" I Have To Do It On My Own..."

"I had a profound spiritual life the year before I went to Taitung. I learned to pray to God and felt close to Him. However because everything in my set changed upon arriving Taiwan, and I had very little emotional support. I felt like even God Himself did not care anymore. I felt like He didn't hear my prayers. Later on, I found out God had been faithful to me, but it was my feelings towards my parents, my sister and my environment that caused me to lose my trust in God. Because of my feelings, here are the lies I believed:

'When I experience grief, loss and culture shock, God is not with me and He does not help me. He doesn't care how I feel and He won't be there to see me through. Moreover, significant people in my life will not be there for me as well. I have to do it on my own.' "

Spiritual Heritage Of TCKs
Cindy Loong

"Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel,
'My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by
my God?' Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary,and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Isaiah 40:27-31

" When a family embarks on a missionary career, they have chosen to be more stretched culturally, personally, and spiritually. This is not because God considers them better than others, but because God has chosen to reveal His grace through their lives. The pain of the relational, cultural and even spiritual gaps of the missionary life is part and parcel of the missionary calling. It is what missionary families sign up for."

Growing Up Global- What a TCK's Life Is Like
Compiled and Edited By Cindy Loong

Bridge People

The identity of the global nomad/TCK lends itself to the act of bridging: continents, governments, relationships, subcultures,schools of thought, war zones, nationalities. Global nomads straddle the dizzying chasms between different groups their entire lives.
Marie Arana, author of American Chica, a memoir of her life straddling her father's Peruvian family and her mother's Wyoming ranch family, writes beautifully about this tension:

"I love to walk a bridge and feel that split second when I am neither here nor there, when I am between going and coming, when I am God's being in transit, suspended between ground and ground. You could say that it's because I'm an engineer's daughter and curious about solid structures. I've always been fascinated by the fit of a joint, the balance in trestles, the strength of a plinth. Or you could say it's because I'm a musician's daughter, who knows something about the architecture of instruments. I've pulled string over a bridge on a violin, stretched it tight, anticipated sound.
It could be, perhaps, because I am neither engineer nor musician. Because I'm neither gringa nor Latina. Because I 'm not any one thing. I live on bridges; I've earned my place on them, stand comfortably when I'm on one, content with betwixt and between.
I've spent a lifetime contemplating my mother and father, studying their differences. I count both their cultures as my own. But I'm happy to be who I am, strung between identities, shuttling from one to another, switching from brain to brain. I am the product of people who launched from one land to another, who slipped into other skins, lived by other rules-yet never put their cultures behind them..."

Identity

"My upbringing taught me that cultures are not isolated, and perish when deprived of contact with what is different and challenging. Reading,writing,teaching,learning, are all activities aimed at introducing civilizations to each other. No culture, I have believed unconsciously ever since then, and quite consciously today, retains its identity in isolation; IDENTITY IS ATTAINED IN CONTACT, IN CONTRAST, IN BREAKTHROUGH."

Carlos Fuentes

RE-ENTRY

" In our attempt to reach the world, let us not overlook the reentry needs of those whose world has expanded, whose hearts have been broken and burdened, whose minds have been instructed and whose spirits have been set on fire."

Re-entry Guide For Short-Term Mission Leaders
Lisa Espineli-Chin

BOTH / AND MOSAICS

These mosaics were done by MKs at InnerCHANGE conference. They represent the incredible cultural uniqueness of each child (eg.Cambodian/American,Venezuelan/German/American,Guatemalan/Venezuelan). They are a reminder that the formation of a cultural identity is not an EITHER/OR choice but rather a BOTH/AND incorporation of all cultural influences. The end result is a lot like a beautiful mosaic. I cannot wait to see the gorgeous and utterly unique ways in which each of these kids grows into their cultural identity.

Homes Sweet Homes

I just got home from InnerCHANGE conference where I was lucky enough to get to hang out with 15 missionary kids for five days. We did a lot of cool stuff together including spending a part of each day brainstorming what exactly InnerCHANGE kids have in common. We then immortalized our list on a HUGE banner showing each kid's unique collection of "homes". Most kids had at least four places they felt a strong connection to.

So, in their own words, InnerCHANGE kids share these traits:

- We are an order among the poor
- We are RADICAL
- We are scattered
- We are adaptable
- We are like family
- We are united
- We share friendship
- We have a 3D worldview
- We are as tough as nails! (They really are!)

Spending time with these kids reinforced my long held belief that MKs are my favourite people group. :)

Why I Love Missionary Kids....

I just had the incredible privilege of helping some missionary kids prepare for a major move. I had a wonderful time with them (they were amazing kids!) and plenty of opportunity to ruminate over why it is that I am so utterly devoted to missionary kids: :)

- They come from good stock-MKs have parents who are passionate and courageous enough to follow God's call to be sojourners. That trickles down in a major way!

