucigalpa, tonight with my host family, —and the strange way people act, live and think—pray for me to be curious. I need enough curiosity to seek to understand the meanings behind people’s actions, cus-toms and ideas. If I do not penetrate beneath the surface to discover why people do what they do, I will forever be a foreigner, on the outside rather than the inside of people’s lives. Taken from Tim Dearborn, Short-term missions workbook (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: Interv arsity Press, 2003), p. 29-30.

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www.lisaandersonumana.blogspot.com

Day 1-2: Time with Host family- (Saturday and Sunday) Pray for me to truly be a guest in my host’s home. I am called a goer-guest. By virtue of this title, I am reminded of my proper role in relationship to my host family, who will be graciously providing for me and my partner a place to sleep tonight, Saturday and Sunday as well. Pray for me to remember that when you are a guest in someone’s home, you do not come to criticize or judge life in their home but rather to form a relat ionship. Americans have been characterized as being the type of people who go into a country and try to change things, which carries the assumption that we know best, our ways of doing things are superior and the local ways are therefore inferior, not as good. That posture is like unto a guest going into someone home and rearranging their furniture (Doolings 1994)! Pray for me to remember that I am a guest here. “When in Rome, do as the Romans.” As we attend church together on Sunday morning, cook a meal together in their home on Sunday, pray for me to try and blend in, which goes against our individualistic cultural tendency to stand out, be unique, make a statement, etc. Latin American society is more collectiv istic, people form part of strong, unified in-group, primarily their family. By the way, p ray for me to eat everything served to me, “remembering that eating the food is an acceptance of their hospitality, and this has a higher value than the taste of the food” (Lan ier 2000, 47). Richard Doolings, White man’s grave. (New York: Picador, 1994). A nd Sarah A. Lanier, Foreign to f amiliar. (Hagerstown, Md. : McDougal Publishing, 2000).

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Days 3-4- 5: Work Project at camp- (Monday, Tuesday, Wednes day until noon) Pray for me to serve and “do everything without complaining or arguing” (Phil. 4:14). Pray for me to choose to wear an apron! The towel (or apron) is the sign of a servant. Pray that I learn the value of hard work for a good cause. Pray that I would not be self-righteous about my service, seeking human applause and wanting people to see and appreciate my efforts. “True service rests contented in hiddenness. It does not fear the lights and blare of attention, but it does not seek them either. Self-righteous service is highly concerned about results. It becomes bitter when the results fall below expectations. True service is free of the need to calculate the results. It delights only in the service.” Pray for me to be a true servant! Taken from Foster, Richard. Celebration of discipline. (New York: Harper & Row, 1978), p . 112 .

During the evenings, Lisa and the Hondurans will be helping us get the big picture by showing us pictures and sharing with us what they do in Christian camping. We will learn what the role of short-term missions is as well. Afterwards, we will debrief our experience, so please pray for me to be alert, aware and participative in these discussions.

Be a servant!

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Day 5: Preparation day: (Wednes day afternoon & evening) Preparation for ministry day, which will be done at Alfredo and Lisa’s house. Pray for me because by this time the fascination of the culture may have worn off, and I may be experiencing some culture shock. A brief word about culture shock is due. “Culture shock is when you experience frustration from not knowing the rules or having the skills for adjusting to a new culture.” Is that wrong? No, it is good and normal to experience culture shock. It is good if I am experiencing it, because that means I am making an effort to enter into the culture and it gives me the opportunity to know God better. God is so grand that it requires us experiencing him in a diversity of cultures to more fully grasp his greatness. Culture shock is normal in the sense that it is universally experienced by all who venture out from their familiar culture to an unknown one like I will be doing. Pray that I would not respond to the cultural differences by rejecting the culture, which can lead me to withdraw and isolate myself or become critical of everything. Pray that I would not listen to the lies of Satan in thinking that I am abnormal, or unspiritual for feeling this way or that somehow I have missed God’s call, I should not be here or that I am not skilled for ministry. Pray that I will relax and use this as an opportunity to grow and work through my feelings of discord by journaling, asking questions, sharing my feelings with others and if necessary, make a strategic withdrawal to recuperate and then return. Taken from Mack and Leeann Stiles, Short -te rm missions (Downer’s Grov e, Ill.: Inte rvarsity Press, 2000), chapters ten and eleven. Taken from Duane Elmer, Cross-cult ural connections (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: Interva rsity Press, 2002), chapter five.

