In preparation for today's interview, Bart was digging into Gary Keller's book called "One Thing" which highlighted three things for Bart:

• Extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow your focus is
• No one succeeds alone
• Mastery should be seen as a path and not a destination

 Communication takes a lifetime to master. Thomas has seen his journey with mastering communication as an opportunity to focus on the path and not the destination. He is part of the theological program at the Shepherds Institute. He was involved in an organization called Send international and spent a year in Russia and we dive into his experience in this episode.

They were teaching English in a summer camp format during their time in Russia. Thomas shares about what the three biggest challenges to overcome.

1. The cultural differences
2. How to show people we love them without words, but through emotions and body language
3. Working with the church about logistics without a shared language and vocabulary.

We discuss overcoming the often negative stereotypes of Americans in Russia which Thomas described as an uphill battle. We discussed how in any communication there is a difference between perception and reality. That gap is called disparity. When addressing a group of people the perception of how you might perceive it is going as the communication may be different than the way the listeners are perceiving.  The goal of successful communication is learning to close that gap. 

Thomas described hurdles he faced when trying to close that disparity gap during his time in Russia. Understanding what they needed and what they were looking for when they attended class versus what he thought they needed. This fits perfectly into an idea often discussed in classes by Bart which is being listener focused instead of teacher-focused.  

Thomas also discussed how cultural differences communicated more than he intended. For example, when offered tea, he may have refused because he preferred water or not wanting people to go through the trouble of preparing tea, but in Russian culture sharing tea was a staple and often people would be offended by his refusal of tea. 

Thomas also shared about his wife's experience as a woman in Russia, which is a largely patriarchal society. We discussed the power of a woman's voice in effective communication and transforming lives.

When asked about what's next, Thomas shared some potential plans they have for their future. 

We spent time talking about the cultural differences between churches in Russia to churches in America. For example, there is less influence of consumerism, mostly smaller, there are small changes in government restrictions.