FAMILY MATTERS
A few pictures showing our daughters Rebecca, Tracy, Natalia, and Elizabeth over the years.
A few pictures showing our daughters Rebecca, Tracy, Natalia, and Elizabeth over the years.
Daughters and Beyond
We have four daughters, and two sons-in-law. We have three grandchildren. Our family is spread among locations in southern Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida.
The daughters include an attorney, a university professor (developmental molecular biology), a licensed professional counselor, and a certified professional scuba diver.
We have four daughters, and two sons-in-law. We have three grandchildren. Our family is spread among locations in southern Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida.
The daughters include an attorney, a university professor (developmental molecular biology), a licensed professional counselor, and a certified professional scuba diver.
Daughters & Mission Life
"How are your girls?" was one of the most common questions we were asked during our initial years as missionaries. Of all our mission newsletters over the years, those that talked about our daughters seemed to generate the most interest, comments, and feedback.
Over the years the girls have all visited innumerable churches, talked to Church School classes, answered questions at coffee hours, etc. However, at the point that they went off to college, we felt it appropriate to take them out of the semi-public spotlight of being a Missionary Kid. It seemed the right point to restore their privacy as each one developed her own identity unrelated to their missionary parents.
We are thankful for all the prayers, the birthday cards, and the other little kindness that our mission partners directed towards our daughters over the years.
"How are the girls?"
The girls are doing just fine, thank you.
"How are your girls?" was one of the most common questions we were asked during our initial years as missionaries. Of all our mission newsletters over the years, those that talked about our daughters seemed to generate the most interest, comments, and feedback.
Over the years the girls have all visited innumerable churches, talked to Church School classes, answered questions at coffee hours, etc. However, at the point that they went off to college, we felt it appropriate to take them out of the semi-public spotlight of being a Missionary Kid. It seemed the right point to restore their privacy as each one developed her own identity unrelated to their missionary parents.
We are thankful for all the prayers, the birthday cards, and the other little kindness that our mission partners directed towards our daughters over the years.
"How are the girls?"
The girls are doing just fine, thank you.
TCK's and MK's
"What about the children?" is a major question for long-term missionary families. When we left the USA in 1999, our girls ranged in age from 4 to 14 years. All of them finished their high school studies in the Dominican Republic and returned to the USA for higher education.
The effects of living some or all of your adolescence away from your passport country and away from your parents' country of origin can be challenging for young people. They often develop multiple cultural understandings and bonds that can place them slightly (or greatly) out of synch with both their passport and host countries. They have troubles answering the question, "Where are you from?" The experience has been called "growing up among worlds."
"Third culture kids" (TCK's) are now a well-recognized group that is being studied more intensely. Even the United States Department of State has several sources of information about TCK's.
Missionary Kids (MK's) are a subset of TCK's. Missionary children typically have more sustained and deeper encounters with host cultures than do the children of diplomats, business people, or military personnel, for example. Accordingly, the TCK challenges can be greater for MK's.
Page last updated 4 July 2018.
