During the last week of July, I had a wonderful opportunity to join an OMF short-term team in Thailand to serve missionaries and their children.
Every year, a Field Conference is held for missionaries to come together for a time of encouragement, sharing, prayer, and fun! At the same time, there is a dedicated team that works with missionary kids+teens (TCKs!).
During our activities and workshops with the teens, we saw a glimpse of some challenges that these kids face, such as having to move house many times, and always having to make new friends wherever they would settle (before moving again). However, as these kids caught up with one another and shared their struggles, they realised that they shared many unique and fun experiences as missionary kids.
Although these children are brought up in the Christian faith and are so used to serving God in practical ways through the examples of their parents, their faith journeys are truly between them and God. There were so many moments when we witnessed these kids stepping up to pray for their friends and help with the activities. They even shared honestly about their own struggles – we were learning so much from them instead!
Serving these teens and their families made my team and me realise how important it is to create a safe space for missionaries and their families to reconnect, remind one another of how good our Lord is and assure one another that He takes care of us.
I hope that all of us can take a pause: call up a friend or a family member to check in and ask how we can pray for them and continue to remind ourselves and one another that God is our ultimate comforter and keeper of our souls.
“Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
Tricia Chen
