CultureBound began with Donald and Faye Smith, missionaries to East Africa in the 1950s. As part of their ministry, they researched communication across cultures. They focused on the communication of the people they lived around. That research turned into training events, educational institutions, and printed materials that were used in both Africa and the United States. The organization that they formed to pursue those ministry opportunities was called the Institute for International Christian Communication, or IICC.

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In the United States, the IICC moved into a building called WorldView Center based in Portland, Oregon. After years of ministry in Latin America, Mark and Karen Hedinger moved to Portland to be part of the teaching staff for agency-focused events at that building. Due to high costs, the training team decided in 2020 to shift to an online format. God's timing was perfect! CultureBound was able to provide fully online training during the earliest days of the Coronavirus pandemic.

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In 2017, IICC became CultureBound after a brand refresh. The Portland building was sold. CultureBound now offers online training for mission agencies, churches, global workers, and other Christian organizations. We continue to add new training and support staff so that we can reach the global scale of the current mission movement.