Study Overview

This qualitative study explores intercultural social dynamics among international Christian workers who are part of multicultural teams engaged in Christian ministries in a North African country. It seeks to understand these workers's lived realities at intersections of multiple cultural flows.

Methods and Participants

Ethnographic methods were used to collect and analyze data, and forty-nine international Christian workers were interviewed.

Findings

The findings of this study indicate that intercultural Christian workers go through complex intercultural social processes interwoven in the fabric of their everyday life. These processes are mediated by their social experiences in the local North African context and their multicultural teams, resulting in significant changes in their personal dispositions and social behaviors.

Concepts and Implications

Based on these findings, a working concept of diasporic habitus is developed, and the practice of double discourses of culture is further examined. This research suggests that some existing missiological concepts need to be revisited and recommends further interdisciplinary conversations involving cultural anthropology and sub-fields in psychology about the changes that happen to people in intercultural missions.

It also calls for a reflexive approach to missiological research that incorporates awareness of one's situatedness and the lasting impact of historical entanglements on contemporary intercultural relations.