5 Things MKs Aren’t | Zoom In with Michèle Phoenix (Ep. 231)

What does it feel like to live in several places and still feel a little out of place in each? How can this feeling of “unbelonging” become a bridge between people and across cultures? MK Advocate Michèle Phoenix challenges five assumptions about the children of missionaries, flavored with personal stories and insightful perspectives from decades of work with MKs. Michèle encourages listeners that relationship and conversation provide the foundation for understanding the MK experience more deeply. Share this episode with MKs and their parents, teachers, friends, and sending communities!

• MKs = missionaries’ kids; TCKs = Third Culture Kids
• Hear our past conversations with Michèle: Episode 22 and Episode 188
• Find Michèle Phoenix books and other writings at: michelephoenix.com
• We are not monochromatic.
• We are not mono-loyal.
• We are not monolithic in our faith.
• We are not superhuman.
• “To preach at MKs about who they are or to assume who they are in any context just leads to confusion and maybe even an inability to connect.”
• “We can use mostly belonging in multiple places as an asset. This is what allows us to build bridges; this is what allows us to have a multicultural mindset.”
• “Community and relationship and asking questions out of trust can be a real asset to MKs who [...] have these contradictory pieces.”
• “Out of relationship, they can talk about the hard and continue to pursue the adventures and the bright and the good that will continue to feed into the ‘purple’ that they have become.”
• “The missionary community and the parents of MKs can help to build into them this humility that we were blessed, most of the time, by these wonderful things that we experienced – and that doesn’t make us special.”

What’s changing our lives:

• Keane: Fostering
• Heather: Illuminated Scripture Journal for Romans
• Michèle: Pondering faith in community

Weekly Spotlight: Schools serving Third Culture Kids

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Podcast Website: https://teachbeyond.org/podcast
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