The nonverbal communication is another critical and often difficult communication form to learn. Many Asian countries find it offensive and disrespectful for a person to show the sole of his or her shoe. Dave Livermore said, "Even my non-verbals have gotten me in trouble when training overseas. Though I knew better, a couple years ago I used the 'okay' sign in Brazil while acknowledging a student's question, forgetting I had given the symbolic equivalent of the American 'middle finger.' I have caught myself training with my hands in my pockets in Eastern European countries where that is considered greatly disrespectful…" To say the least, learning to communicate well and effectively in a new culture can be difficult but extremely important.

Learning to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ in a new culture adds another layer of difficulty. Unfortunately, a number of "[m]issionaries too often have equated the Good News with their own cultural background. This has led them to condemn most native customs and impose their own customs on converts." Hiebert seeks to correct this by reminding us "the gospel must be distinguished from all human cultures. It is divine revelation, not human speculation. Because it belongs to no one culture, it can be adequately expressed in all of them." Though the gospel is not tied to any one culture, "[h]umans cannot receive it apart from their languages, symbols and rituals. The gospel must become incarnate in cultural forms if people are to hear and believe." Therefore, we must immerse ourselves in the study of the culture so we can know how to communicate the gospel in a cultural form the people understand, receive and believe. Hodgson warns in communicating with youth in other cultures, "Contemporary western youth culture's expressions and media are used as a tool in ministry...For some cultures these forms carry inherent meanings that may or may not help us in our communication."

Studying the culture often will reveal differences that impact the way in which we communicate the gospel. One example is how a individual identifies him or herself. "Herein lies the greatest difference between Western and other societies...In other parts of the world, identity is linked to the family and community. Belonging gives the individual a sense of identity." While Americans pride themselves on individualism, this is not true in many other cultures. Therefore, communicating the gospel may best be done not in an individualistic manner (i.e., "you are a sinner") but in a communal manner (i.e., "we are all sinners"). Adapting the message to the culture requires skill acquired through careful study of the new culture.

Social and Cultural Forces on Youth

Turning our focus to specific skills for engaging in cross-cultural youth ministry, one skill we must acquire is the ability to determine the social and cultural influences on youth in their culture. Michael Warren said, "The situation of young people cannot be properly understood without attention to how social and cultural forces such as media, educational institutions, parents or the church affect them." More broadly, Harold Recinos said, "[Y]outh ministry requires getting in touch with the social reality of young people by thinking about how the culture…[affects] their lives." Cultural forces can be anything from the orientation of the culture to the expectations placed on youth by family, government and society. By orientation of the culture, we are referring to the value continuum Lingenfelter speaks of in his book Ministering Cross-Culturally. Lingenfelter contends that every culture falls somewhere on the continuum in reference to six pairs of values. These include time orientation versus event orientation; crisis orientation versus non-crisis orientation; dichotomistic thinking versus holistic thinking; task orientation versus person orientation; vulnerability as weakness versus vulnerability as strength; and status ascribed versus status achieved. How we reach youth in a given culture will depend largely on how the culture falls in reference to these six value pairings. Reaching youth in an event-oriented culture might mean the youth show up for the event, but they may arrive hours after you intended to begin. Or as we go across cultures to achieve our goal, we may be disappointed in the lack of response from the youth who operate in a person-oriented society where the goal or task is secondary to personal relationships.