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Effective Intercultural Communication: A Christian Perspective
With the development of instantaneous global communication, it is vital to communicate effectively across cultural boundaries. This addition to the acclaimed Encountering Mission series is designed to offer contemporary intercultural communication insights to mission students and practitioners. Authored by leading missionary scholars with significant intercultural experience, the book introduces intercultural communication; explores the foundations that lay beneath, and the cultural values that show up in, patterns of intercultural communication; and examines areas in which communicating effectively in a new cultural setting is important. Features such as case studies, tables, figures, and sidebars are included, making the book useful for classrooms.
412 pages, Paperback
First published July 15, 2014
59 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
A. Scott Moreau
29 books6 followersA. Scott Moreau spent fourteen years on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC), ten years in Africa. He directed a regional team of CCC staff in Swaziland and taught general science in a Swazi public high school for two years. After graduate work at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School he taught at Nairobi International School of Theology for over seven years. Dr. Moreau returned to the United States in 1991 to accept a position at Wheaton College, currently teaching in the Missions and Intercultural Studies Department.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 1, 2022
1. What is this book about?
a) Communication
b) Inter-cultural environment
c) Misunderstandings between People of different countries
d) How to resolve conflicts
e) What happens in International groups
2. Why care to read this?
a) To understand people who look different than you
b) To be respectful of people who are not like you
c) To lessen conflicts between team members
d) To know how world outside of America works
e) To become more sensitive to people's desire, needs
f) To help people, who are not like you flourish
3. What is he trying to say?
The Author, explores communication across people groups. Culture frequently comes up in conversation. The West, has people from most parts of the World. Many people who are non-Western are cast off with, "Stereotypes". But, I believe there are values, worldviews, which are beneath the person.
I'd suggest to understand each other with great care, respect, love, when someone looks different than you.
4. Can you give an example?
Examples
In collectivist societies a person is part of an in-group and is seldom alone, even at night. It was not uncommon where Evvy lived in rural West Africa for family members to all sleep side by side on mats in one room. She was moved deeply with care, when ill, that visitors would simply come to sit with her.
Conversely, an African church leader who was an exceptional student when studying at Wheaton College spoke with distress of eating meals alone in the dining hall or of not interacting with anyone from Friday after classes until Sunday morning.
"Everyone in the family sleeps side by side" -- Could you accept this?
5. Can you help me understand more differences?
Individualism pertains to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after him- or herself and his or her immediate family.
Collectivism as its opposite pertains to societies in which people from birth onward are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, which throughout people’s lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty -- Hofstede, Dutch Social Pyschologist
6. So, how does this play out in Workforce?
Work:
In collectivist cultures it is customary to hire members of an in-group, and sons more often take on the occupation of their fathers (Hofstede)
Individualists, who stress independence and individual achievement, are likely to simply change employers when it suits them to do so. An Individualist might accuse collectivist of nepotism.
A Person who follows, poly-chronic time, where people just show up announced to your house. And then, he might borrow stuff, or demanding things.
A Person who follows, mono-chronic time, might find this, invasion of privacy, lack of boundaries.
The Truth is, Both are ignorant of each other's cultures
Both would fight, make each other's life miserable and end their friendship. Now, if both understood, where they are coming from, they'd have a better relationship.
poly-chronic time: More committed to Relationship, Life-long commitment to Relationship, Takes Goals Seriously
mono-chronic time: More committed to Task at hand, Individual Ownership, Privacy, Takes Deadlines Seriously
TASK ORIENTATION vs PERSON ORIENTATION
People oriented this way focus on tasks and principles, finding satisfaction in the achievement of goals. They tend to seek friends with similar goals and accept loneliness and social deprivation for the sake of personal achievements.
People oriented this way focus on persons and relationships, finding satisfaction in interaction. They tend to seek friends who are group-oriented and sacrifice personal achievements for group interaction.
Plenty of more examples in this book, I suggest being careful, kind, loving, understanding of People, who do not look like you.
7. So, What else do people say?
More excerpts,
Children in the United States are very forward in their way of speaking, even to their parents and elders. Children here show a lack of respect for old age -- visitor to the United States from the Philippines, 1981
The American seems very explicit; he wants a “Yes” or “No”—if someone tries to speak figuratively, the American is confused --visitor to the United States from Ethiopia
Americans seem to be in a perpetual hurry. Just watch the way they walk down the street. They never allow themselves the leisure to enjoy life; there are too many things to do -- visitor to the United States from India, 1981
8. Who requires to read this?
CEO - If he manages, or sits on a board of people from other cultures
CTO - if works with engineers from other nationalities
Venture Capitalist -- for helping them understand immigrants et al
Businessman - if he makes deals Internationally
Diplomats - if he interacts with non-native people
Politicians - if he wants to influence, communicate, persuade people of other cultures for a vote
Educators - if they have students from other cultures, to help them learn
HR - to navigate conflicts, give resources, motivate employees
Managers - to care for their employees
Newsreporters - to lessen stereotypes and communicate
Religious Leaders [Jewish, Islamic, Christian, Hindu et al] - to care, help their parish members
9. Why give this book five stars?
a) Clear
b) Accurate
c) Distills concepts
d) Helpful
e) For Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg & Matteo Ricci
Author writes about, Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg, a Westerner, who left everything in Germany, learnt Tamil, wrote first Tamil Grammar Book, setup Tamil Printing Press.
