Paul and his parents, Ken & Kathryn, after getting commissioned as a missionary with Cru
A hallmark of growing up is looking back and realizing all the things you didn’t really know. Maybe you look back and think about how you didn’t know how to do your taxes, or do your hair. For me I look back at something pretty big that I didn’t know, considering my current career: I didn’t know I was an MK.
By Ben Babione
IF YOU’VE SPENT any amount of time in Christian circles, you have probably heard the word ‘sovereign’ anywhere from one to a million times. When there is crisis: God is sovereign. When there is uncertainty: God is sovereign. When there is fear and anxiety: God is sovereign. When there is unexpected success: God is sovereign. While this is true in all these circumstances, God’s sovereignty has seemingly been reduced in our minds to only mean that God has authority over the circumstances in our life.
If our God is as great as he says he is, then his sovereignty must also be better than we think.
By Renae Timbie
This morning I was in a refugee camp in southern Greece, picking up some women and children for a Women’s Day at our nearby center, and was talking with one of the Syrian mothers about the surprise blessing she was experiencing by her children who have become multilingual…the blessing that—despite the discomfort and tragedy of it all—they are learning to be members of many cultures at one time. Woah! That sounds familiar! Refugee children here in Greece growing up in cultures outside their parents’ native cultures (Syrian, Afghan, Iranian, Kurdish), a little of everything but not belonging really anywhere, they—like me—are TCKs. I don’t mean to imply my very comfortable and overwhelmingly blessed life growing up in Egypt was anything like the heartbreaking, unsettled, hopeless existence my refugee friends are experiencing. However, I am reminded today that God sweetly sees and understands the unique and often confusing realities of TCKs and delights in our crazy lives.
Written by Amy Schulte
“Is it ok to cry over a building?” That question, posed by some random person on twitter, stood out to me among the dozens of articles that I read as Notre Dame burned. I don’t know if it’s ok to cry over a building, but I know I’m not the only one around the world whose tears overflowed as the images and updates pinged on my phone. Within minutes of the first news update, I started to receive texts and messages asking if I had seen the news. Apparently, my love of Notre Dame is common knowledge. But it’s just a building, right?
By Tracy and Julie Dykes
When we moved from Orlando, Florida to Budapest, Hungary 6 months ago, we made a few trade-offs – lizards for stink bugs, a house in the ‘burbs for an apartment in the city, a Toyota Camry for a public transportation pass, and shorts and flip-flops for winter coats and gloves. We also, gratefully, saw a significant reduction in the amount of junk mail we receive!
We came here to be part of something new for MK2MK – a team living internationally to better serve missionary families of a particular part of the world. That part happens to be Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), so our home base is the beautiful city of Budapest. In the 6 months we’ve been here, there are 2 questions we get asked most often: What is daily life like? And what does your day-to-day ministry look like?
By Kayley Goertzen
Kayley is a senior at Wheaton College and will graduate in May. She is a Psychology major with certificates in Neuroscience and HNGR (Human Needs and Global Resources). Kayley will be I’ll be studying Occupational Therapy at CSU next fall! Kayley is an MK who grew up in Ljubljana, Slovenia and Erie, Colorado. She has been on two MK trips South Africa in 2012 and Thailand in 2014. In 2018 Kayley spent 6 months in Ecuador working with HNGR.
…and a little child shall lead them
The metal door clicked shut, and I knew it was locked. I would just have to do this. My heart wanted to pound a little faster, but I told it no, you’re fine. You’re fine. And I was fine! Just nervous about leaving the school building on a mission to buy half of a chicken and extra French-fries from a specific vendor for the lunch break that day, having no idea where to go in the maze of streets before me. I knew if I failed, there would be a classroom full of hungry and disappointed students- no pressure. Thankfully, one of my students was with me and said he knew where to go. I trusted him, but I couldn’t help but wonder what I would do if we got lost- I was still new to the city, did not bring a phone, and my language skills were still…emerging.
What happens when you bring 60 middle school and high school students together for five days? The MK2MK Budapest team found out when we led a conference in January for the Cru MKs living in the PACT region! The group of leaders was made up of associates from four different MK2MK internship years! This was the most diverse MK2MK conference that I have ever been a part of.
The theme of the PACT Conference was “Without Borders” which was fitting since the students represented several different nationalities, languages, and cultures. Early on we cast the vision for forming a community of people from all tribes and nations, reflecting the vision of the Kingdom of God shown in Revelation 7. The students really took it upon themselves to get to know MKs growing up in other countries and from different backgrounds. Continue reading