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Days 6-7: Ministry to children who live and work in garbage dump (Thurs day & Friday) Today and tomorrow will serve as a wakeup call to the injustices in the world around us. Pray that I would not be so overwhelmed as to fall into a moral state of hopelessness and despair. Mack and Leeann, an experienced couple in short-term missions clarify what we can do so that we see injustice and evil for what it is. Pray with me to: 1. Develop a compassionate heart. John Piper argues for a compassion for the lost based in our awareness

of their eternal destiny and the pain of their earthly existence apart from any satisfaction in Christ (Let the Nations Be Glad!, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 2003).

2. Develop an understanding of what the Bib le says about injustice. Pray that I will remember that God cares and feels and “so closely identified with us that he shared in our misery and tasted our death.” Pray that I will remember that “ judgment will come beyond judgment on earth. One day God will judge the world.

3. Be willing to take action. Pray that I will grasp, if ever so slightly, the forces that create poverty and injustice. These are complex issues, both on the worldwide scale and here and now, but the way injustice continues is for good people to say and do nothing. Pray that the action I am taking by just playing with the children will prompt me to take further action in the future.

Taken from Mack and Leeann Stiles, Short -te rm missions (Downer’s Grov e, Ill.: Inte rvarsity Press, 2000), chapter twelve. Recommended reading fo r mac ro scale o f world poveryt: William Easte rly, The White man’s burden: Why the West’s effo rts to aid the rest have done so much ill and so little good. (New York: Penguin P ress, 2006). Recommended reading fo r micro scale: Gary Haugen, Good News about injustice. (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: Inte rvarsity Press, 1999).

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Day 8: Family Camp Outreach —Ministry to families and children who work in garbage dump (S aturday) Pray for me to be bold in communicating my testimony (in Spanish) as we work in partnership with Lisa’s ministry, Christian Camping

International, to present the gospel. “The point of cultural sensitivity is not to appear culturally sophisticated or simply to avoid offense; it is to communicate the gospel. ...The g reatest tool in sharing your faith across a culture is to know your own faith. …To go on a short-term mission without being prepared to share our faith is like inviting people to a banquet while forgetting to serve the food.” Taken from Mack and Leeann Stiles, Short -te rm missions (Downer’s Grov e, Ill.: Interva rsity Press, 2000), chapter thirt een.

As part of our preparation, each member of the team will p repare his or her testimony. We are to make it clear, use the right terminology (contextualized and free of Christian clichés), and keep it short. The goal is to write it out and translate it into Spanish so we can actually read it today during Family Camp Outreach. We will use the fo rmat presented by David Staal, Leading kids to Jesus: How to have one-on-one conversations about faith. (G rand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2005), chapter three.

The pastor who min isters in the garbage dump has asked us to present the gospel to every single person today (approx. 175 people). He informed us that because it is a special camp outing many will be p resent who do not normally attend his church. This is a unique opportunity. Pray fo r the ministry Lisa serves with, Christian Camping International, who is in charge of the program.

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Days 9 and 10: Cultural appreciation and debrief (Sunday and Monday) Pray for me to continue to learn about the culture as we travel outside the camp.

Even as we travel by bus to Valle de Angeles, a picturesque town known for its artisan work, p ray for me not to sing McDonald’s theme song of: You deserve a break today… so get up and get away to a comfy

hotel and shop ‘til you drop (or run out of money!). Pray for me to be mindful of the setting, to continue to learn about the culture. If I am observant of their practices, I can see the symbols, like how they dress, hairstyles, but pray for me to peel back layer upon layer, just like peeling an onion to really understand the culture. Pray for me to ask questions to help me understand who their heroes are, we have our Barbie’s and Batman’s, but who possesses characteristics that are highly prized for Latin Americans? I will probably have noticed their ritual in greeting one another with a kiss, but are there other rituals I may have missed? Pray for me to have eyes to see, even a glimpse of

what this culture values, the core of the onion. Figure 1: Taken from Hofstede and Hofstede, Cultures and organizations: S oftware of the mind . (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005), p. 7.

