Case Study:
What About Our Families?
Submitted to Professor Thomas Cook
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
GLST 290 – B03
Cultural Anthropology
by
Tracey Dowling
February 28, 2022
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Case Study: What About Our Families?
When being involved in cross-cultural teams, there can be many problems when
interacting with other people, from understanding other languages to more complex issues like
cultural diversities. Culture can be explained in many ways, but mainly as the shared behavior of
different cultural communities. Some problems with cross-cultural teams are language because
some can speak English, but the English may not be clearly understood and could lead to
misunderstanding what’s being communicated. As stated by (Howell & Paris 2019), “How
different are the various languages of the world? Are some languages more developed or
sophisticated, or just more suitable for particular activities?.” I believe we need to understand
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the cultures and religions of those we are willing to serve.
I want to speak about some friends of mine and myself at the church we attended when
we decided to put together a missionary team to help a country that was in need of supplies. As
you know, my friend Cathy, James, and I put together a missionary team, and we decided to help
a small country in Africa with some needed supplies. We wanted to supply them with clothes,
medical needs, and school supplies. We thought it would be an easy mission considering that we
were African Americans, and the mission was in Africa, so we thought it would be easy to
communicate with them. In addition, my friend Cathy had nursing skills, so we felt that she
could help give the best care that they could need medically.
When it came time for us to leave on our mission, we were extremely excited about our
trip to Africa and how we could help other people.
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1. Howell, Brian M. & Jenell Paris, Introducing Cultural Anthropology: A Christian Perspective, Baker Academic, a Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2019, pg. 51-
52.
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When we got to the small country in Africa, the work and mission were a lot harder than we
thought. We found out that communication is a crucial element when it comes to cross-cultural
teamwork. Therefore, we realized that we had to find someone who spoke English enough to
avoid misinterpretations in our communications with them. However, we found that we had to
take time and learn their cultural ways, language, and religion to do things according to their
culture. Cathy wanted to give the best medical care to those who needed it. According to (Howell
& Paris 2019), “Christians trained in nursing or medical care go on to study medical
anthropology or public health to strengthen their capacity to assess and deliver health care in
culturally appropriate ways.” However, this is what she wanted to do with the skills that she had
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learned.
When it came to supplying the people with the things we had for them, it became an
actual Godly experience even at the cost of what we had to learn in the process. Therefore, I
believe that getting an understanding of different cultures is extremely important when it comes
to communicating with them. As stated by (Elmer 2006), “Serving without understanding creates
confusion or worse.” God creates us as Christians to be of service to others just as he has been a
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servant to us all. God put us here to love one another, care for each other, pray for each other, and
help one another. Acts 20:35, “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work
we must help the weak, remember the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to
give than to receive.’”4
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2. Howell, Brian M. & Jenell Paris, Introducing Cultural Anthropology: A Christian Perspective, Baker Academic, a Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2019, pg.
227.
3. Elmer, Duane. Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books. 2006. p. 146.
4. The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. 2011.
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Bibliography
Elmer, Duane. Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility.
Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books. 2006.
Howell, Brian M. & Jenell Paris, Introduction Cultural Anthropology: A Christian
Perspective, Baker Academic, a Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2019.
The Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Biblica Inc. 2011.
