NOV. M K , M I S S I O N A R Y A N D T H I R D - C U L T U R E A D V O C A T E 2015

It was on November 1st twenty-five years ago that I arrived back in Germany—nervous, under-supported, but eager to get started. I was embarking on what I thought would be just two years as an MK teacher. The place, Black Forest Academy, was familiar, but teaching and mentoring teenagers not much younger than I was felt intimidating and sobering.

Twenty-five years have passed since that trepidatious first day, and on this milestone anniversary, I look back with amazement and awe at what God has done. What a long and beautiful road he prepared for me. A road paved with more “wonderful” than I ever expected. Paved with surprises. Paved with meaning. Paved with miracles. A road smoothed, secured and broadened by those who have walked beside me.

If I am here twenty-five years later—still engaged with MKs, but in a more global capacity—it’s because people like you empowered me to pursue what God equipped and called me to do.

Twenty-Five Years

MICHÈLE’S NEWS

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BECAUSE OF YOU…

Yes, because of you, I get to help young MKs at crucial stages of life. E: “I’m the MK who grew up resenting her parents’ dedication to missions. Why does the God of love they preach seem so different from the one I was taught to obey?”

I get to mentor MKs transitioning into adulthood and trying to understand their identity. From L: “Thanks for investing time, energy, and wisdom in me. No one has ever been that real to me. You show me who I can be!”

I get to interact with older MKs for whom nothing was done, many of whom still need healing. From N: “I wish I could have had a support system like you are providing. I am so grateful that I can read your blog and for the videos you put online. I’m not as alone as I thought.”

I get to have a global impact through the articles I write and post online. MKs and Loss has been read by 61,000 people, MKs and Relationships by 41,000, etc. There is no MK-event on earth that can gather those numbers!

I get to interact with MK teachers, helping them to understand why their students are different. From R: “The information you shared made us better mentors and teachers to our MKs. We needed that perspective!”

I get to speak to parents who can’t fully relate to being children raised in ministry in a cross-cultural setting. From D: “I thought I understood my son…but I was seeing him through my single-culture lens. I will love him better going forward because you spoke graciously and honestly into our lives.”

I am so grateful that I get to partner with you— God is using you to change MK lives.

“If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in

the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” I Cor. 12:17-19

THE POWER OF TEAM WORK

There are dozens on this team already—dozens who have

believed in this ministry, who have prayed me safely across the

globe and back, who have expanded this platform through

word of mouth and personal recommendations.

TEAM MK NEEDS YOU!

Prayer created the “wheels” of this work I love…and funding is

what makes them turn!

There are operational costs, travel expenses and resources

needed to meet practical needs. At present, the ministry is

lacking $250/month to be fully funded—a reachable goal.

JOIN THE TEAM!

See the end of this letter for Global Outreach’s address. Send your first gift there and specify that you’re joining this team, or

go to www.missiongo.org to arrange your giving.

• As I write, I’m finishing a week in Turkey, where parents from this geographical region have gathered to learn about their MKs.

• The daily routine: mentoring, writing, creating resources, hosting…

•Helping with Wheaton’s TCK Connect program—mentoring some of the college’s MKs and feeding them Sunday dinner.

• I’ll be leading the teen program at a week-long debrief conference in Indiana in November.

• January will find me at an MK retreat in Michigan, then flying off to Thailand for a couple weeks of work there.

• In February, I’ll speak at a pre-field conference in New York, then fly to Germany and hopefully England & Tunisia in March.

I BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF PRAYER!

• Praise for full recovery from the summer’s injuries

• Praise for a clean bill of health after cancer check-ups

• Praise for the numerous invitations to serve both locally and abroad

• Praise for evidence of lives touched and changed

• Pray for clear guidance as I accept invitations

• Pray for clarity as I seek to communicate complicated truth

• Pray for health and energy for my travels

• Pray for wisdom as I mentor MKs and share with their parents and teachers

SERVING WITH GLOBAL OUTREACH MISSION

Mission: Global Outreach, PO Box 2010, Buffalo, NY 14231-2010 Michèle: 27W190 Emerson Court, Winfield, IL 60190

Email: shellphoenix@gmail.com Phone: (331) 625 9030

COMING UP

www.missiongo.org