Figure 1: The "Onion": Manifestations of Culture at Different Levels of Depth

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Day 10: Worship Celebration at Umaña-Anderson house for all the host families and North Americans (last evening together on Monday). Pray for our host receivers as we worship together and sing for joy, remembering that worship is the fuel and goal of

missions. It is an odd feeling to think that many of the people with whom I have drawn so close, I may well not see until we are all together again celebrating the wedding supper of the Lamb! (Rev. 19:9). Today, as we stand and worship together, may I be reminded of what John Piper wrote about missions: “Worship is the fuel and goal of missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God’s glory. “The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! (Ps. 97:1). “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!” (Ps. 67:3-4). John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad!, (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 2003), p. 17 As we come together from these two nations to be glad and sing for joy, pray God would sear into my heart and mind this image of the unity of Christ’s bride worshipping before His throne; on that day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Pray for me to enter into awe and wonder of God together with my brothers and sisters of another land. Pray that we never forget the goal of missions, God’s glory! As we go our separate ways, pray that each of us would remember the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

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Day 11: Departure Day —(Tuesday) Pray for our re-adjustment and re-entry. Over the last couple of days, we will be focusing on debriefing our entire experience as well as preparing for re-entry back to our home culture. Th is cycle is so common to short-term missions that there is a diagram illustrating the emotional cycle and readjustments we all may be going through. Please observe the diagram and exp lanation below, prayerfully covering me throughout the next days and weeks as I move through the re-entry process. Pray for me to turn the corner and move into fruitfulness which takes time and effort to continue to journal, reflect with others and see that my experience in another culture was a gift from God, something to be thankful for and to benefit others with. Fruitfu lness

Taken from Tim Dearborn, Short -te rm missions work book (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: In tervarsity Press, 2003), p. 96 -98.

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1. Have fun. I may feel euphoric to return to the comforts of home. I feel changed and want to do things differently. 2. Flee. I may be discouraged by people’s lack of interest in what was such a life-changing experience for me. I miss the sense of community we had devel-oped on the team. I may want to flee back to Hondu-ras. 3. Fight. I may want to fight against the materialism, the busyness and self-centeredness I see all around me. 4. Fit in. I may be ready to just give up my fight to change things and be different. I just want to fit it now. The trip may become a distant memory.

Start here

Safety and health issues Dear Senders,

You will note the obvious omission of prayer for safety and health in this prayer calendar. We know that you will pray for that nevertheless. We are concerned over what we observe to be a growing cultural view in America that safety is our highest value. We will not take unnecessary risks and will be prudent, however, we refuse to worship safety over God. We believe we have a Protector to whom we entrust our lives and well-being, therefore, we have guided you to pray for many other aspects of this trip. Taken from Mack and Leeann’s Stiles Guide to Short-term missions. (Downer’s Grove, Ill. 2000. ), p.149.

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APPENDIX B: KEY CHAIN FOR GOERS-GUESTS

Prayer calendar Schedule My Expectations Probable Reality Day 1 Pray for me to be curious about the other culture.

Arrival day (Sat.) 4-hour bus ride from San Pedro Sula to Tegucigalpa

Days 1 & 2 Pray for me to behave as a guest, appreciative and nonjudgmental.

Host family experience (Sat. night & all day & night on Sunday)

Days 3, 4, & 5 Pray for me to serve and “do everything without complaining or arguing” (Phil. 4:14).

Camp- work project (Monday, Tues. Wed. ‘til noon). Build 8 ropes courses initiatives.

Day 5 Pray for me as I may be experiencing culture shock or fatigue.

Preparation for ministry days (Wed. afternoon & evening at Lisa’s house, will include some R&R and a home cooked meal)

Day 6 & 7 Pray for me to develop a compassionate heart, to develop an understanding of what the Bible says about injustice, and to be willing to take action.

Ministry to children who work in garbage dump (Thursday & Friday) Visit the garbage dump, do light chores at school, serve as needed, play with children.

Day 8 Pray for me to be bold in communicating my testimony (in Spanish) as we work in partnership with Lisa’s ministry to present the gospel today.

Family camp outreach (Saturday) Share my testimony in Spanish today as part of a presentation of the gospel to families and children who work at garbage dump.

Day 9 & 10 Pray for me to continue to learn about the culture as we travel outside the camp.

Tourist attraction /hotel/ shopping/ Debrief (Sunday & Monday)

Day 10 Pray for our host receivers as we worship together and sing for joy, remembering that worship is the fuel and goal of missions.

Worship Celebration at Umaña-Anderson house for all host families and North Americans (last evening-Monday)

Day 11 Pray for our re-entry and re-adjustment process to life in the USA.

Departure day (Tuesday). We travel by bus 4 hours from Tegucigalpa to San Pedro Sula where we fly out from.

Adapted from Duane Elmer, Cross-cultural connections (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, 2002), p. 56. Used by permission.