Bartholomäus, a Westerner lived alongside with Tamil Children, educated Tamil People, died among, Tamils.
Deus Vult,
Gottfried
a) Communication
b) Inter-cultural environment
c) Misunderstandings between People of different countries
d) How to resolve conflicts
e) What happens in International groups
2. Why care to read this?
a) To understand people who look different than you
b) To be respectful of people who are not like you
c) To lessen conflicts between team members
d) To know how world outside of America works
e) To become more sensitive to people's desire, needs
f) To help people, who are not like you flourish
3. What is he trying to say?
The Author, explores communication across people groups. Culture frequently comes up in conversation. The West, has people from most parts of the World. Many people who are non-Western are cast off with, "Stereotypes". But, I believe there are values, worldviews, which are beneath the person.
I'd suggest to understand each other with great care, respect, love, when someone looks different than you.
4. Can you give an example?
Examples
In collectivist societies a person is part of an in-group and is seldom alone, even at night. It was not uncommon where Evvy lived in rural West Africa for family members to all sleep side by side on mats in one room. She was moved deeply with care, when ill, that visitors would simply come to sit with her.
Conversely, an African church leader who was an exceptional student when studying at Wheaton College spoke with distress of eating meals alone in the dining hall or of not interacting with anyone from Friday after classes until Sunday morning.
"Everyone in the family sleeps side by side" -- Could you accept this?
5. Can you help me understand more differences?
Individualism pertains to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after him- or herself and his or her immediate family.
Collectivism as its opposite pertains to societies in which people from birth onward are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, which throughout people’s lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty -- Hofstede, Dutch Social Pyschologist
6. So, how does this play out in Workforce?
Work:
In collectivist cultures it is customary to hire members of an in-group, and sons more often take on the occupation of their fathers (Hofstede)
Individualists, who stress independence and individual achievement, are likely to simply change employers when it suits them to do so. An Individualist might accuse collectivist of nepotism.
A Person who follows, poly-chronic time, where people just show up announced to your house. And then, he might borrow stuff, or demanding things.
A Person who follows, mono-chronic time, might find this, invasion of privacy, lack of boundaries.
The Truth is, Both are ignorant of each other's cultures
Both would fight, make each other's life miserable and end their friendship. Now, if both understood, where they are coming from, they'd have a better relationship.
poly-chronic time: More committed to Relationship, Life-long commitment to Relationship, Takes Goals Seriously
mono-chronic time: More committed to Task at hand, Individual Ownership, Privacy, Takes Deadlines Seriously
TASK ORIENTATION vs PERSON ORIENTATION
People oriented this way focus on tasks and principles, finding satisfaction in the achievement of goals. They tend to seek friends with similar goals and accept loneliness and social deprivation for the sake of personal achievements.
People oriented this way focus on persons and relationships, finding satisfaction in interaction. They tend to seek friends who are group-oriented and sacrifice personal achievements for group interaction.
Plenty of more examples in this book, I suggest being careful, kind, loving, understanding of People, who do not look like you.
7. So, What else do people say?
More excerpts,
Children in the United States are very forward in their way of speaking, even to their parents and elders. Children here show a lack of respect for old age -- visitor to the United States from the Philippines, 1981
The American seems very explicit; he wants a “Yes” or “No”—if someone tries to speak figuratively, the American is confused --visitor to the United States from Ethiopia
Americans seem to be in a perpetual hurry. Just watch the way they walk down the street. They never allow themselves the leisure to enjoy life; there are too many things to do -- visitor to the United States from India, 1981
8. Who requires to read this?
CEO - If he manages, or sits on a board of people from other cultures
CTO - if works with engineers from other nationalities
Venture Capitalist -- for helping them understand immigrants et al
Businessman - if he makes deals Internationally
Diplomats - if he interacts with non-native people
Politicians - if he wants to influence, communicate, persuade people of other cultures for a vote
Educators - if they have students from other cultures, to help them learn
HR - to navigate conflicts, give resources, motivate employees
Managers - to care for their employees
Newsreporters - to lessen stereotypes and communicate
Religious Leaders [Jewish, Islamic, Christian, Hindu et al] - to care, help their parish members
9. Why give this book five stars?
a) Clear
b) Accurate
c) Distills concepts
d) Helpful
e) For Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg & Matteo Ricci
Author writes about, Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg, a Westerner, who left everything in Germany, learnt Tamil, wrote first Tamil Grammar Book, setup Tamil Printing Press.
Bartholomäus, a Westerner lived alongside with Tamil Children, educated Tamil People, died among, Tamils.
