In recent years Chinese cross-cultural workers have started to be sent out to other countries but there has not been a great amount of effectiveness in their work. One reason for their lack of effectiveness is that many who want to serve cross-culturally do not have formal education, often having not gone to high school, much less to college.
If you ever move to a major city in Southwest China to study an obscure language at a Chinese university, perhaps the following insights from our first thirteen days will aid your transition.
The editor's point of view.
The author shares how his worldview has changed over the decades and how his relationships with others have changed as a result of this. As China continues to develop and grow, its need for foreign interaction will change. The deepest benefit foreign believers can bring is the benefit of a life that flows from God through Jesus; however, those whom China invites to come and stay will change according to the country’s felt needs.
The changes in China are both positive and negative, and they require us to rethink the kinds of foreign Christians who are still needed in that country. Some kinds of foreigners are not needed while there is a great need for another kind—those who exemplify biblical values and priorities in all aspects of their lives. Not only can they help strengthen the testimony of Chinese believers and those who shepherd them, they can also act as evangelists.
An anonymous, small-scale study done by an agency among its Chinese coworkers provides insight into benefits foreign workers bring to their workplace or team as well as advice for improving relationships with their team members and friends.
In China, the “post-eighties” denotes those who are were generally born during the 1980s. They are the earliest generation of those who became known in the West as the “Little Emperors” of China. Typically, they were raised in a family environment where all adults focused their attention on their only heir. R and J review the family relationships, psychological characteristics, and spokespersons for this generation. They then give suggestions for Christian expatriates working with this group.
When we encounter cross-cultural differences like the indirect communication style featured in my recent post on the rule of three we have a choice. You either complain about the difference and become frustrated or seek to understand it better and adapt.
Effective communication requires engagement from both ends of the communication cycle—both the ability to send a message and receive feedback from your audience. Using this cycle to reach a common understanding is more of an art than a science—even when we communicate with others from our home culture. However, it is even more challenging when communicating cross-culturally in China.
Learning about culture, history, and ourselves through a food adventure in China.
The sermon was "not good," or at least that was my impression.
The fourth cultural element that Huo Shui highlights in his article “Living Wisely in China” is zhong yong, or “being moderate, which helps us understand what’s going on in situations where things are not seen in black-and-white terms but more in shades of grey.