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Appendix B: Cards for key chain for goers-guests

Audience: The goers-guests The primary audience for these cards are those individuals who have responded to the Lord’s prompting to go on the short-term missions trip to Honduras July 5-15, 2008. We call you the goers-guests because of your obedience in going and to remind you that you are going as guests, to the hosts who will receive you, Lisa Anderson-Umaña and her team of Hondurans. We call the informat ion provided “keys” since no doubt if you use them, they will unlock the doors to discovering the great treasures the Lord has prepared for you. They are designed to teach you how to interact effectively when crossing cultures (increase your cultural intelli-gence so to speak!). The cartoons were created taking material from Duane Elmer’s book: Cross-cultural connections (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, 2002).

1


Diagram tak en f rom Duane Elmer, Cross-cultu ral connections (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: Inte rvarsity P ress, 2002), p. 27. Used by permission.


In my own life (Lisa) living in a foreign culture, I d iscovered that I had developed a subtle variation of “It’s wrong category” called “It ’s not as good.” Maybe I wouldn’t be so crass as to say “it’s wrong” but in reality the assumption underlying both categories is still the same: My way is better.

What treasures will you discover when you use this key?

It’s not wrong, it’s just different. Widen your category of differences!


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Growth Zone

Groan Zone

Comfort Zone

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Identify what do you need to have around you to be comfort-able? Draw or write it.

Comfort Zone

Groan Zone

What causes you to groan? What stuff makes you uncomfortable? Draw or write it.

Growth Zone If the Lord blesses your efforts and those around you cooper-ate, what would that growth look like? What would it entail? How would some-one notice your growth?

Growth Circles

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Be a servant!



3

Since God connected with us as a servant in the form of his Son Jesus Christ, we best connect with others across cultures choos-ing not the robe of royalty and special privileges but rather the towel of a lowly, humble, obedient servant going not to be served but to serve. To encourage you to choose servanthood we will be g iving you a min iature apron. (this is a more culturally appropriate symbol for Latin A merica since many people have servants—domestic help— and they often wear aprons to work in). In your journey to become a servant, remember these key steps: Humility is the posture of a servant Openness meaning welcoming others into your presence Acceptance communicates respect for others Trust entails build ing confidence in relationships Learning seeks information that changes you Understanding means seeing through the other’s eyes

I highly recommend reading Cross-cultural servanthood by Duane Elmer (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, 2006). He thoroughly explains each of these characteristics.

Lastly, Serving is to becoming like Christ to others

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Negative Action

Situation: The entire team is to meet at 4pm, it’s 5pm and half of the host fami-lies have not yet arrived with their guests.

Same Situation

Negative Action

Positive Action

Clock vs. Event Time


Scowls, grimaces; looking at watch; flurry of activity to “get the show on the road”.

Avoidance of others who are uptight; faces downcast.

Approach others to converse and discuss observations of their host family experience.

Approach to reassure them that the host families were probably just talking and not to worry.


5

Positive Action

Can’t these people do things on time? Time is money ! We need to get going.

Why is everyone so uptight? What’s the rush? We’ll leave when every -one gets here.

Hmm, our hosts are not worried, their concept of time is oriented towards the event. I’ll just relax.

Hmm, Westerners operate by the clock, they seem to be anxious right now because we’re behind schedule.


Negative Action

Positive Action

Situation: The team is build-ing a ropes course.

The job can get done if everyone pitches in. But, the Hondu-rans keep talking to everyone.

Same Situation

Negative Action

Positive Action

Task vs. Relationship

Time’s a’wastin! We raised a lot of money to come here and get the job done. These people need to stay on task.


Glaring at those who are talking; head down, focused on task; overcompensating to make up for those “slackers”

Finding excuses to wander off; avoiding contact with those who are scowling.

Starting a conversation as you work, pausing every so often to make eye contact, showing interest in getting to hear people’s stories.

Showing interest and appreciation for the work being done, asking permis-sion to take breaks and have down time to hang out.


What a wonderful opportunity to get to know new people. If it makes work so much more enjoy-able, then why aren’t the Americans stopping to chat.

People come first. People are more impor-tant than projects. May be my first task is

I need to understand that their culture does focus foremost on the task, it’s not wrong, it ’s different. They don’t mean to hurt any one’s

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Negative Action

Positive Action

Same Situation

Negative Action

Positive Action

Categorical vs. Holistic thinking


Wonder what is going on, why did Blanca withdraw? Try to further explain what she meant, break the problem observed into parts to analyze and solve it .

Due to feeling very offended, avoid contact; “walk on egg-shells,” and keep your distance.

Apologize for offending Blanca. Praise and affirm her friendship and appreciation for her country.

Approach your friend, confess-ing hurt but willingly try again to develop the friendship.


I thought we were friends! She barely knows me and yet has criticizes the way we do things here.

