1. Presented by Marie David
Becoming Relevant in a New Culture: A God Perspective CUNNA Reunion 2017 York, PA July 7 - 9
Presented by Marie David

2. First: Assumptions and Disclaimers
Broad Topic, but will focus on personal journey and restrict to the journey of CUNNA members from Africa (Nigeria) to the United States
Audience is a Christian audience, so will approach topic from a God perspective
Time will only allow a peripheral view of the topic
No two journeys are similar so comments will focus on general overview and broad generalization with specific examples as needed

3. So How Did We All Get Here?
No matter the route, first things first
Pray, pray, pray and pray and be sure to hear from God on location and purpose
Define goals, objectives and outcomes, identifying key milestones and must haves that are critical to success
Define what success looks like and an exit strategy, whether or not you are thinking of an exit at the very beginning
Set out to understand your new surrounding, people and culture

4. How In the World Do I know what to Do?
Integration and understanding of the new culture is a must. Seek to understand by:
Become Self –aware - confront your own belief systems and focus on the positives and deemphasize the not so positive part of your belief system. Allow for paradigm shift where necessary, This does not suggest a total sell out
Research the new cultures around you - This will help in your understanding and interaction with your new neighbors. Read history books, watch cultural movies etc.….
Broaden your network - Find the balance between Nigerian and American Church. Join support and value based organizations like CUNNA and ACF. Lets talk about some challenges of sticking with only Americans or only Africans
Become self-aware
Work out your own beliefs, values and personal biases. Yep, it can be confronting, but by doing this you’ll be able to think about how these traits might impact on your approach to and understanding of differences.
Do your own research
Learning about different cultures can be a great way of developing an understanding of cultural diversity. Do a spot of research online or through books, and study some of the history and traditions of other cultures.

5. Understanding the New Culture Cont.
Build relationships with people from other cultures. Learn a new language if possible
Travel to places other than Nigeria on vacations and family holidays
Be more Accepting and don’t stereotype {Let us talk about some typical stereotypes)… It is ok for people to be different. Embrace diversity of thoughts and opinions
Find a mentor amongst trusted colleague
Learn cultural nuances- for example, cultures relevant to South versus northeastern and western US (share examples - southern hospitality, liberalism and progressive thinking in the West etc.)
Master American mode of communication versus the Nigerian style (in your face versus subtle communication style, voice projection, eye contact, body language, passive versus aggressive communication styles etc.
Learn about personality profiles. Take some of these for your own education and to understand different personalities (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI}, Birkman methods etc.…There are free tests online.
Talk to someone from a different cultural background
Try and get to know them a bit better. You don’t necessarily have to ask them directly about their culture, but by getting to know them you’ll automatically find out more about their life and experiences.
Travel!
One of the best ways to experience and understand other cultures is to actually live among them. It might take a while to save for, but planning a trip overseas to a country you’re interested in can be the best way of opening yourself up to new cultures.
Be more accepting
Sometimes it’s not all that easy to gain an understanding of cultural difference, for whatever reason. In these situations, the best approach is just to acknowledge that some people are different and to accept that that’s okay.
Culturally different, with diverse opinions
Even if you hear or read something about a certain culture, it’s important to realize that this doesn’t mean everyone from that particular background acts/thinks/believes the same thing. Just as not everyone you know has identical beliefs, people who come from different cultural backgrounds aren’t all a certain way, either.
Don’t stereotype
One of the biggest difficulties to overcome in understanding cultural differences is making judgements based on one opinion. Do your own research and make an effort to actually learn about people, instead of making broad-brush assessments.
Everyone is unique
The main thing to remember is that everyone, no matter what their cultural background, has different opinions, habits and ways of life. The sooner you accept that everyone is different, the easier it becomes to understand and embrace cultural differences.

6. Now that I am at Home, How can I become relevant?
Thief question of relevance is broad, bout this couple slides will discuss a general overview as it relate to Career, Spiritual and Social aspects …
Career
Identify the right career for you where you will flourish. You do not have to do the popular thing – Share personal stories (Psalm 37:5, Proverbs 16:3)
Be willing to go back to school or take your professional exams as soon as you can. The longer you wait, the harder it becomes. Some formal education In your new culture always helps in furthering your objectives and building links and connecting the dots – Share personal stories
Where a change of career is necessary, research to understand market trends – Personal examples
Be bold, try new careers and take measured risks – abhor comfort zones (personal stories)
Accept new challenges as growth opportunities
SOME DEFINITIONS
Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving. 
Culture is the systems of knowledge shared by a relatively large group of people. 
Culture is communication, communication is culture.
Culture in its broadest sense is cultivated behavior; that is the totality of a person's learned, accumulated experience which is socially transmitted, or more briefly, behavior through social learning. 
A culture is a way of life of a group of people--the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next. 
Culture is symbolic communication. Some of its symbols include a group's skills, knowledge, attitudes, values, and motives. The meanings of the symbols are learned and deliberately perpetuated in a society through its institutions. 
Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, on the other hand, as conditioning influences upon further action. 
Culture is the sum of total of the learned behavior of a group of people that are generally considered to be the tradition of that people and are transmitted from generation to generation.
Culture is a collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.

7. Now that I am at Home, How can I become relevant? Cont.…
Spiritually:
Be active in a local church and serve faithfully in a church unit
Be an example of he believer and do not destroy ancient landmarks. The God you knew in CU is still the same God in America
Develop your spiritual gifts and stay in the word – Josh 1: 8-9
Find an accountability partner, a relationship where you can both be transparent and vulnerable with each other
Attend conferences to sharpen your walk – RCCG, Shiloh, ACF, CUNNA etc.…
Accept leadership opportunities to serve the body -

8. Now that I am at Home, How can I become relevant? Cont.…
Socially:
Be aware of your surroundings, listen to and read relevant news, not just soap operas
Become an avid reader, invest time in good books
Get active on social media, but exercise a balanced approach. Get an LinkedIn at the minimum
Join a fitness group – dance, tennis, swimming, gym, soccer, basketball etc.… for friendships and as antidote o stress
Stay connected with your home country and expose your children to your original culture unless you have no intend to ever go back.

9. One Last Caution… THANK YOU Any Question???
Constantly review your milestones and goals and adjust where needed
When your time here is served, pack and go home
In all thy getting, get Wisdom and be full of God!
THANK YOU
Any Question???