Gospel Communication Project Part 2 Instructions

The Gospel Communication Project allows students to apply the principles of Cultural Intelligence to a specific cross-cultural evangelistic encounter. In this 3-part project, students will research cultural elements which will affect a person’s understanding of the gospel message, create a strategy for communicating effectively with a person from a specific culture, and present the story of God through video.

Part 2: Communication Strategy and Gospel Story Outline (Module/ Week 5).

This paper is the second section of an ongoing project throughout this course. In this paper, you will continue to explore your friend’s culture and build on what you learned in Part 1 of the project. Then, you will synthesize them to come up with a strategy for sharing the story of God with your friend. Finally, you will outline your Gospel Presentation. You will write a formal academic paper. Your paper should be neatly formatted and organized, and it should include a cover page, page numbers, footnote citations, proper headings and subheadings, and a bibliography. It should be double spaced and in Times New Roman, 12- pt font.

Part 2, Section 1: Elements of Communication

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 3^rd 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? Support your statements with at least 1 outside source other than an interview with your friend or the course textbook.

Part 2, Section 2: Strategy for Communication

In this section, you will create a plan to communicate effectively to your friend. Answer the following questions in a couple of paragraphs. (Questions in parenthesis are suggestions to help guide your thoughts).

• Discuss how you will use your knowledge of these cultural value orientations, cultural systems, and elements of communication to share the gospel effectively with your friend. (Which of their cultural value orientations should you keep in mind as you try to communicate with them? How will you adjust your communication, your approach to the conversation, and your language in order to best communicate the gospel message?)
• Discuss how you will craft your story to meet your friend where they are. (Are there any themes you may use to focus your presentation which would most speak to your friend according to their culture and worldview? What part of the story do you think they will relate to most based on what you know about their cultural systems and cultural value orientations?)

Part 2, Section 3: Outline of God’s Story

Prepare to share the Gospel by outlining the Story of God you would share. As we have discussed the Grand Narrative of scripture, we have covered many different topics and stories from the Bible, but there are some key elements which must be included in your story.

Essential Elements:

1.Creation

2.Fall-Sin

3.Promise-Covenant

4.Prophecies

5.Virgin Birth

6.Incarnation

7.Deity (fully man–fully God)

8.Jesus’ life (person and works)

9.Jesus’ Death

10.Resurrection

11.Ascension

12.Return

13.Reconciliation

14.Kingship

This section should be a bulleted list of each of the elements above. For each element, you should write 2-4 sentences summarizing the element and describing how you would present that part of the story to your friend. You should also list scripture references for each element that you present. While you do not need to recite the scripture as you tell the story, we want to see that you know where in the Bible to point someone to if the opportunity were to arise. In your outline, you should list enough content to show that you know what each element is about, how it connects to the bigger picture of the grand narrative, and the best way to share the story.

GLST220

Based off of part 1

Gospel Communication part

Liberty

GLST 220

Cultural Profile

Culture diversity is brought about by a natural grouping of people who have common characteristic. Both culture and cultural grouping are fundamental in understanding the beliefs, thoughts, and behaviors of people. The person I chose is from a Southern culture, she is an unbeliever, and an African descent. This region is known for its milder weather and humid climate. The culture of agriculture in this region was defined in the 18th and 19th centuries, characterized by white-owned and black slaves operated sugar, cotton, and tobacco plantations.

Since the 19th century, religious life in this region is dominated by evangelical Protestants groups. They have significantly influenced the theology ritual and social attitude of the Southerners, thus the region was referred to as the Bible belt. The religious culture dates back to the Civil war, whereby the majority of Southerners affiliated to Baptist or Methodist faith. They became vocal defenders of slavery. Ministers contended that God had chosen Africans for bondage. They also told the believers that God controlled the way of the bullets, and the faithful are protected, in a hail of rifle fire. Some whites and blacks forged towards a biracial connection, which led to the proliferation of biracial congregations. This did not turn out well because slaves received Christian instructions from the white preachers and ministers, with the anti-literacy law ensuring that most slaves could not read the bible in its entirety.

The southern way of religion was decidedly moralistic, with individual moral failings being put into focus more than the social evils. This explains the personalistic nature of the folk culture of the region. Women, in this case, were put more in the limelight of morality than the men with purveyance of religious values being their socially accepted role. The region is widely typified by racism, poverty, and ignorance.

Cultural background

Marcella is a 36years old lady of African American descent. She is a single mother of a 10 years old boy. Her ethnicity dates back from her great grandparents, who worked as slaves in the white-owned tobacco plantations. She currently works in an art gallery, and English is her primary language. She is very friendly. Marcella is very passionate about her culture, which has had a great influence on the way she interacts with people. Being of African American descent, she feels a great desire to visit her ancestral Continent Africa. She strongly holds the mentality that African- Americans are held back in their economic and cultural development by the slavery that they were subjected to, and they face racial discrimination.

Some cultural practices are deeply ingrained in her and her family, which gives her a great desire to maintain her tradition in terms of art, literature, religion, cuisine, and more. She also believes and practices elaborate rituals and ceremonies, such as the rite of passage linked to African traditions, since she believes that spirits dwell in the surrounding nature. Since she was a young girl, she had a great interest in God, and her faith was built on the idea that all people are equal in God’s eyes. As she grew older and learned more about African American history, she started doubting the doctrine of obedience taught by the white ministers. Today, messages of hope and equality sound more realistic to her, making her faith more skewed to these two elements rather than the story of God relating to heaven and hell.

