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MK Problems, MK Solutions
by Ralph D. Winter

J
ust as the squeeky wheel gets the grease, we tend to hear more about the
different MK “challenges” (i.e., “problems,” in today’s PC tspeak) than we
hear about the many truly outstanding MK contributions in missions today.

We would like to sound a trumpet call for current missionaries to take note of
and write notes about MKs around the world who are doing an unusually good
job that probably a non-MK could not do as well.

Undoubtedly, MKs have long made outstanding contributions in many walks

of life all down through the decades of Protestant missions. I say decades,
and I say Protestant, because in the centuries of outstanding Roman Catholic
missions MKs were not a major factor. Right now missionary families must be
rearing well over 50,000 MKs on countless fields around the world.

Is this a part of missions? Is it a major factor? Is the right analysis of it a “fron-

tier”? We think so.

We have not done as good a job as we could. Our families in US churches are
not doing as good a job as they should. Why should overseas families succeed
where US families very often fall short?

It is a peculiar feature of Western society and especially American society that

we coop our children up in school rooms for so much of the week and for so
many years that their very delay into maturity and responsibility becomes a
problem in itself. There are few “teenager” problems in societies which inte-
grate their children into real life earlier than we do.

MKs are, however, part of both worlds. My children growing up in

Guatemala were quite normally caught up in adult activities precisely because
Ralph D. Winter is a senior mission
their playmates (read work-mates) were involved in adult activities. For them
thinker who has been actively
involved from the beginning of the things adults valued seemed far more exciting than either “play” or sitting in
massive mission transition from a classroom.
simply thinking in terms of countries
or individuals to thinking in terms But, amazingly, the adults I’m talking about, whose activities were models for
of peoples. He is founder of the U.S. my children, were not Americans but Guatemalan Mayas. In America we have
Center for World Mission and is
currently chancellor of the William shunted our children off into school care for so many years that we have almost
Carey International University. totally forgotten that children want and need to participate in the adult world.

International Journal of Frontier Missions 23:4 Winter 2006•141

142 MK Problems, MK Solutions

D
o you know, dear reader, of any adult MKs MK Resources: A Short List
working significantly still in the world of Magazines
Interact, published by Interaction
missions? . . . Let us hear from you! International, an organization com-
So MKs often straddle not only the they are doing “evangelizing and mitted to counseling and research of
normally-thought-of linguistic and church planting.” MKs/TCKs (tckinteract.net).
cultural differences. They may try to Okay, how about a book of a dozen Among Worlds (tckinteract.net)
make sense in the midst of the biggest or more chapters highlighting some
differences of all—the differences of these “supermissionaries” who are Organizations/Websites
between American child rearing and laboring often behind the scenes in Barnabas International (barnabas.org)
non-Western child rearing. missions all over the place. sponsors re-entry seminars for MKs,
In any case, because of or in spite started Mu Kappa (fraternity-like clubs
How about a series of articles in IJFM?
of this straddling tension there are for MKs) on 70 college campuses.
How about building a book out of
notable examples of MKs becoming those articles? Yes, let’s do it. Do YOU The Interchange Institute (inter-
almost “supermissionaries.” One know, dear reader, of any adult MKs changeinstitute.org) is a research insti-
of the most significant examples is working significantly still in the world tute focused on expatriate issues.
that of Donald McGavran, a third- of missions? If all you do is to report Transition Dynamics (transition-
generation missionary whose ideas their existence that will be the first dynamics.com) has an extensive bibli-
have transformed modern missions step. Let us hear from you! IJFM ography on expatriate/repatriate issues.
in the Protestant and especially
Click on Resources and Products, then on
the Evangelical sphere from mere
the word bibliography.
witnessing and evangelism into the
building of accountable fellowships TCK World (tckworld.com). Claims
of believers. Missionaries used to to be the largest site related to third
say they were evangelizing. Now culture kid issues.
they say (almost as one word) that
Books on MKs/TCKs
Andrews, Leslie A., ed. (2004). The
Missionary Family: Understanding
and Caring for Those Who Serve,
Palmer Lake, CO: Mission Training
International. (See inside ad for order-
ing information).
Pollock, D. C., and Van Reken, R.
E. (1999). Third Culture Kids: The
experience of growing up among worlds.
London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
Rosalea Cameron (2006). Missionary
Kids: Who they are; Why they are who
they are; What now? (Available from
Cypress Trust, PO Box 476, Deception
Bay, 4508, Queensland, Australia.)
To order, write to author at TCK.au@
wesleyan.org.au.
For other resources, see missiology.org/
bibliographies/missionarycare.htm

Conferences: 2007
Families in Global Transition
(figt.org), “8th Families in Transition
International Conference.” The
conference will be held in Houston,
March 29-31, 2007.

International Journal of Frontier Missions