Duane Elmer - Cross-Cultural Connections: Stepping Out and Fitting in Around the World

Dedicated to my sons

MARC,

YOUR SOJOURN INTO ANOTHER CULTURE will probably be fun and frustrating, exhilarating and exhausting, stretching and stressful. It may be among the toughest things you have ever done and also the most rewarding. The purpose of this book is to help you become aware of the realities in making a cultural transitionin business, in short- or long- term missions, as a bivocational person or in whatever capacity you may find yourself. Awareness of the issues you will face gives you an advantage because it causes you to have more realistic expectations, which diminish the jarring effects of a new environment and give you the presence of mind to employ coping skills that will move you forward in cultural understanding and adjustment, and in strong relationships among the people of the other culture.

While the title of this book contains the word cross-cultural, many have found this material helpful as they try to connect across ethnicities. Thus, the same skills necessary for making cultural transitions apply to domestic situations as well.

The contents of this book have been used at home and abroad by thousands of business people, short-term mission workers, missionaries, relief and development workers, bivocational people and educators. Many sectors of the secular community, such as multinational corporation personnel, medical workers, refugee resettlement workers and private sector groups, have also found the information useful. In my opinion, if the ideas of this book were applied more broadly in the marketplace, Western organizations would be more successful in their cross-cultural ventures and in the spreading of international goodwill at the same time.

Thus, the concepts, principles and skills in this book have been taught and applied in a large variety of Christian and non-Christian situations and cultural contexts. The focus is on helping you make a successful transition into another culture. Behind the skills are concepts and principles that will help you live your life more effectively no matter where you may be.

* * *

BOOKS ARE RARELY WRITTEN BY INDIVIDUALS, more often by a dedicated team of participants. Among the many, I wish to acknowledge a few who played major roles in whatever quality this book may possess. Heather Webb, my teachers assistant at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, worked with graphics, proofing and editing. Cindy Shabaz contributed significantly with timely insights and fitting illustrations. Muriel Elmer, my beloved wife, gave unceasing encouragement and provided invaluable help in shaping the content and development of the book. Thank you wonderful people.

To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand

JOS ORTEGA Y GASSETT

IS IT WORTH YOUR TIME TO READ THIS BOOK? Such a question is legitimate to ask of this and any other book you are about to read. Here are my thoughts on why this book is worth readingit may make the remainder of the book more meaningful for you.

In my thirty years of teaching at the college/university level, the majority of my students have been in my cross-cultural communication classes. Most seem eager to learn, but sometimes a bold person will ask, Why should I be here? Why cant I just go to a country and do my ministry? To some, all the time, courses and money seemed like a gigantic waste. People are dying every day while we are just sitting here doing nothing. Can you tell me why I should be here?

Similar questions arose during my fifteen years of training in the corporate world. Some in business felt that understanding people from other cultures was a waste of time. Those in my workshops had their technical skills and just wanted to get on with the job. Such a view, however, is quite shortsighted and potentially dangerous. The reason? These people see the job as a task to be done with little or no concern for genuine relationships with local people. A strong task orientation without first establishing friendships can lead to disappointing if not disastrous outcomes.

Early in my career these why bother statements would cut like a knife. Since I am a cross-cultural trainer, my profession and my whole life seemed under attack. Defensiveness would surface and I would mutter something about requirements by sending organizations and statements like It will do you good and Someday you will understand. I doubt I convinced any skeptics. As you read this book, you might wonder the same. Why bother? Why not just get on with it? Is all this preparation necessary? I have a better answer to that question now, and it begins with a story.