Discuss how their current circumstances affect their cultural practices.

Gospel
Communication Project: Elements of Culture Paper Assignment Overview
The Gospel Communication Project allows you to
apply the principles of Cultural Intelligence to a specific cross-cultural
evangelistic encounter. As a cumulative project throughout the course (through
2 papers and a video presentation), you will research cultural elements which
will affect a person’s understanding of the gospel message, create a plan for
communicating effectively with a person from a specific culture, and present
the story of God through video as you would if you were able to share the gospel
with that person. This project will allow you to practice evaluating a
person’s culture, determining the best ways to communicate with them, and
adjusting your communication to be most effective. Also, as you craft a story
of the grand narrative you will gain a deeper understanding of the story of God
and gain confidence in sharing the gospel with others.
Choosing a person for
your Gospel Communication Project
For this project, you should write about someone
who is an unbeliever and is from a significantly different ethnolinguistic
macro-culture than your own (look for differences in things like country/region
of origin, ethnicity, language, religion, time orientation, etc.). You will use
the cultural background of this person to complete all three assignments in
this project. If you do not know a person who fits this description, you may
use a fictitious character, or for the purposes of this assignment, adjust the
cultural background of a real person.
Scenario 1: You have a friend from another
country. They already believe in Jesus, but you know that many aspects of their
cultural identity are significantly different than your own. For the purpose of
this project, you will discuss the cultural background of your friend, but you
will pretend that they are not a believer. Your description of their religious
beliefs will be based on your research of the majority religion of their home
culture, and your presentation of the gospel will be crafted as if you were
going to share it with someone who is not familiar with the Bible.
Scenario 2:
You do not know anyone from a significantly different ethnolinguistic
macro-culture than your own. You will choose an ethnolinguistic macro culture
to research. You will make up a character with a background story based on the
cultural research and craft your gospel story to communicate effectively with
the majority religion of that culture or with someone who is not familiar with
the story of the Bible.
Scenario 3: You have a friend whose family is
from a significantly different macro-culture than your own, but that friend
seems to have enculturated into a mainstream culture similar to yours and the
need for adjusting communication to match cultural systems and cultural values
seems to be minimized. For this project, you will use your research of your
friend’s home culture and practice adjusting your communication as if that
friend was not enculturated. Most people who have crossed cultures and adjusted
still have deeply rooted values in their home culture that affect their world
view, and often have a blend of cultural values between their home culture and
their host culture.
Writing Your Elements of
Culture Paper
For the first part of your Gospel Communication
Project, you will write a formal academic paper about the cultural elements of the
person. This paper will prepare you to share God’s story with them in an
effective way considering their culture and worldview.
Your paper should meet the following requirements:
·
4-
8 pages in length
·
Divided
into clearly-labeled sections as described below.
·
Include
at least 1 citation in each section of the paper from Leading with Cultural
Intelligence by David Livermore or the course videos.
·
Include
at least 1 citation in each section of the paper from a source OTHER THAN the
course materials (websites, journal articles, books, etc.).
·
Formatted
in a formal academic style. Note: You may choose the academic style that is
most closely related to your major degree program (MLA, APA, Turabian, etc.).
If you do not know which to choose, format your paper in Turabian style. A
properly formatted formal academic paper will include a cover sheet, citations
(in-text parenthetical citations or footnotes), a bibliography or works cited
page, and headings/subheadings.
·
Double-spaced
and in a standard font (Times New Roman or Arial) and standard size (10 or 12
pt.)

Content of Your Elements of Culture Paper
Your Elements of Culture paper should have 4
sections: Introduction, Cultural Systems, Cultural Value Orientations, and
Elements of Communication.
Introduction
In this section, you should
introduce the person you have chosen to receive the Gospel message. Answer the
following questions in a paragraph or two. (Questions in parenthesis are
suggestions to help guide you as you describe the person.)

·
Give details about
your friend’s personal story. (What is their age? What is their ethnicity?
Where are they from? What religion do they follow? What language do they speak?
Where do they live now? What do they do for school/work, etc.?).
·
Provide information on
your relationship with the person. (How do you know them? What are your
interactions with them? Are they a coworker or neighbor? Do you see them on a
regular basis or just periodically?)
·
Discuss how their
current circumstances affect their cultural practices. (If their family is
from a foreign country, but they have grown up most of their life in America,
how does that affect their worldview? Do they adhere to all the traditional
cultural practices on their parents?)
·
Discuss their interest
in issues of faith? (Is this person open to hearing the story of God?)

Cultural Systems
In this section, you should
choose at least 3 of the 6 cultural systems from Chapter 4 of Leading with
Cultural Intelligence. Discuss each cultural system and identify which of
the pair apply most directly to the culture of your friend (For example: Does
your friend’s culture have a nuclear or kinship family system?). How do you see
this cultural system in your friend’s life? How does that cultural system
affect your friend’s way of life, interactions, aspirations, and openness to issues
of faith? While you should specifically state which of each pair of cultural
systems is seen in your friend’s culture, there is no need to give an explicit
definition of each cultural system (your instructor has read the textbook).
Instead, your description of your friend’s cultural practices and background
will show your understanding of the cultural systems. In addition to
referencing the course materials, remember to include research from at least 1
outside source to support your argument. You may also interview your friend to
gain insights, though this is NOT a requirement for this project.

Cultural Value Orientations
In this
section, discuss at least 5 of the 10 cultural value orientation pairs from
Chapter 5 of Leading with Cultural Intelligence. Which of each pair of
cultural values are strong in your friend and their culture (For example: Does
your friend’s culture have a short-term or long-term value orientation?)? How
do you see these cultural values in your friend’s life? How do each of these
cultural values affect your friend’s worldview and actions? While you should
specifically state which of each pair of cultural value orientations affect
your friend’s culture, you do not need to spend time defining the cultural
value orientations. Instead, your description of your friend’s culture will
show your understanding of the cultural value orientations. Be careful to
discuss your friend’s culture, and not just their personality. In addition to referencing the course materials, remember
to include research from at least 1 outside source to support your argument.
You may also interview your friend to gain insights, though this is NOT a
requirement for this project.

Elements of
Communication
In this
section, discuss at least 3 elements of verbal and non-verbal communication
which are prevalent in your friend’s culture. (Think about the verbal and
non-verbal communication strategies presented in Chapter 7 of Leading with
Cultural Intelligence.) You should include at least 1 verbal element and 1
non-verbal element. The 3rd element can be either verbal or
non-verbal. How do you see these elements of communication in your friend’s
culture? How do these elements of communication affect the way your friend
sends and receives messages? Be careful to discuss your friend’s culture, and
not just their personality. In addition to
referencing the course materials, remember to include research from at least 1
outside source to support your argument. You may also interview your friend to
gain insights, though this is NOT a requirement for this project.

You should review the assignment rubric to
understand how this project will be assessed and how to maximize your score on
this project.

Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality
via the SafeAssign plagiarism tool.

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