This morning I found a leaflet on the reception desk all about Missionary Kids or otherwise known as MK's. Children of people who are missionaries, in a foreign country. The leaflet had a list of different things to pray for and different ways to encourage missionary children. I thought it would be good to include this list here as I make this blog post about missionary children and the advantages and disadvantages in being a missionary child. Pray for missionary kids: You can pray for them... - as they face new cultures, language, education - at home or away in school. - as they might live away from there families and need to develop new relationships. - that they would be prepared for further education in their passport countries. - as they experience times of homesickness. - as they might live far away from good medical care and face tropical illnesses that are common overseas. - that they will have a personal faith and grow in grace, because their spiritual health is important. - as they often have to say goodbye to close friends, and to places that have been their homes for most of their lives. - as they return to their passport countries and may find it difficult to adapt to the cultures that are 'supposed' to be theirs. You can encourage them... - by Sending birthday and Christmas cards. - by sending small gifts like books, DVDs or sweets. - by keeping in touch via email or social media. - by finding out what kind of items they are not able to get where they live and occasionally sending a care package. - by preparing their home community to be welcoming and understanding towards them when they return. - by showing a genuine interest in what their life has been like without making them feel too different. - by including them in your activities and helping them to feel accepted and comfortable while adjusting to life in their passport country. - by recognising the needs of adult MK's whose parents return to the field, leaving them to pursue further education or careers possibly without the support of close family. When you pray for missionaries, please don't forget to pray for their children (missionary kids - MK's) The field of service can become more 'home' than their passport country. They have a rich life but it is not without its special challenges and stresses. Take time to get to know the children of missionaries you support and show them you care in practical ways. I also thought it would be cool to interview a few missionary kids that I know. Here are the responses to my interviews: What was your favourite part of life as a missionary child? Being able to play and spend time with the tribal kids every day: outside, in our house, in the woods, in the river… Hanging out with my Indonesian friends! I loved the language! What did you love most about the country your parents were serving in? The food, the weather, the people The tropical fruit was delicious! The people were so friendly! My brother and I had a lot of freedom and went everywhere on our bikes! What was the hardest part of coming ‘home’ on home assignment? Being away from my tribal friends and my home there Having an American accent as a kid and not being thought of as British. I struggled to fit in with girls my age because I was really shy. What did you miss the most on the field? Nothing Aunty’s and Uncles, Grandparents. And English chocolate and sweets, of course! Do you have any examples of how people encouraged you on the field? It was encouraging for me how people were happy that I was involved in the ministry. People giving little treats was encouraging. It was always encouraging when local people involved me and seemed to see me as one of them. I remember those adults who interacted with me as an MK and invested in me – I wasn’t invisible because I was a child. What would be the best advice to a home church who have missionary kids that they have sent to the field? Send them encouraging notes, acknowledging them in the ministry of their parents. Mention the kids as well when the parents are sharing in church, they are part of the team. If kids from their Sunday School class or youth group could keep in touch with them via social media, that would be great. It would help with the transition back to their home country for home assignment or when they have finished their education and move back to their passport country. Also, pray for the kid’s adjustment to the country their parents are serving in because children, of course, have to follow where their parents go. Some kids might not be happy that they are going to live in Africa or Asia or wherever. Any advice to missionary parents? Engage the children in the ministry, if it is possible let them play and live with the tribal/local kids and learn to speak their language, to become one of them. They are a testimony to the people/kids. Let them know that they are important and a part of the ministry as well. Include your children in your ministry/ministries by giving them little jobs to do so they feel part, make it a family affair! As parents, if you don’t have the right attitude or are struggling with the country and/or culture of where you are living, your children will pick up on that and feed off of it. Ultimately, this will affect their daily lives in this new country they are living in (learning the language/culture, making friends etc.) The two questionnaires above are of people who were missionary kids but are now older and no longer on the field. There shall be another questionnaire later from children who are still on the field.
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We have just started this week teaching phonetics. This teaching allows individuals to learn how to write a language that has not yet been written down. It's incredible that God has created language in such a way that it can be transcribed in such an amazing way. We hope that our students will enjoy this new module in the training and realise that it can be a lot of hard work. But one day there will be bibles written because they were able to write an alphabet for that language from their transcription and phonemic analysis. This is so exciting!
Please be thinking and praying for us over the next weeks as we continue teaching these lovely people. We are back in England and have been since the end of July. Life has been crazy busy as normal for us. The children are both in nursery and are really enjoying, so much so that Aria asks every morning for nursery and at the weekend talks a lot about going back again. Aria has learnt so much! She speaks a lot and thankfully understands both English and German. It amazes me still that she responds to both languages, made not always in speech but in action. Whilst the kids are in nursery we sit in on some classes and Paul spends the rest of the morning working. HE is in charge of the chapels getting different people to speak to the students three times a week for half an hour. He is also responsible for some administration work for the campus management team. The week after next we shall be teaching together for the first time. We will be taking a small group of students and teaching them phonetics (different sounds that have particular symbols). We teach this to the students so that one day they will be able to phonetically write a language that has never been written before so that they will be able to make an alphabet which comes in handy for the future work that the students are training for. We are considering going to Thailand sometime next year to see the work and see if that is if that is where we will be serving in the future. We hope that we will have enough money to do this because flights to Thailand don't come cheap. It would be great if you could pray for this that we would have enough money. It's been a long time since we wrote on our blog. Our second little one is 9 months old and we haven't shared his birth video on here yet. Here it is when our lives were changed for the second time :) |