- To get a glimpse through their eyes is to see the shifting shapes and colours of a kaleidoscope. Host culture, passport culture, family, mission/church and school culture all colliding and reconfiguring constantly.

- I am fascinated by their HIDDEN CONTEXT: I love nothing better than to hear their stories, and boy do they have some good ones!

- I am blown away by their potential. The catalyst of an international childhood in a home with a focus on reaching people for Jesus churns out some incredibly intense, focused and skilled people with a passion for changing the world.

- In spite of their remarkable potential, they are frequently voiceless within mission organizations. Often leadership are not interested in them until they are old enough for productivity, missing a vital opportunity to develop, shape and hone people with gifting and skills naturally suited to mission work.

- I love missionary kids because the road they walk is difficult, confusing and lonely at times. They need the support of adults within the mission organization who are available to advocate for them and bear witness to the complexity of their journey.

Harken, Fellow Chameleons....

I have been talking to a lot of fellow TCKs in their mid twenties and early thirties about the flip side of their spooky ability to adapt in any situation. I came across an anonymous quote in the excellent anthology, Strangers At Home, by Carolyn Smith, that nicely sums up what I have been hearing:

"The one thing I haven't really conquered has to do with the downsides of the ability to adapt. I became aware that I was too good at adapting, that I could fit into any crowd very quickly and effectively, no matter what kind of a group it was. Privately I would hold back and have a lot of private judgements about it...and after a while I began to realize that this was dishonest. For example, in a professional setting, rather than challenge, I became very skillful at figuring out how to advance my agenda using language and concepts they would respond to. To some extent that's a good thing to know. But after a certain point it becomes manipulative...I've stated it at its most extreme. But I began to be aware at some point in late twenties that I needed to be careful. I was too good at it."

What do you all think? Can you relate? What do you think drives this behaviour? Wanna talk about it? :):)

On Mobility....

"Like nomads we moved with the seasons....As with the seasons, each move offered something to look forward to while something had to be given up...We learned early that 'Home' was an ambiguous concept, and, wherever we lived, some essential part of our lives was always someplace else. So we were always of two minds. We learned to be happy and sad at the same time. We learned to be independent and accept that things were out of our control...We had security and consolation that whenever we left one place we were returning to another, already familiar one."

Paul Seaman

Storm Center

"Children are the storm center in the battle between the forces of God and those of the evil one."

Shiferaw Michael

Practical Implications for Engaging Children in the Great Commission

- Children are an essential part of God's mission in that they represent one of the largest missiological segments in today's world.

- Not only are children a key missiological people group, children are key actors in implementing the Great Commission.

- By employing the "Joseph principle" (Child as an agent of God's provision), mission agencies can educate, disciple, and mobilize children so that children can become the agents of social transformation for their families and their communities.

- The "Samuel principle" (Child as prophet) calls for mission agencies to intentionally evangelize and involve children as bearers of the good news of salvation.

- While armies and political systems have manipulated children and youth to become innocent casualties of the wars which those systems support, ministries understand the value that spirit-filled children and youth have in leading their communities to justice, righteousness, and liberation.

- Children and youth are some of the most valuable resources in the community. Because of their energy, boldness, creativity, and ingenuity, children have the capacity to mobilize immeasurable resources for the holistic transformation of their communities.

-Children are the epitome of the kingdom incarnated by the Messiah. Christ came as a child and grew into the Rabbi of Nazareth so that people of all ages could experience and carry the redeeming mission of our loving father.

- Finally, children should be considered as partners in mission. When filled by the Spirit of God , children can and will discuss with "experienced" ministers the matters of the kingdom. They, too, will respond to us, " Why were you looking for me? Didn't you know that I had to be here dealing with the things of my Father?"

Understanding God's Heart for Children- Toward a Biblical Framework
Children and God's Mission- Gustavo Crocker with Karissa Glanville

Interesting.....

Laila Plamondon, a TCK and student at Smith College, recently did a study of 309 TCKs looking to answer the question: What factors predict mental health in TCKs after repatriation? She measured general mental health, reacculturation and identity formation in all 309 participants and found that:

1- Suprisingly, the number of assignments abroad and the number of years spent abroad had NO EFFECT on successful reacculturaltion, a sense of adult identity, a sense of communal identity or mental health!

2- However, the more times a TCK repatriates (that is, re-enters their passport culture)the more difficult it is to solidify an adult identity and achieve a communal identity.

3- Bad experiences in the host country make reacculturation to the passport country more difficult.

* The average age of the participants was 20.89. It would be very interesting to reassess them in 5 years or so.