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120 INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS Journal Report 1 Name: Timothy Teo Jun Xian (S8929168B)

Article
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/intercultural.mission.in.europe/28016.htm

Intercultural mission in Europe

Operation Mobilisation's Frank Hinkelmann explains why he's excited about inter-cultural mission in an increasingly secular Europe by Mission NetPosted: Friday, May 20, 2011, 11:29 (BST)

According to the Bertelsmann Foundation, intercultural competence is the ability to reflect and act in an effective and appropriate manner in intercultural situations, based on distinct convictions and attitudes as well as particular reflection and response mechanisms. But what does that actually mean? Frank Hinkelmann, Leader of OM Europe, says that it is an awareness of ones own cultural boundaries. As a German living in Austria, Im regularly reminded by my host country that Im German. "This in principle is neither bad nor good, but simply a reality I need to be aware of. At the same time, I want to be open to discover differences in the Austrian culture and I want to learn to appreciate them. "This attitude of appreciation is needed if I want to share about the love of Jesus with other people. This attitude of appreciation also helps me to see elements of my own culture that are not helpful at all. Intercultural Lifestyle But should we be open to an intercultural lifestyle, you might ask. Absolutely! says James Price of World Outreach, and co-ordinator of Mission-Net short-term outreaches. This is true in mixing with followers of Jesus and those of other or no faith. Encountering our Christian faith in another culture deepens our understanding of the character of God, seeing things from a different worldview. And mixing with people who dont share the Christian faith is equally important. We are all called to make disciples of all nations, taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth, adds James. For God loves all people every nation, tribe, people and language.

Cultural Diversity There are over 830 million people living in Europe less than two per cent are followers of Jesus. In recent years the continent has witnessed increased secularization of the nations and massive growth in the migrant population. Todays European culture is multi-cultural and therefore demands an intercultural lifestyle. We live in exciting times the ends of the earth are now our neighbours, says James. Many people come to Europe from countries where they have no access to Gods truth, providing a great opportunity for the church to engage in the mandate of the Great Commission in its local communities. Who, if not we Christians as part of one body the Church can be a prime example of an intercultural lifestyle, appreciating our differences without giving up our cultural distinctiveness? Opposing Trends in Europe Two opposing trends can be witnessed in Europe: One is very much characterized by a growing nationalism often linked with ethnocentricity, while the other is the preference, especially amongst the youth to define oneself as European rather than as a citizen of ones respective country. Both of these trends are strongly influenced by a vibrant migration within Europe such as Poles working in the UK, Romanians in Spain and Portugal, Albanians in Italy. In addition there is evidence of a growing and constant migration to Europe, mainly from Africa and certain parts of Asia. As many of the migrants from the Global South are believers, an inflow of new vibrant and authentic expressions of Biblical Christianity is emerging in Europe. I believe these Christians will be the new mission force to Europe, says Frank. However, I also observe an attitude of ethnocentricity in many churches, sometimes even linked with racism. This is certainly against all Biblical values. Intercultural Experience this summer Under the umbrella of Mission-Net, OM and World Outreach are hosting short-term outreaches to Germany, Malta, Romania, Sweden and UK this summer. When asked why young Europeans should sign up, Frank responds emphatically, Because a summer outreach can be a life changing experience Ive seen it myself. Youll learn more about yourself, youll learn more about other cultures be it the culture of your teammates or your host country. And youll have the great opportunity to share the good news about Jesus Christ in ways you might not have done before. Spending time in another culture can be really challenging, but equally rewarding, adds James. Stepping out of your comfort zones allows God to stretch you and enlarge your vision for the nations. You will learn more about yourself and God as you put your faith into action.

Concludes Frank, Mission-Net is a terrific event for young Christians from across Europe to not only hear about what God is doing in todays world, but also to grow in their personal walk with God. Mission-Net provided the opportunity to make friends from all over Europe and to build inter-cultural relationships. For more information, check out www.mission-net .org or contact James Price about outreaches this summer: james.price@wouk.org

Summary
The article gives some reasons for why being intercultural adeptness is important in evangelizing.

The first reason is that Christians should be aware of the differences between their own culture and the culture of others, should understand these differences, and should know where and/or when these differences would hinder them in sharing the Gospel.

Secondly, Christians should mix with Christians of other cultures to appreciate God and Christianity from new perspectives, and should attempt to spread the Gospel across cultural boundaries.

Another reason is that Europe has become a multi-cultural place due to migration, and is very much un-evangelized. Thus Christians need to adapt in terms of intercultural competence to effectively evangelize Europe. Unfortunately some churches are displaying ethnocentric behavior instead of opening up to embrace those of other cultures.

The article ends off with asking youths to join intercultural missions.

Analysis
If asked to name some situations in which intercultural communications would be required or helpful, most people (of whatever religion) would probably not mention proselytizing. This

could be due to intercultural proselytizing being rare, or because in proselytizing the religions (or lack thereof) of the parties involved becomes the main issue. But as the article has shown, there is considerable scope for proselytizing to be improved by competence in intercultural communications. In this case, proselytizing is a intercultural encounter where the motives for contact are mostly voluntary, and the length of contact will tend to be long. The example of diplomat could be analogous since the Christians are acting as representatives of their religion to the un-evangelized, with a difference that the Christians carry out their duties rather more willingly. Below are certain areas in which intercultural communication theories could help the Christians proselytize more effectively.

Verbal Communications

Through some basic training/preparation, Christians could avoid accidentally offending their prospective converts, as well as avoid the use of metaphors (in the form of words in pamphlets, or images in posters etc.) that fail to cross interculturally. This would potentially create more converts as the prospective converts feel more appreciative of the efforts on the part of the Christian. Non-verbal Communications Similarly Christians could receive basic training that helps them to use non-verbal communication aspects to aid the converting or to reduce the aspects that would hinder the converting. An example of the former is to use the right amount of eye contact to let the prospective contact feel the sincerity of the Christian, while an example of the latter is to know when touching would make the prospective convert uncomfortable.

Individualism/Collectivism This could be used to make prospective converts feel more comfortable. An example is when they have been invited to church by a Christian. When the time comes for the congregation to donate alms to the church, the leader of the religious service could make it clear that such donations are not mandatory, to reassure a individualistic convert that the church is not such a collectivistic environment. Ethnocentrism A famous story recounts how Gandhi was barred from attending a church service because he was Indian and the service was for British only. It was this incident, Gandhi says, that caused him to see the prejudice of so-called Christians and thus decide against the possibility of converting to Christianity. How different our world might be today if Gandhi had not faced this racism! By making Christians come to terms with their own prejudice, they might very well avoid actions that would alienate potential converts.

Conclusion
Any time there is the possibility of coming into contact with other cultures, intercultural communication will probably be relevant. It has very wide applications, and we should be aware that it could come in useful in ways we probably have never considered before. Proselytizing is one of these ways. If we can use the intercultural communications theories to improve the methods of converting people of a different culture (and there exist so many divisions of culture, even between those of the same ethnicity or of the same family), that would certainly be very beneficial.