Cultural Systems

Marriage and Family Systems

The structures of most societies have their foundation on marriage and family. Historically, marriage and the permanence of a union between a man and a woman are what create a family, with kingship and nuclear family being the most described systems. A kingship family identifies generations spanning 3 and above generations, unlike the nuclear family that is based on two generations related by marriage (Livermore, 2015). The introductions in the kingship systems are embedded about older relatives, which come with an obligation to the family, unlike in the nuclear set up where conversations are considered personal (Livermore, 2015). Marcella is more inclined to the kingship values than the nuclear values. The Kingship value makes her want to stay closer to his family, which creates a sense of unity and togetherness and always having a shoulder to lean on, which is long term. Being a single mother has made raising her son easier. She believes a family does not have to be a union among husband, wife, and children, even though that is what is traditionally acceptable by the cultures.

Religious systems

These systems offer answers to different societies on things that are beyond human understanding based on their supernatural and religious beliefs. The difference within most cultures on how the questions are answered is deeply rooted to the extent they take a rational or mystical look on life. The rational approach emphasizes finding a reason-based scientific answer to the supernatural, focusing on individual responsibility and work ethics. Mystical approach, on the other hand, attaches its confidence to supernatural power, whether good or evil, that controls the day to day life events (Livermore, 2015). She believes in a supernatural power hovering over her every day, which gives an assurance of her life and family’s well-being. The supernatural power makes her spiritual but not religious. She believes that she does not need any scientific explanation (rational) of situations to believe in God and His deeds. It more on the little things that she experiences every day that makes her believe of a deity. Her faith is so much inclined on her traditions and culture that has been passed through generations. It would be a challenge to make her see God in a more rational manner

Educational systems

Different cultures attach value to education based on how senior members pass their values and behaviors to their offspring. Even with rigorous formal education, informal education is valued. That is how the young ones socialize. The formal education emphasizes schools, and professionally trained teachers, unlike informal, that focus on wisdom passed to youth from the society to the children (Livermore, 2015). Marcella lives with her extended family that includes her parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and siblings. She gleans a lot of wisdom from her grandparents, which makes her confident in all she does. She believes her seniors have done well in life by listening to their seniors and so she is also obligated to follow her seniors’ ways. Though she has gone through the formal education to tertiary level, she believes the formal education can thrive only when coupled with the informal.

Artistic systems

These systems explain how and why cultures differ within the realm of aesthetics. It is greatly manifested in the artworks, music, dances, architecture, and everyday events. The society aesthetics portrays their solid boundaries, clean, and tight versus fluid indiscriminate lines ones. The fluid ones have little concern in everyday life for sharp boundaries and uniform categories, whereas maintaining boundaries for the solid ones is essential. Marcella is highly influenced by the artistic system, and it has affected how she interacts with people. She uses art to express herself in a different way, which is inspired by her everyday activities without any order or boundaries.

Solid versus fluid

She is very fluid when it comes to boundaries, as evidenced by the ease with which she managed to go out for dinner with me even though we had only interacted on that day alone. This means that she is very accommodative and open to new knowledge regarding her faith and even a different faith altogether. Her fluid nature helps her find joy and enthusiasm in her work even though she lacks order. She views the world as a free space where everybody should be allowed to express themselves in the best way they know how.

References

Coslor, E. (2016). Book Review: Artistic Practices: Social Interactions and Cultural Dynamics. CulturalSociology, 10(1),131-132. https://doi.org/10.1177/1749975515622121d

Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work Call for Papers. (2015), 24(1), 87- 88. https://doi.org/10.1080/15313204.2015.1013382

Livermore, David A. (2015) Leading With Cultural Intelligence: the real secret to success. American Management Association.

Criteria	Levels of Achievement
Content 70%.	Advanced 90–100%	Proficient 70–89%	Developing 1–69%	Not present
Elements of Communication	9 to 10 points Exceptionally thorough discussion of at least 3 elements of verbal and non-verbal communication with support from at least 1 outside source	7 to 8 points Mostly thorough discussion of at least 2 elements of verbal and non-verbal communication with support from at least 1 outside source	1 to 6 points Discussion of less than 2 elements of verbal and non-verbal communication or discussion needs further development and support from outside sources.	0 points Not present
Strategy for Communication	27 to 30 points Exceptionally thorough discussion of a strategy for communicating which considers everything that has been learned about cultural value orientations and cultural systems.	21 to 26 points Relatively thorough discussion of a strategy for communicating which considers everything that has been learned about cultural value orientations and cultural systems.	1 to 20 points At least some effort to discuss a strategy for communicating which considers everything that has been learned about cultural value orientations and cultural systems.	0 points Not present
Story Outline	27 to 30 points Exceptionally thorough outline of the story, including all fourteen points, a scripture reference for each point, and enough details to show a clear understanding of how that element fits into the larger story.	21 to 26 points Mostly thorough outline of the story, including at least 10-13 main elements, a scripture reference for each point, and enough details to show a basic understanding of how that element fits into the larger story.	1 to 20 points At least some outline of the story present, but several elements missing, a scripture reference needed for each point, and more details needed for each point to show a basic understanding of how that element fits into the larger story.	0 points Not present
Structure 30%.	Advanced 90–100%	Proficient 70–89%	Developing 1–69%	Not present
Language	13 to 15 points Very concise, clear, with consistently proper grammar, spelling, sentence structure and paragraphing.	10 to 12 points Clear, with minimal errors in grammar, spelling, sentence structure and paragraphing.	1 to 9 points Periodic errors in grammar, spelling, sentence structure and paragraphing throughout paper.	0 points Not present
Formatting	13 to 15 points Paper is exceptionally neat and well-organized with a title page, citations, reference page, and proper headings.	10 to 12 points Paper is mostly well organized with title page, citations, reference page, and proper headings.	1 to 9 points Paper is somewhat organized with title page, citations, reference page, and proper headings.	0 points Not present