You too can better care for the missionaries you support by caring for their children. We hope MK Life will encourage you to become better acquainted with missionary kids so you can reach out and touch them. This MK is communicating strong feelings experienced by many missionary kids. As the son or daughter of a 'real, live missionary', an MK may feel pressured to live up to an ideal, instead of feeling accepted for who he or she really is. By setting apart MKs from the 'normal kids' we know, we may fail to minister to them in their struggles and to meet their need for belonging.
Children become missionary kids at different ages.
Some children are born on the mission field. Others are so young when they leave the States that they remember very little about their 'home' country when they return 4 years later. Still others are old enough to feel the trauma of pulling up roots, leaving grandparents and friends, and moving to a faraway land. Whether MKs are on the mission field or in the U.S., they have needs you and I can help with. Our primary objective is to help MKs make the necessary cultural adjustments, both overseas and in the United States.