The way that a person visions the world is very important. Each culture is built from a collection of its experiences, religions, environment, and history. These elements greatly influence how the person in that culture sees teaching and communicating. What is a virtue in one culture can be a curse in another. What is a taboo in speaking can be an appealing plea in another. The missionary needs to learn these things, and adopt new styles (inside Bible guidelines) so that he can be an affective communicator.
Let’s give a few examples to paint the picture.
In China, if a missionary starts preaching to a follower of the Tao Te Ching, and he tells him, that John 14:6 says “I am the way”, he is telling the Chinese man, that Jesus said, “I am the Tao”. He will not think about God, but will contact this statement to his current religion, for in China, Tao is the WAY!
If a missionary is preaching in Japan, and is trying to communicate to an audience and starts by stating a theory and then moves to the practical application, most people will be gravely insulted, and will not hear another word that he is saying. In Japan, if a person moves from theory to practical, or practical to theory, he is telling the audience that they are so stupid that they can not think things through.
In the case of working with the Sawi people in West Irian, missionaries Don and Carol Richardson, found it difficult to communicate the message of Christ to the Sawi people. They discovered that when the spoke of Judas betrayal of Jesus, the people where very interested and attentive, because in their culture treachery was an appealing and high virtue.
This portion is taken from a conversation between missionary George W. Peters and Bakht Singh, (how was a former Hindu leader, and is now a pastor and conservative evangelist). They where talking about how Singh starts to witness to people.
As we talked about evangelism and a message for India, I asked him: “When you preach in India, what do you emphasize?” “Do you preach to them the love of God?”
“No,” he said, “not particularly. The Indian mind is so polluted that if you talk to them about love they think mainly of sex life. You do not talk to them about the love of God.”
“Well,” I said, “do you talk to them about the wrath of God and the judgment of God?”
“No, this is not my emphasis,” he remarked, “they are used to that. All the gods are mad anyway. It makes no difference to them if one more is angry!”
“What do you talk to them about? Do you preach Christ and Him Crucified?” I guessed.
“No,” he replied, “they would think of Him as a poor martyr who helplessly died.”
“What then is your emphasis? Do you talk to them about eternal life?”
“Not so,” he said, “if you talk about eternal life, the Indian thinks of transmigration. He wants to get away from it. Don’t emphasize eternal life.”
“What then is your message?”
“I have never yet failed to get a hearing if I talk to them about forgiveness of sin and peace and rest in your heart. That’s the product that sells well. Soon they ask me how they can get it. Having won their hearting I lead them on to the Savior who alone can meet their deepest needs.”
From these examples it can be seen that each missionary needs to study his host culture and its modes of communication if he is really going to learn how to communicate the gospel successfully to his people group.
Here are a few points of practical advise to aid the reader:
1. Try to learn about the People Group that is trying to be reached:
Here are a few sample groups-
The Naturalist Worldview- this includes all atheist and many Agnostics
The Tribal Worldview- This includes all African, Australian, Asian, South American, North American, and Island Tradition Religious groups. (This group is the largest in the world, making up 40% of the world's population, and is diverse in formers and names, but startlingly similar in thinking, ideas, and focus)
The Hindu-Buddhistic Worldview- This includes many of the far east religious branches and splinter groups.
The Chinese Worldview- Includes the follower of Lao-tzu and Confucius
The Monotheistic Worldview- this includes Jews and Muslims
The Syncretism and Mutli-religion Worldview- very common in the first world, and third world.
2. Learn the Language:
This seems simple enough. Most missions agencies seem to push this concept, but in reality this teaching only goes so far. In many countries of the world, there are national languages, and then local languages. This is true from Hong Kong, to Morocco, and from Brazil, to Ghana. Most nations of the world have in the past been controlled by a foreign power, and with that control came an official language. Many times this language is the language of business and school, but not the language of home and heart. The most striking evidence of this truth is seen in Africa. Most mission boards and agency will encourage a missionary going to Togo to learn French, since it is the national language. But, once the missionary has mastered that language, he is not seen as Togolese, but a Frenchmen. If he is to communicate to the hearts of the people, he will need to learn one of the local languages, such as Ewe or Hausa.
3. Ask the Meaning of Terms and Use Definitions
Ask questions, find out what the people think words mean. This is important anywhere in the world. Just because something means something to the person speaking, does not mean that is what it means to others.
Let me give an example- We met a young lady that is from South Africa. She was attending a Bible school in the capital, and was visiting Kumasi. She was living with our neighbors for a while, and my wife and I had a good opportunity to witness to her and talk to her.
