Ministering Cross-Culturally: An Incarnational Model for Personal Relationships

The book by Sherwood G. Lingenfelter and Marvin K. Mayers, “Ministering Cross-Culturally – An Incarnation Model for Personal Relationships” focuses on Jesus as a role model for interacting with people of different cultures. The book hinges around the crux of the innate tension of effective cross-cultural ministry by people from different cultures. Practical descriptions and examples, successes and failures, are shared by the author’s experiences in the mission field. The book includes highly insightful and useful tools, including the models of behavior developed by Marvin Mayer (ref. p 9-10) that describe and explain the tensions that arise from conflicting cultures and their perspectives and frame of reference. Included in the discussion includes practical examples of differing perceptions and expectations of time, decision-making, conflict, crisis management, self-image, core values, cultural values, perceptions, thinking patterns, and more. One of the highly useful tools provided in the book is a self-assessment of the reader's basic traits and how these may be reflected in six essential areas including event orientation, person orientation, holistic thinking, achievement focus, non-crisis orientation, and willingness to expose personal vulnerability (p29-35). Understanding one’s basic starting frame of reference is important to be able to step back away from our preconceived ideas and step “into another person’s shoes” more effectively and be more effective in building a genuine relationship with others that communicates they matter, they are important, and they are loved by God and by us personally as Christians. This book is an excellent and useful tool in preparing anyone for cross-cultural ministry or interactions. These principles and tools provided are fundamental and extremely useful.

As a busy pastor of a multinational rural church in South Africa it is important for me and my elders and deacons to understand one another and the people we minister to. "Ministering Cross-Culturally" has been a great help in understanding ourselves so that we can minister more effectively to one another. I have used the apparatus in the book to train all our members to recognize themselves and so learn how to relate to those of different cultures. I would heartily recommend this book to anyone working in any cross-cultural situation, whether religious or secular.

This text is one of the better guides for cross-cultural ministry that I have found. In its relatively few pages (only 120 pages), it contains a wealth of information based on some easily-remembered and applied principles. Increasingly in the world today, no matter what profession one chooses, there will be people from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures -- even in the smallest of towns, people from different social strata will interact and come together in certain venues, and church and chaplaincy settings are among those. Cross-cultural ministry is not something reserved to those going off in foreign mission fields, but has an impact right here at home, wherever home may be.One of the key concepts here is the dealing with conversation and conflict. The way people interact differently can lead to conflict -- not necessarily open violence (although sometimes that can happen), but rather the kind of tension that is caused when people don't understand each other. What we sometimes fail to forget is that people attribute importance and moral force to their actions and those of others, and will react not only to what is being said and done, but to their own interpretations of the meanings of those words and actions. This is derived from cultural influences -- shared culture as well as personal and family culture.Lingenfelter and Mayer look at key concepts -- differences in the way we look at time, judgement, crisis management, goals, self-valuation, and vulnerabilities. For example, in urban cultures, people tend to lead fast-paced lives more frequently than those in small-town cultures; a person moving from one setting to another may find it irritating to be in such a setting, and perhaps not even know why. The authors bring in examples from around the world (Yapese-Micronesian, Latin American, African, etc.) as well as different groups in North America for comparison and contrast. This is not a book of stories, but rather essays that illustrate the basic principles, which are in turn supported by stories and examples, including some of the authors' own experiences. This is in concert with the incarnational model the authors put forward, a way of growing into the culture, and being part of a culture respected and held as valid as any the outside observer or participant might naturally hold. Ultimately, Lingenfelter and Mayers invite people to work toward being 150% persons, drawing on Malcolm McFee's observation about Native Americans (in particular, the Blackfoot) who were not quite completely Native Americans any longer, but rather about 75%, and that they had assimilated sufficiently into the dominant culture that they fit 75% in there, hence 150%. This is what we must do, working to incorporate other cultures into ourselves while retaining the best and most important of our own.This is a very useful book, full of insight and helpful suggestions, key ideas and meaningful stories.

I first read this before my a short-term (6 weeks) summer trip to an east asian country, and although I am of asian descent, it definitely prepared me for things that I would have otherwise been caught by surprise. For those preparing to go cross-cultural, even for short-term trips, this is a must-read. it isn't long, but its full of great stuff to pray, meditate, think about, and discuss. It does a great job of equipping and working on your mindset to be ready to face many of the things that will be guaranteed to culture shock you.even for those who have already done/been doing cross-cultural work, I think this book is always a fresh reminder of the Biblical example we have in Christ, and that, as with all things, should be our singular focus. Who is Jesus the Christ, and how does that change the way I live my life for His glory?

Lingenfelter and Mayers help their readers examine the variouscultural values people encounter as they interact with people fromother cultures. The authors also provide useful tools to help readers determine their personal values. In addition, this book gives practical examples of how Christ lived out his values.