Hello! We’re glad to finally be in contact with you again, after a very busy autumn! mkPLANET continues to expand in membership, ideas, and resources! And once again we have met wonderful new members in our community and have seen friendships grow during this time.
We’ve included some important updates and a new section in our holiday newsletter below, including the “Chef’s Corner” where one of our chefs in residence will try one member-submitted recipe from our World Cookbook, and show us the end result!
Thank you for taking the time to browse through this update, and for those readers who are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, we wish you a safe and blessed holiday! And for those who are thinking ahead to the festivities of December, we wish you a Merry Christmas!
Sincerely,
Joel & Dana
~*~
A LOOK AT THE HOLIDAYS THROUGH TCK EYES
Thanksgiving in Africa
By Grace Hwang
Africans don’t celebrate Thanksgiving like we do annually. However, African Christians have to celebrate Thanksgiving in their daily life. The poverty makes them thank God for giving them their daily ugali (the cheapest staple food in Kenya). The fatality from AIDS and other diseases make them thank God for another day of life because they probably don’t have a tomorrow. To most missionary kids, Thanksgiving is the time of the year where we all can realize how blessed we really are…
Homesick: Proactive steps for the holiday blues
By Barbara Berthiaume
Just thinking about the holidays can invoke memories of the smell of turkey roasting in the oven, snowflakes falling on the ground, a warm crackling fireplace, and the lively chatter of loved ones gathered together once again. If we really let ourselves go and get into this frame of mind, it is easy to develop an acute case of homesickness for things that we have left behind. Many of us tend to be more susceptible to this malady during the holidays…
Christmas Stories from the Field, by mkPLANET Members
Three members share their memories of celebrating the holidays across cultures.
• Christmas in Bangladesh
• Christmas in Kenya
• Kenyan Christmas
NEW AT mkPLANET’S BLOG
We at mkPLANET mourn the loss of Norma McCaig, a great icon and advocate for TCKs. As the TCK world doesn’t have very many shining lights out there yet, it is all too evident when one of them leaves us.
For more, please go to the following post at the Among Worlds Blog: Norma McCaig has taken her final journey…
Steps to finding universities committed to being international
By Patricia Conover
An international education is one of the selling points of an expatriate life: an opportunity for children to learn in a multicultural, often multilingual environment while preparing to assume their role as global citizens… But what happens when these young global citizens start applying to university? …Even schools that tout their global outlook may turn out, on closer inspection, to be much less international than they claim.
How do you find what you’re looking for? I asked college counselors at international schools and parents who have been through the application process with their children…
Meet the dorm parents: Caring for teen MKs at Rift Valley Academy
By Tim Brown
Though it was a hectic time of year, I had a chance to sit down with Canadian missionaries Todd and Kylie Dubber in Kijabe Kenya. Todd is a high school gym teacher while Kylie coaches the girl’s field hockey team—both at Rift Valley Academy. Outside the classroom and off the sports field they’re also parents—raising their own two kids as well as a dorm full of teen-age girls…
LATEST FORUM CONVERSATIONS
Remember, to read these threads in our forums you need to have an account and be signed in at mkPLANET.
- Thanksgiving (on the field)
- Turbulence: Love it, or Hate it?
- Funny things kids say….
- Back on the field.. (Help!)
- Christmas Stories
- Hiri Motu
- War memorials/museums
- African history
- New Years Traditions
Feel free to browse our Forum Index and jump into any of our discussions!
MK-TCK RESOURCE CENTER UPDATE
New resources are regularly added to the MK-TCK Resource Center, so remember check in there to find blogs, books, events, clubs, organizations and more – all of them dedicated to MKs and TCKs! Our address is: http://mkplanet-resources.blogspot.com. Just look for the tab called “NEW at the Resource Center” for the latest news!
UPCOMING MK & TCK EVENTS
United States: 22nd Annual Snow Camp
• Dates: January 16-18, 2009 (Register by Oct. 10)
• Location: YMCA Camp Crosley – North Webster, IN, United States
• Contact person: Kathy Mosher at the First Baptist Church, Bristol, Indiana
• Cost: $45 US
• Contact: kmosher@fbcelkhart.org or by phone at: 574-295-4475
• Website: 22nd Annual Snow Camp
United States: North Central Mu Kappa Winter Retreat
• Dates: January 23-25, 2009 (Register now)
• Location: Camp Forest Springs, Westboro, Wisconsin, United States
• Cost: $50 US
• Contact Person: Parry Bradford
• Contact: By email at mukappa@barnabas.org or by telephone at 815-395-1335, ext. 202
• Website: North Central Mu Kappa Winter Retreat
• Browse other MK/TCK events on mkPLANET Global Events Calendar
• ADD YOUR EVENT to our calendar: Contact us today!
CHEF’S CORNER: African Peanut Sauce
Prepared by Shary
INGREDIENTS
• 1 LB of meat, dice chicken, ground beef, cubed goat just about anything you want or you may skip the meat
• 1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes or about 2 cups fresh
• 1 large onion diced
• 2 to 4 cloves garlic crushed
• 2-3 okra pods diced
• Hot sauce to your taste
• 1 cup natural peanut butter (you can use regular peanut butter, but it is not as good)
INSTRUCTIONS
• Cook the meat until well done 165 degrees
• Add onions, garlic, and okra until tender
• Add tomatoes, peanut butter, hot sauce and cook until hot
• Serve over hot rice
A KID’S VERSION (MEATLESS)
• 1 can condensed tomato soup
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• Heat until hot in microwave
• Serve over left over rice
• Comments: Very simple, not as good as the recipe above, but a kid can use it to make their own lunch
FROM THE LIBRARY
The Ecology of Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Australasian Adults
by Rosalea Cameron
The ecology of human development has been shown to be different for different cultures and sub-cultures within a particular culture, and to play a significant part in shaping the outcome traits or character profile exhibited by individuals who experience a given ecology. This is the case for those who spend childhood years abroad; who expect to eventually repatriate to their passport country. Those who experience the phenomenon have been called Third Culture Kids (TCKs). A progressive naturalistic study was undertaken providing foundational data on the experience of adult Australasians who were TCKs. (Available at Amazon)
The Missionary Kid Survival Guide
by Elina Tassia
This book is a survival manual for missionary kids.
The themes include questions related to identity and mobility.
The target age group is teenagers.
(Available at the CafePress TCK Shop)
Nursery Tales Around the World
Written by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Stefano Vitale
Discover a storytelling resource that offers a cross-cultural perspective on nursery rhymes! Nursery Tales Around the World, written by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Stefano Vitale, is an international collection of 18 oral tales for children. