A Beginner's Guide to Crossing Cultures: How Who You Are Shapes What You Do

by Patty Lane

Book Overview

The global village has arrived. Recent census figures show that communities in the United States are more culturally and ethnically diverse than ever before. And you may be just one of many who find it challenging to build relationships with people from backgrounds unlike your own.

How do you befriend an international student or a new coworker from a different country?What can you expect when your church building is shared with a congregation...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830823468
• ISBN13: 9780830823468
• Release Date: May 2002
• Publisher: IVP
• Length: 206 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

I was pleasantly surprised...

I did not plan to like this book. It was assigned reading for a seminary course. I live and minister in a relatively culturally homogeneous community and church, so multiculturalism is not on the top of my list of priorities. Given that background, I only hoped to endure this book, thinking that it would be largely irrelevant. Despite my sour attitude, I genuinely appreciated Lane's "A Beginner's Guide to Crossing Cultures." It truly is a beginner's guide, so those with prior experience or training in multicultural ministry may not be challenged. But she does a good job of making a case for the value of multicultural thinking, provides some helpful lenses to sort out six basic cultural differences (context, activity, authority, identity, time, and worldview), and offers practical advice on how to develop cross-cultural relationships and serve in a multicultural ministry environment. I appreciated the anecdotes that she shared, which were extremely appropriate to the topic and helped provide context to understand concepts that might otherwise remain strictly hypothetical. She shared a number of engaging personal experiences. And though she clearly has a heart for multicultural ministry, she never made the critical mistake of assuming that culture is the only factor that matters for Christians living in this complex world. As I'm still trying to figure out my role in developing a greater appreciation and understanding of other cultures to more effectively minister in an increasingly multicultural world, I was impressed with Lane's book. She offers a helpful place for folks like me to start. Her book is both visionary and practical, challenging and accessible. For anyone who would like to better understand the possibilities of multicultural ministry, I am happy to recommend this book.

Great, Relevant Book on Cultures

I am very impressed with Lane's book. I had to get it as a required text for one of my classes, which sometimes end up being REALLY awful books to read. However, I enjoyed reading the text and found it easy to come to class prepared to share in lectures along with what the book had to say. Since I am going into missions as a career, this definitely gave me insight to what to expect and how to navigate the cultural divide I may encounter. It was a very relevant book that didn't make me suffer to figure out what it meant. GREAT BOOK!

A Beginner's Guide to Crossing Cultures: Making Friends in a Multicultural World

An eye opener! I never understood other cultures until I read Ms. Lane's book. I highly recommend this book!

A Culture Navigator

I have been in a dozen intercultural classes in college and graduate level and I would recommend this book for anyone with cultural questions. There are practical questions at the end of each chapter that actually make the reader think and research in their own situation. There is a wide variety of examples used and the book serves as a helpful guide for intercultural interaction. It is easy to read and fun to see how I "should have" related and will in the future.