Host Paul Akin interviews Sarah Lanier about her book "Foreign to Familiar" and how cultural differences affect communication, leadership, and missions. Lanier shares formative cross-cultural lessons from growing up in the Middle East, living in Amsterdam, and a painful miscommunication-filled move to Chile that led to mentoring on “hot” (relationship-focused, indirect) and “cold” (task-focused, direct) cultures. She explains why these categories matter, notes culture is only one “thread” among many that shape people, and gives practical examples of avoiding offense when saying no in relational contexts. Lanier also describes how misunderstanding these dynamics can create serious conflict, including Western-African tension in medical training settings.

Mentioned in this episode:

The Online PhD at Southern Seminary

https://www.sbts.edu/online-phd/