Crossing Cultures 101
From a course offering by FieldPartner International
Ross and Christine Paterson have spent over 40 years of their lives on the mission field serving the Lord and His Church in the Far East. They are currently based in Taiwan. They have decades of experience in cross-cultural mission, which has fuelled their passion to help others navigate cultures well and live healthily on the field.
They want to use this season to mobilize and equip both Eastern and Western believers to be involved in cross-cultural mission. Their resource, FieldPartner International, provides online training resources for cross-cultural workers and their sending churches.
Their free, online, self-paced course, Crossing Cultures 101 gives you the basic information you need to know to work in another culture. [WOTS - This could also help work cross-culturally in the UK]. Here are some details:
We live in a globalised world. In the 21st-century more people are on the move for different reasons than ever before. That does not just mean travel for fun but relocating to work and ‘do life’ in new cultures. Relocation even within one’s home culture is stressful enough – second in stress levels only to bereavement and divorce, some studies have shown. But relocating transculturally, whether for work, for study, to get married or to fulfil a missions call, can be exponentially more so. But by far the worst part of that stress is when it is unexpected.
“Forewarned is forearmed”, they say - so what if you could be forewarned about some at least of what to expect in making this move and how to find support in doing so? That in essence is what this course is about. Please note, we are not talking about the specifics of the actual culture you will be moving to. For that you will still need specific orientation. But what this course will give you are some general principles that apply widely to any cross-cultural experience.
There are 3 modules with various lessons in each:
Module 1 “Know Thyself”
This module addresses the need for us to know ourselves as the product of our own cultures, and will be looking at how what we don’t know can hinder us in a cross-cultural context. It covers:
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“What is Culture?”. Some definitions and analogies to aid our understanding.
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“Socialisation”. The process of acquiring our own culture – and with it the ‘cultural baggage’ of our own norms and biases.
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"What to do with this Cultural Baggage". Exploring how to dismantle the wall of separation that Paul talks of between Jew and Gentile and every other culture down through the ages.
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"Goal of Cultural Intelligence". Helping us grow in appreciating cultural diversity rather than fearing it.
Module 2 The Process and Challenge of Cultural Adaptation.
Showing what the crossing culture journey looks like. It covers:
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Pre-Departure as an important prelude to your actual arrival in the new culture, the importance of good closure and how to pace yourself to avoid physical exhaustion and emotional depletion.
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The usual trajectory of the crossing culture journey, during which some degree of Culture Shock is an expected stage along the way. That includes the ‘inner journey’ - the internal processing of external factors.
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The issue of Re-Entry Stress. The crossing-culture process will change you, and your kids even more. Are you really up for that? One thing is certain: life will never be quite the same again.
Module 3: How to find Support
The different dimensions of support that are needed for a successful trans-cultural experience or lifestyle. It covers:
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Member Care. The Best Practice Model of member care and its component parts.
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The Core of Member Care is the care we receive from the Master Himself. No one else can take His place, and we need to make space for growing our relationship with Him throughout our lives, on and off the field.
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Self Care. Again, this is something that no one else can do for us, and we are responsible for our own health and wellbeing to the extent that we do all we can to live in balance and learn how to address the inevitable stresses of intercultural living.
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Mutual Care. Caring for one another in the team.
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Support from Home. How to raise it up, foster it and make best use of it, seeing it as ‘partnership in the gospel’ as St Paul called it in Phil 1.
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The Impact of Cross-cultural Living on Kids. Growing up ‘between worlds’ as some call it. There are negative factors, but also some powerful positives.
For more details and to register, see here.
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From a course offering by FieldPartner Internation, 19/09/2023