Cross Cultural Engagement Skills and Love

Ambiguity tolerance
Sense of humour
Observation and questioning
Flexibility
Willingness to learn
Seeing “different” without judging
Patience
Good listening skills
Love
Willingness to risk
Setting aside “self”
Abandon independence
Drop presuppositions
Come as learners, (be teachable)
Willingness to learn like a child
Humility
Loss of one’s place and value

A list of skills needed to engage a cross-culture, as made by the attendees (mostly with experience in trying to engage the Japanese culture) at the third part of Josiah Bancroft’s core training seminar entitled Spiritual Formation and Gospel Renewal as given at this year's CPI conference.
It turns out as Josiah showed us, that these skills are transferable. These are things that we need if we want to love someone. I need to be willing to listen to my friend or need to set aside myself to love my child. It helps me step into the foreign territory of another culture or relationship.
I can’t wait to get home and practice on my wife.

The Spittin Image

I travelled to Hakone not too far from Tokyo this week for a conference. As we came over the mountain I caught a magnificient view, the view that one always sees in paintings and pictures of the landscape in Japan. Well I was finally able to get a shot myself.