One day while we where talking she told us this funny story. She was telling us about culture shock, and said that one thing that really bothered her when she first came was hand-gestures. Here, in Ghana, when ever a person wants to show respect, they will make the hand gesture in sign language for please: which is done by striking the top of the hand to the palm of the other hand. Most people will do this, when they are asking for something. Mary, this South African girl, said that this had totally shocked her, and offended her at first. She, told us that in South Africa, this is a very lud gesture, and if a man makes the sign to a women, then he is asking to sleep with her. Needless to say the first time a man made this sign, she was very angry.
So, as a missionary, before we start speaking and using body language we need to ask what these things mean.
4. Take time
It is never wasted time, when a missionary takes time to learn about his people group before he begins to teach and preach. In most nations, this time waiting is facilitated by having to learn the language, but in nations where the missionary can use his own national language, time should be taken to first learn about the people, before he rushes off to reach them.
5. Teach people the foundation of the Bible
Once a person has truly learned about salvation, and with some people groups before, 
they should be given a proper foundation in the progression of the Bible. Many missionary unknowingly divide the New Testament from its Jewish Old Testament Worldview, and do not understand why their people just take Christ and place him into their own worldview. The basic point is this, we are willing to teach Bible stories to children in Sunday School, but forget that many of the adults that we are reaching have never heard these stories clearly.
One should also keep in mind the question by a Shintoist who asked, “If you want us to understand the Christian way, why do you not open your Holy Book to the beginning and start there?”
6. Study different gospel approaches
There are many groups that have different ways of presenting the gospel without changing the message. New Tribes, Regular Baptist Press, the Divine Drama 1 and 2, along with many others are examples of different ideas. The key here is not to merely tell Bible stories, but to tell “HIS-story” and to lay the foundation for redemption. I personally suggest using a format that best suits the readers personal situation, and then modifying it to better suit their ministry and focus.
7. Listen to the Holy Spirit
This should probably be at the beginning of the list. The missionary needs to be very sensitive to God and His Spirit. No plan is flawless. He needs to be personally reading his Bible and praying, and asking God to guide him in his ability to reach his people group.
8. Let people pray on their own
This point is very important when reaching people influenced by African worldviews. In a society where social pressure and peace in the group is king, many people will just repeat a prayer, to keep peace or because they feel it is required. The best 
practical advise that I have seen, is that if the person is not serious enough to pray on their own, or do not know enough of the basics to do so, they are just praying for the leader, not themselves. This point also stands true with African peoples in other parts of the world.
9. Ask Questions, in ways that do not have a yes or no answer
The best way to gather real knowledge of the person’s understanding is to ask the right questions. As I have learned from personal experience, many times trying to lead a person to the decision to follow Christ, the gospel presenter is guilty of asking shallow questions. Many times this happens, because the person presenting, wants a decision more than really knowing if the person understands the message being presented. When the gospel giver is talking, ask open ended questions, that allow the other person a chance to express their thinking.
10. Let the ‘learner” do the talking
This is very hard for me, since I like to talk so much, but it is very important. Let them talk, sooner or later, the teacher will become the learner, and will gline very important information that can aid his teaching.
11. Use story methods
Most people in the world are not fully literate. Use story methods to convey truth. This is what Christ did, and it is very affective in the developing world, and inter-cities of the first world.
12. Understand how the people group learns-
Every group gains and learned new information differential. Study and find the way that local teachers present knowledge. Find successful public communicators and try to study the style or form in which they communicate. Find out if they think from practical to theory, or theory to practical, so on and so forth.
The point of it all is the communicating of the truths of the Word of God, and Jesus Christ, in ways that are understood by the local people in their own context. This will help the missionary to be seen as reaching people where they are at, instead of seeming to present a foreign gospel that only speaks of foreign problems. If the world is to be reached, it must be reached by people that have really been changed, and have embraced the gospel as their own.
*** For further study in Cross Cultural Communication- the reader can prices David J. Hesselgrave’s book. It is available at http://www.amazon.com/.
(EXTRA POINT)- The reason most missions have adopted African Traditional Music styles (i.e. drumming, dancing, and performance, that is straight out of ATR) is that they present such a foreign Gospel, that the people complain of the church being non-African. The missionary without knowing that his gospel presentation and preaching is based more on Western style and thought progression, moves to a less dangerous area in his mind, music. Soon he adapts his music forms to ATR music, and then social harmony seems to return.
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