Intercultural Communication

Interculturally Communicating the Gospel in Ghana Africa

Interculturally Communicating the Gospel in Ghana Africa

Part 1

The term communication has become an important one for people in business and industry. When pressed to define exactly what the term means, however, many managers are at a loss. What exactly is communication? For our purposes, communication is an exchange of messages between individuals for the purpose of creating or influencing the meaning that others assign to events. To fully understand our definition of communication, it is first necessary to understand our definition of meaning; then we will explain how communicators exchange messages.

Portuguese explorers brought Christianity to the Gold Coast in 1471. In 1482 a Portuguese fleet established the A Mina (El Mina) settlement, and sailors attended the first Catholic mass on Ghanaian soil. They reportedly prayed for the souls of the natives and for their conversion from idolatry. In 1503 the Portuguese clergy conducted a mass baptism for the first 300 Catholic converts—the King of Efutu, his palace officials, and their families. Historical evidence indicates that the Portuguese baptized and catechized slaves before shipping them to the New World. (Bockmuehl, 12-15)

Ghanaian Christians consider the Bible to contain the divinely inspired, infallible word of God. Catholics and Protestants consider the sacraments sacred, and Catholics venerate saints. Such independent churches as the Twelve Apostles Church, Divine Faith Healing Church, Musama Disco Christo Church, and the Church of the Messiah emphasize spiritual gifts, including divine healing, prophecy, visions, dreams, and speaking in tongues. Christian missionaries equated Ghanaian traditional art with fetishes, sacrifices to pagan gods, and heathen depravity.

Barriers Affecting The Communication Of The Gospel Among Ghanaian People

On the surface, the communication process may seem pretty simple and straightforward. You need a sender, a message, a channel, and a receiver. However, this process can be affected by a number of factors that make understanding difficult, if not seemingly impossible. These barriers can be grouped under two major headings: noise and gaps.

Noise

Three types of noise contribute to communication breakdowns. These types include internal, external, and semantic noise.

Internal Noise: Although you may think of noise as an environmental distraction, it can also occur inside of both the sender and the receiver. Stop and think for a moment about your own personal barriers. The beliefs you hold, the values you cherish, and the assumptions you make influence how you send and receive messages. Let's say, for example, that you believe in gender equality in the workplace and that your supervisor has a different point of view. Chances are you may have a hard time convincing this supervisor that both genders are equally capable of performing their tasks well. It may even be that one gender or the other is denied advancement opportunities because of the supervisor's position.

External Noise: External noise occurs outside of both sender and receiver. Maybe you work in a busy retail setting where background music and talkative customers compete for your attention while you're answering the phone. (Cho, 235-264)

Semantic Noise: Semantic noise, the third type ...