Cultural Diversity: An Unsurpassed Opportunity or Challenge

“We are from the same country, but I am in a cross-cultural marriage!” my friend declared. He was from one part of the country that was very conservative. His wife was from another that was quite liberal. Understanding cultural differences is important, for teams and for your marriage too. It is necessary if you want to be faithful, fruitful and fulfilled on the field.

I’ve been writing a series on team dynamics. Click here for the introduction or the previous blog on personality differences in teams.

You may be on a team made up of a German, a Korean, and a Latino. Or maybe your team has a Singaporean, an Indian and someone from Holland. These are very different cultures!

Perhaps your team is all from the same country. But you are from different tribes and religious backgrounds. Maybe you are all Indonesian. But one person is from a Christian background, two are from Muslim backgrounds, and one person from a Hindu family. Though all are Indonesian, cultural misunderstandings can affect your team dynamics a lot.

Cultural Differences Matter

Some teams are made up of people from radically different cultures. Other times, the variance is less extreme. On almost any missionary team though, culture and worldview differences come into play as we work together.

Understanding one another’s cultural background can go a long way. It can help us to benefit from cultural differences rather than becoming angry and divided.

Our Multi-Cultural Team Was Not Easy To Lead

We were working in India. At one point, on our team, we had several Northeasterners (from a tribal part of India). We had a Korean. There was a Bengali from a Hindu background and a Nepali from a Buddhist background. Someone who was Swiss German had joined short-term. “I never knew I would have to learn about German and Korean cultures to work among Bengali Hindus,” I thought!

If our team was going to function well, not only would I have to learn about Koreans and Swiss-Germans a bit, so would the rest of the team. It was one of the blessings and also the difficulties (okay, I won’t say curses) of forming a team that was so extremely cross-cultural.

“How can we learn to celebrate and affirm our differences rather than have them drive us apart?” I wondered.

It wouldn’t be easy. We had a number of cultural conflicts and clashes.

• The Swiss-German, though quite laid back for someone from that country, got frustrated when our meetings didn’t start on time.
• The Korean had a hard time always eating yellow food. (North Indians put turmeric powder in almost everything they eat.)
• The Bengalis and Nepalis were different from each other too. Bengalis were much more direct, while Nepalis would circle around indirectly to make a point.

Would we be able to love one another in spite of our cultural differences? The unreached we were trying to show God’s love to were watching.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 NIV.

4 Questions To Ask

In this area of cultural differences in missionary teams, there are many considerations. I’ve listed below a few questions I find most important to ask.

1) Are your team members from Hot or Cold Cultures?
Sarah Lanier does a great job of describing this difference in her book “Foreign to Familiar.”

Hot Cultures- see the relationship as most important
Cold Cultures- see efficiency and productivity as most important

2) Do your team members have an individual or group orientation?
This plays out in how they prefer decisions to be made.

Just the other day I was talking with someone about my adult daughter. I realized how much I have been influenced by living so many years in Asia. Though my daughter is a legal adult, because she is still in her 20’s, I realized that I expected to be included in decision making in her life. This is the way people from Asian cultures which are group orientated think! Families make decisions, not individuals, especially if it has to do with someone who is under 35 years old!

So, when you are asking someone from Asia or Africa to go against the advice of their parents, think again. It is radically different than when you ask someone from Europe or America. This is true even regarding the decision to join a mission where you live by faith and raise your own support.

3) Are the people on your team time or event oriented?
I’ve had team members get so angry with others in this area that they questioned their relationship with God!

Some cultures think about time in light of what their watches and clocks say. Others think of it in terms of events within a day. One person may say I will come at 1 pm. For them, that means when their watch says 1 pm sharp!

For another team member that means when I am finished with my lunch. It might be when the clock says 1 pm or it might be 2 pm. The event of “lunch” is what matters.

4) Are people on your team from different religious backgrounds?
Our religious backgrounds also deeply affect the way we think and function. Though we are all now Christians on the team, our worldview was shaped by the religion we were raised in. I must point out here, that not all “Christian” culture is Biblical or better than the others!

Those from a Northeast Indian Christian culture may place a high value on going to church on a Sunday. They may not even think it is okay to travel on Sunday. The person from a Muslim background might not mind if there needs to be a team meeting on that day.

Could the differences in our religious backgrounds be affecting our team?

5) Other factors.
There are many other things to consider. Are people from an oral culture more literate in how they learn? Do they emphasize task completion or having unity in their community? All these things have an impact. You won’t understand everything about each other’s cultures in the team. Doing this would give you no time to focus on learning about the culture of the people you are trying to reach! That has to be the priority.

But you can make an effort to learn some key things.

Celebrating And Laughing As You Learn Is Better Than Fighting

Understanding these cultural differences in missionary teams can dramatically help you to function better. You will be able to love, respect and honor each other well. You might even get to the point where you celebrate or laugh about how different you are!

Want to learn more about this? Check out a great book by one of my professors at Fuller Seminary, Dr. Lingenfelter. Its called Ministering Cross-Culturally. If you end up buying it via this link, I get a small commission that helps me keep writing these blogs! So thanks in advance!

Do you have a story of a cultural misunderstanding where you ended up laughing later? I’d love to hear about it. I’m sure others would too. Leave a comment below or post it on the Missionary Life Facebook Page!