As I reflect on the cultural engagement area of growth, I believe I accomplished this through growing my knowledge in this area. My strategy involved reaching out to the leader of each country team in our organization, to have conversations about their culture to enhance my ability to communicate with U.S. churches preparing for mission trips to our countries. I played a key role in helping Slovakia develop cultural training and worked closely with churches as they prepared for cross-cultural missions.

     The artifacts I submitted include a comprehensive list of countries with cultural and religious insights based on interviews with country leaders, a record of the churches I assisted in their cultural preparation this year, and an e-learning course I co-developed for teams serving in Slovakia.

      Originally, my goal was to lead a team from my local church and guide them through the experience of serving in another culture. However, with my wife’s pregnancy, I won’t be able to travel this summer. As a result, I shifted my focus toward concentrating on helping churches engage more effectively in cross-cultural settings. This shift became a valuable opportunity to expand my knowledge of countries like Moldova, Montenegro, and Estonia among others. Looking ahead, I hope to travel more, serve in diverse cultural contexts, and deepen my understanding of culture not just through interviews, but through direct experience and immersion in each of our countries.