Nothing New

Hi all,

There is really nothing new to report. Things are going well. We are still just doing school and life. We have started on all of our travel vaccines. Ian and I had shots on Friday and we all have things we need this Friday. You can add that to your prayer list for us! You know how kids just love needles and it looks like they will each get 2 shots and a TB test.

So far this week we have done a seminar on the persecuted church. AMAZING!! The stories of what the Lord is doing around the world and how the church is being persecuted are just overwhelming at times. In terms of American churches, the presenter made a good observation. He says we are "persecuted" for our stand on social issues like abortion and homosexuality, but that true persecution was for the cause of Christ. So, in other words, we have no idea what persecution is. There are people all over the world who are put in prison, tortured, and even put to death, because they are found in possession of God's word. These same believers go to prison or return from their torture and continue to serve God. That is passion, that is pure devotion!

Please continue to pray for us. Your prayers are being felt and are greatly appreciated.  We have seen improvements in our children's behavior in our small group time. I think the schedule is really starting to wear them down. I have been talking to Bianca about how she would like to decorate her new room in Spain and she seems to be excited about that and really ready to get to her new house and have her things. 

In addition to the things I have already mentioned please keep praying that our Visa's come in. As you pray for our People Group, please lift up our language learning. Me more than Ian, he is a wiz at languages. Pray it will come quickly and that we will be able to effectively communicate the gospel to those we meet.

Thanks again for your support!

Katie

No clever title

Hi everyone! We are still here in VA doing fine. Eliana had a little 24 hour bug last week and Bianca seems to be having some little viral thing  going on, but nothing major. At least no compared to what some others have been facing. There have been quite a few families with the flu, but it has not made it to our quad. Thank you Jesus! We are just in classes in all day and trying to stay on top of "life" in our spare time. We are getting really anxious to get to Spain, we just can't wait to get there and see and experience things for ourselves. We talked to our team leaders on Skype yesterday and we are feeling really great about the partnership that we will have with them and I know they are ready for us to be there. Please continue to lift us up in prayer as often as you think of us. We are really doing fine, but there are moments (house church, cultural worship, meal times) that are just really challenging. Our parent/child ratio is out of balance and so we just end up doing a lot of "parenting". They are GREAT girls, but they are 2 and 3....enough said. Here are some other things we would like you to pray for:

-We really need our visas to come in the next 3 weeks. That would be record time, but we know the Lord can do it!

-start praying for our transition, that we would be able to ease into the culture shock and that it won't be like a train we can't stop.

-Continue to pray for the Basques to have open hearts

Thanks so much for checking in..

love to you all,

Katie

Two Weeks Down

We have been here at the ILC for about two weeks now. We have enjoyed getting the opportunity to spend some time with so many others who are heading to other parts of the world. Hearing the stories of how God brought them to where they are now has been fascinating. It is amazing how He can work in so many ways.

Tonight we had participated in a cross-cultural worship experience. Our evening service was completely in Spanish. We sang some Latin American worship songs, and the children got to lead in a special time of singing. The preaching was in Spanish with an interpreter, and we heard an encouraging and powerful message. We are looking forward to more of these experiences.

Please continue to pray for our visa process. This week our applications should be sent to Madrid for processing, so be praying that the processing happens in a timely fashion. Thanks so much for your prayers.

TCK

Around here, MK's (missionary kids) are also known as TCK's or Third Culture Kids. Here are some interesting facts I found about TCK's from TCKid.com

What is the Origin of term "Third Culture Kid"?

