TCK's

Third Culture Kids (TCKs)—children who have spent a significant part of their developmental years outside their parents' passport culture due to their parents' occupation—face a unique set of identity challenges. But for some, this challenge is magnified when their entire life structure, social circle, and even sense of self is inextricably tied to the organization  that employs their parents. Whether it’s the military base , the missionary field , the corporate compound , or

”Re-enacting” my motorcycle accident The year was 1989 , and I was a junior at a Christian International boarding school in Taiwan . Our school sat in the country, surrounded by rice paddies, the air thick with dampness and the sound of cicadas. One night, crossing the dark street in front of the school with a friend, my world went from ordinary to chaotic in an instant. One moment I was walking; the next, I was opening my eyes after blacking out on the rough pavement on the

Dear Them, I’m writing this from the vantage point of someone who spent years standing firmly in the “Us”  camp. Growing up, it wasn't always a conscious choice; it was the atmosphere. It was the unspoken covenant of being a missionary kid , a pastor’s kid , attending the sheltered halls of a Christian international school in Taiwan . In that world, Us  meant having the answers. We were the ones with the Bible  curriculum, the spiritual structure, the defined right and wrong.

We all carry "baggage"—stress, unresolved conflicts, or pent-up emotions—that, left unchecked, create a psychological mess. The need to cleanse ourselves, to purge what is toxic, is a fundamental human drive. But what happens when you desperately need that emotional release, yet all your avenues for processing feel contaminated, inadequate, or compromised? It's a chilling modern dilemma: the urgent need for a clean slate, and the utter frustration of finding no clean tools fo

The number 81 is etched into my memory, not as a random integer, but as a silent, lifelong companion. It was my designated laundry number  when I moved off to boarding school, a small, practical label that quickly became an unexpected symbol of something much larger. In those first years, the women who managed the dormitory laundry system needed a way to keep track of our clothes. So, every item of my clothing…every sock, shirt, and towel, etc., bore the sharpie mark: #81. Be

The call to ministry—whether as a pastor, missionary, evangelist, or church planter—is often described in soaring, spiritual terms: a noble, all-consuming devotion to a “greater calling.” It is a life of sacrifice, of laying down comfort and personal ambition for the sake of the Gospel and the community. But behind the pulpit and beyond the foreign field, there is often an unseen, sacred space where the heaviest price is paid: the home, and the hearts of the children. In the

The world is increasingly mobile, creating a unique population that grows up constantly crossing borders and cultures: the Third Culture Kid (TCK). More than just a child who moves a lot, the TCK experience is a distinct blend of cultural influences that shapes a person’s identity and view of the world in profound ways.   Third Culture Kids (TCK's) The term “Third Culture Kid” was first coined in the 1950s by American sociologist Ruth Hill Useem, along with her husband, John