Ministry Updates

Third Culture Kids

We made it home safely from our training in Orlando.  We really had an awesome time and feel much more prepared, excited, and knowledgeable about our departure next summer.

Our last week of training was about international children’s education, specifically for Third Culture Kids (TCK). “A TCK is an individual who, having spent a significant part of the developmental years in a culture other than the parents’ culture, develops a sense of relationship to all of  the cultures while not having full ownership in any. Elements from each culture are incorporated into the life experience, but the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar experience.” We learned some great facts about TCKs.  These are the children (representing more than a dozen different countries) that will be filling our home in Papua New Guinea. Here are some of the TCK facts:

  • 81% of adult TCKs have a Bachelors degree (as compared to 21% of the American population)
  • 10% say that they feel attuned to life in their home country
  • 90% say they feel out of “sync” all of their lives
  • 41% wed after age 25
  • 60% marry someone with international experience
  • 92% report yearly contact with someone from other countries
  • 80% use a foreign language occasionally
  • 56% have some international dimension to their careers