Life and friendship is like a tapestry , you cannot separate them, the threads are all woven together. Focus on the posi-tive.

I need to understand that Westerners do not mean to offend with their criticism, they see the world differ-ently , preferring to putting every-thing into a neat category .

Why is she taking it so personally? All I did was mention there was room for improvement. I was just try ing to be helpful.

7 Situation: Jody was sharing her observations of life in Hondu-ras with her new friend Blanca.



Scenario with increased cultural intelli-

Negative Action

Positive Action

Situation: The sermon was translated well but the North Americans couldn’t make heads or tails of it .

Same Situation

Negative Action

Positive Action

Straight (linear) vs. curved (spiral) logic


Offer to help him write an three-point outline of what he wants to say; correct his tendency to beat around the bush and show him the right way to speak.

Try to learn the proper American way of preaching, feel insecure .

Comment on the main point of his sermon and discuss the illustrations, validating his form of preaching.

Learn from other ways of thinking, without holding in contempt your own.


They have not said any thing about my sermon. I wonder if they liked it. They probably think they can do better. No doubt since they are so well educated, there way is better.

Oh, so there’s more than one form of logic? It’s not wrong, it’s just different! Their form of logic looks

We do think logically , but in a more indirect, roundabout manner. Their logic fits to-gether like a chain link fence. Each culture has its own form of logic.

Hmm, will he ever get to his point? He keeps going around and around, with no clear logic or outline in mind. May be he is not prepared...

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APPENDIX C: KEY CHAIN FOR HOST RECEIVERS

The key chains of the goers-guests and host receivers are identical with the exception of the first three cards which you will find below.

Appendix B: Cards for key chain for host receivers

Audience: The host receivers The primary audience for these cards are those individuals who have responded to the Lord’s prompting to jo in as hosts of the short-term missions trip to Honduras July 5-15, 2008. We call you the host receivers because of your obedience in receiving our guests from North America. We call you hosts and you will serve together with Lisa Anderson-Umaña to receive this group of a dozen North Americans from her home church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We call the informat ion provided “keys” since no doubt if you use them, they will unlock the doors to discovering the great treasures the Lord has prepared for you. They are designed to teach you how to interact effectively when crossing cultures (increase your cultural intelligence so to speak!). Remember, although it corresponds to the guest to adapt to the host culture, we do not want you to lose the opportunity to grow in your awareness and understanding of another culture. On this trip you will rub elbows with North Americans, but who knows with whom the Lord may lead you to serve Him in the future.

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www.lisaander sondeumana.blogspot.com

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As a host receiver, we ask you to commit to the following: 1. Complete devotional book that has been translated into Spanish in order for us to participate

in the preparation for the Short term missions experience. This book will also be studied and discussed during the trip itself.

2. Commit to being present with the team from the day of their arrival, Saturday July 5, until their departure, Tuesday, July 15 (with the exception of Sunday/Monday morning when the North Americans will be spending some time alone as a team to do debriefing and reflection.)

3. Commit to work alongside the North Americans whether that be in camp build ing ropes course elements or playing with the children at the school by the city garbage dump.

4. Commit to helping lead key aspects of the Family Day outreach at Camp on Saturday. 5. Commit to meeting after the trip for a t ime of debrief and reflection at Lisa’s house.

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www.lisaander sondeumana.blogspot.com

Diagram tak en f rom Duane Elmer, Cross-cultu ral connections (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: Inte rvarsity P ress, 2002), p. 27. Used by permission.


As Latin Americans, we may be inclined to bow our heads when we see how North Americans do things and mumble to ourselves: Their way is better than ours. We tend to undervalue our culture compared to their dominant culture. God has manifested His character in unique ways in every culture and just like every culture has ways that manifest His character, each culture has ways to distort His character and values. Let’s learn to say, it’s not better, it’s different.


It’s not better, it’s just different. Widen your category of differences!


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REFERENCES

Borthwick, Paul. 1996. Short Term Youth Teams: Are They Worth It? Evangelical

Missions Quarterly. 1996 October. Accessed 21 March 2008. Available from https://bgc.gospelcom.net/emqonline/emq_article_read.php?ArticleID=2234; Internet.

Dearborn, Tim. 1997. Beyond duty: A passion for Christ, a heart for mission. Federal

Way, Wash.: World Vision. Dearborn, Tim. 2003. Short-term missions workbook. Downers Grove. Ill.: InterVarsity

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Increasing Cultural Intelligence In Short Term Team Members, Their Senders And Their Hosts

Education

Transcript of Increasing Cultural Intelligence In Short Term Team Members, Their Senders And Their Hosts