Deus Vult,
Gottfried
August 21, 2025
The authors have done a great job of distilling a wide breadth of information into a palatable form. Each chapter in this book could be a book in itself, so I applaud them for their concision and nuance given the space constraints. I also appreciated the thought provoking situations where readers can apply lessons learned to difficult, real life scenarios.
One of the main takeaways from this book is that we often default to our own cultural forms of communication, and we can understand each other better by adapting to other models of communication in intercultural contexts. This is a better alternative than unfairly evaluating people from the perspective of our own culture. Part 3 of the book and the chapter on conflict were the best parts of the book, exposing the reader to a myriad of principles of communication that can then be looked for in any given culture. Pertinent examples include high vs low context communication, collectivism vs individualism, indirect communication, nonverbal communication, saving face, and power structures and power differences. As is noted throughout, this book is primarily intended for an American audience going across cultures, and the authors do well to show that Americans have their own cultural customs that are strange to outsiders (e.g. strong individualism and directness), and that the impetus is for the missionary to adjust to the host culture, not the other way around. Of course, all of these communicative actions should be done in Christ-like humility with great consideration of those in the host culture. I did find a couple of the chapters to be ancillary to the discussion about intercultural communication, though, and were useful but seemed out of place.
Everyone can live a wise Christian life according to the Scriptures, even if it looks different because of how it is communicated between cultures. That is one of the beautiful things about the Gospel.
One of the main takeaways from this book is that we often default to our own cultural forms of communication, and we can understand each other better by adapting to other models of communication in intercultural contexts. This is a better alternative than unfairly evaluating people from the perspective of our own culture. Part 3 of the book and the chapter on conflict were the best parts of the book, exposing the reader to a myriad of principles of communication that can then be looked for in any given culture. Pertinent examples include high vs low context communication, collectivism vs individualism, indirect communication, nonverbal communication, saving face, and power structures and power differences. As is noted throughout, this book is primarily intended for an American audience going across cultures, and the authors do well to show that Americans have their own cultural customs that are strange to outsiders (e.g. strong individualism and directness), and that the impetus is for the missionary to adjust to the host culture, not the other way around. Of course, all of these communicative actions should be done in Christ-like humility with great consideration of those in the host culture. I did find a couple of the chapters to be ancillary to the discussion about intercultural communication, though, and were useful but seemed out of place.
Everyone can live a wise Christian life according to the Scriptures, even if it looks different because of how it is communicated between cultures. That is one of the beautiful things about the Gospel.
July 14, 2015
This book was mind boggling at times as I considered the various problems we run into when we try to communicate accross cultures. In some ways it felt debilitating. But there are a lot of helpful ideas on how to press on and continue the dialogue.
January 5, 2022
Generic text book. Seems the book tried to play both sides of two world views and did not necessarily do either well. Bland and disconnected per the field of communication philosophy while also inserting some vague Christian content.
December 6, 2023
It goes through the dynamics of intercultural communication for christian missions. It looks for strategies for achieving mutual understanding and effective communication within intercultural settings. The authors emphasize the importance of empathy, cultural sensitivity, and maintaining a Christian perspective while engaging in cross-cultural interactions. Practical insights for individuals seeking to bridge cultural gaps and build meaningful connections in a globalized world.
I would like the case studies at the end of each chapter to be complete to see what the protagonists' reaction was and learn from their experiences. The western approach not to tell you the solution to a situation, rather to approach as a facilitator and let you come to your own conclusions rather than as an instructor is somewhat frustrating.
I would like the case studies at the end of each chapter to be complete to see what the protagonists' reaction was and learn from their experiences. The western approach not to tell you the solution to a situation, rather to approach as a facilitator and let you come to your own conclusions rather than as an instructor is somewhat frustrating.
October 8, 2017
This book is chock full of information that will help you to find a way to communicate effectively inter-culturally. There is no worry about complexity, although it covers complex concepts. The authors have dealt with the subject matter in such a way as to treat them carefully, yet communicate those concepts plainly for ease of understanding. You will find that this will be a great resource to build yourself or ministry to communicate with various cultures.
August 9, 2025
This is incredibly techinical, and not in the good way. It is borderline unapproachable and indigestible, and worse, that makes it difficult to apply in any meaningful way. The book seemed very sociological in its approach moreso than Christian. It is truly a reference level work, but personally, not a work I will reach for very often. There were many sections that I thought were inconsistent with a Christian worldview as well.
September 18, 2019
This book feels like reading the unedited transcripts of a lecture; the content could not be presented less creativity. The information in Part 3 is especially interesting, but nothing unique to the field of intercultural communication. There are good stories, sidebars, and graphs that break up the dull information.
March 31, 2018
This book is an engaging overview of the application of intercultural communication to missions. I appreciate the research and thought the authors put into their content and presentation. I will definitely be referencing this book again in the future.
April 7, 2019
Great content, but very dense
Want to read
June 27, 2019the book is wonderfully impacting and highly educative
May 20, 2021
Great information, just wish a few areas had more explanation for things!
June 14, 2023
Dense and mildly repetitive, but a thorough look at intercultural communication.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews