The challenges of deep multi-cultural integration

One of the joys of living in multi-cultural Britain is that we have people arrive from all over the world, and in recent years the numbers from other countries have only been increasing.

God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 speaks of how he always intended to bless all nations. The church has a special privilege to welcome those from other nations: to help those in need, to share the good news and to disciple believers.

As people from different countries arrive, we need to make a concerted effort to welcome them in. This is both easier and harder than we might expect. I’ve spent eight years doing international student ministry in the UK, and over 20 years living overseas in Africa, Asia and the Middle East – and have had the chance to be both the welcomer and the welcomed. At a basic level, it’s not difficult to take time to chat to a neighbour from another country, or to look out for international visitors at church. It’s not hard to invite them to stay for coffee after the service, or to do some simple hospitality.

'We don’t need to cook up a storm; it’s mostly about slowing down and enjoying time together.' 

But while the average UK resident is usually happy to have a quick sandwich and a cup of tea for lunch, most cultures put a bit more emphasis on the relational aspect of eating. We don’t need to cook up a storm; it’s mostly about slowing down and enjoying time together. Once we’ve shared a meal or two, it’s natural to share life in other ways, which internationals often value. It can be hard for internationals to make genuine friendships with British people, because we have a habit of being polite but not truly friendly. We need to make the effort to proactively welcome people from different cultures into our friendship groups.

Striving for a deeper integration

It’s this deeper integration that is harder than we might anticipate. Whilst there is value in running separate ministries for internationals who are in the UK for the short-medium term, we need to try to properly integrate internationals who are in our churches for the medium-long term. But this integration is harder than it looks.

Although we might know people from other countries, it’s possible for these interactions to be surface level, or even superficial. Similarly, we might have many different nationalities present on Sunday, but to what extent have these nationalities properly connected with local Brits, let alone with each other?

Most people, and most cultures, have a strong sense of privacy, and an aversion to sharing anything that might be seen as shameful. Getting internationals to open up about what they are really thinking and feeling is a slow process of building trust, and usually we only have the emotional capacity to form a few of these deeper friendships. We have to be vulnerable ourselves, and to be willing to learn. It’s the old adage of: ‘You don’t know what you don’t know’. So many times, as I’ve got to know someone from another culture, I’ve realised that I needed new categories to appreciate their experiences. It takes time, not least because we are often unaware of how our own cultural worldview clouds our understanding.

Fortunately, although building deeper friendships across cultures isn’t easy, it isn’t complicated either. It is helpful to have some background knowledge about other cultures, but we don’t need to be experts. After all, every person is an individual, not a cultural generalisation. The aim isn’t that we understand the features of their culture, but for them to trust us enough to open up about their personal life story. More often than not, perseverance and love, not expert knowledge, are the keys to crossing cultures. It’s as we remember God’s love to welcome us into his family, that we are able to show love to others. As we do this, it leads to better integrated churches to display God’s glorious plan to bless the nations.