Sociologist Ruth Hill Useem coined the term "Third Culture Kids" after spending a year on two separate occasions in India with her three children, in the early fifties. Initially they used the term "third culture" to refer to the process of learning how to relate to another culture;  in time they started to refer to children who accompany their parents into a different culture as "Third Culture Kids." Useem used the term "Third Culture Kids" because TCKs integrate aspects of their birth culture (the first culture) and the new culture (the second culture), creating a unique "third culture"

Missionary Kids (MKs) typically spend the most time overseas in one country. 85% of MKs spend more than 10 years in foreign countries and 72% lived in only one foreign country. MKs generally have the most interaction with the local populace and the least interaction with people from their passport country. They are the most likely to integrate themselves into the local culture. 83% of missionary kids have at least one parent with an advanced degree.What are the Characteristics of TCKs?

There are different characteristics that impact the typical Third Culture Kid:

• TCKs are 4 times as likely as non-TCKs to earn a bachelor's degree (81% vs 21%)
• 40% earn an advanced degree (as compared to 5% of the non-TCK population.)
• 45% of TCKs attended 3 universities before earning a degree.
• 44% earned undergraduate degree after the age of 22.
• Educators, medicine, professional positions, and self employment are the most common professions for TCKs.
• TCKs are unlikely to work for big business, government, or follow their parents' career choices. "One won't find many TCKs in large corporations. Nor are there many in government ... they have not followed in parental footsteps".
• 90% feel "out of sync" with their peers.
• 90% report feeling as if they understand other cultures/peoples better than the average American.
• 80% believe they can get along with anybody.
• Divorce rates among TCKs are lower than the general population, but they marry older (25+).
  • Military brats, however, tend to marry earlier.
• Linguistically adept (not as true for military ATCKs.)
  • A study whose subjects were all "career military brats"—those who had a parent in the military from birth through high school—shows that brats are linguistically adept.
• Teenage TCKs are more mature than non-TCKs, but ironically take longer to "grow up" in their 20s.
• More welcoming of others into their community.
• Lack a sense of "where home is" but often nationalistic.
• Some studies show a desire to "settle down" others a "restlessness to move".

Week #1

Hello everyone,

We are having a wonderful time here in VA. It has been really cold and wet here. It snowed the first morning we were here, it was really slushy so not at all the kind of snow you play in. We all started classes on Wednesday. The girls go to an amazing school where the help them learn all about transition and they work hard at getting them ready for a big move and things that are different. All three girls have great teachers and I understand from Bianca's teacher that she may have taken after her daddy and have the gift of preaching/teaching. Apparently she led her class in a prayer on Friday that made the teacher feel like she had gone to church. That, to me, is hilarious. Most of her prayers here are for her littlest pet shop animals and her friends The twins have also done really well. They are having a bit of trouble getting to sleep at night. It has taken them up to an hour to finally get settled down enough to fall asleep. They are sleeping in twin beds w/o bed rails and are doing a fabulous job. None of the girls are really eating that great, I think that is just part of the adjustment. They are eating in a cafeteria and that is just a lot of action, too many things to look at and play with. They have, however, learned to like soy milk. There is a pretty big milk freezer in the cafeteria and Ian lets them pick what they want and they have fun trying all of the different varieties. According to Ian the very vanilla silk is outstanding!

The grown up classes are really just getting cranked up this next week. We are having a three day session with Dr. Rankin and that is supposedly an amazing time. This past week was a lot of introductory type things just getting us ready for the next 7 weeks. Our day starts at 5am with a quiet time and ends around 10-11pm. We have a pretty good amount of homework every night and we also have some other ministry team responsibilities  in the evening also.

We had our first house church service this morning. It was so cool. There are 8 adults and 8 children. The oldest child is almost 5 and the youngest is 13 mos. We did a bible learning activity with the children, but they also joined in for some of the time. I think this is going to be a really cool experience, I am loving our small group and I just think we are building some amazing friendships.

In terms of prayer requests here goes...

1. a continued focus on our private time with the Lord

2. time to complete all assignments without sacrificing too much time with the children

3. for the Basque people to begin to be tender towards the gospel

4. for the children to continue to transition well and to make some great friends.

Thanks to all for their support,

Katie

Some of the sweet kids in our quad. We have a great group with us!

The girls leaving for school.