Fuller Online
ME500: Fall
2008
Brewster
ME500:
COMMUNICATING AND SERVING CROSS-CULTURALLY (4 units)
Betty
Sue Brewster, Associate Professor of Language and Culture Learning
DESCRIPTION:
God’s heart is for developing relationship
with people whom He created, and for communicating His message to them. In
sending Jesus, He gave us a model for communicating with people in their own
cultural context. People in ministry,
cannot afford the luxury of having a monocultural outlook. Skills in
intercultural relationships and in culture learning are essential, whether you
are a pastor ministering in a multicultural context or needing to give your
congregation a missionary vision, a Christian worker in the inner city, a
cross-cultural missionary, or a lay person planning a short-term ministry. This
is a practical hands-on culture-learning course to help you develop cultural
self-awareness, a positive approach toward other cultures, and intercultural
interaction and communication skills. It is therefore essential that each
student must certify that they are able to access a community of people from a
culture different from your own within their
cultural setting, and find one or more people of that culture to interview for
the field experiences.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon the successful
completion of the course, students will have:
·
Developed
a holistic view of serving cross-culturally
·
Developed
an initial understanding of doing mission in context
·
Learned
the basics of communicating the Gospel cross-culturally
·
Cultivated
cross-cultural sensitivities
·
Developed
an understanding of the role of culture in the communication of the Gospel
·
Begun
to apply skills of culture learning in intercultural communication
COURSE FORMAT:
The class will be conducted on the Internet
using a 10-week lesson program aligned with Fuller’s academic calendar. Each
week, students and the instructor will interact with the material and each
other through journaling, threaded discussions, and web-based research.
Lectures for each lesson will be available online. Class activities include
planning and debriefing fieldwork for experiential culture learning activities.
REQUIRED
·
Brewster, E Thomas & Elizabeth S. Bonding and the Missionary Task. Lingua House, 1982
·
Kraft,
Charles. Communicating Jesus’ Way.
William Carey, 1999.
·
Law,
Eric H.F. The Wolf Shall Dwell with the
Lamb.
·
Smith,
Donald K. Creating Understanding. Zondervan, 1992.
·
Sogaard,
Viggo. Media in Church and
·
Read
biographies of at least 2 persons in cross-cultural ministry (Book list
supplied to those registered for the class)
RECOMMENDED
·
Hunter,
David and MaryAnn B. Foley. Doing
Anthropology. Harper & Row, 1976.
·
Lingenfelter, Sherwood. Transforming Culture: A Challenge for Christian Mission. Baker
Books, 1998.
·
Mains,
David. 8 Survival Skills for Changing
Times (chapter 4).
·
Mains,
David and Melissa Mains Timberlake. Getting
Beyond “How are You?” – Learning to Connect in a
Disconnected World.
·
Spradley,
James P. The Ethnographic Interview.
Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1979.
·
Stafford-Yilmaz,
·
Volf,
Miroslav. Exclusion and Embrace.
Abingdon Press, 1996.
·
Zimmerman,
W. How to Tape Instant Oral Biographies.
·
Kivel, Paul. Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice. New
Society Publishers, 2002.
ASSIGNMENTS:
1.
Weekly
threaded discussions (25%)
2.
Reading
interactions, reports and journaling, (10%)
3.
Plan
and carry out regular fieldwork in community, reflect and report on what has
been learned, share the experience and reflections with the class (25%).
4.
A
3,000-word paper describing the participant’s strategy for cross-cultural
communication, learning, and ministry (40%).
5.
Th.M.:
Greater analytical depth in writing assignments. In addition, choose one
of these:
·
Carry
out one additional complete field experience, with written report
·
Read
150 additional pages from the recommended readings with a written reading
interaction.
·
Write
an additional 1250 words for the strategy paper
PREREQUISITES:
No academic prerequisites, however the student
must certify that they are
able to access a community of people from a culture different
from your own within their cultural setting, and find one or more people to
interview for the field experiences. NO AUDITORS.
RELATIONSHIP TO
CURRICULUM:
Required for MA-CCS and MA-ICM programs; Ministry Focus Elective for MA in
Global Leadership.
FINAL EXAMINATION: None.
Updated July 2008
This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to
modification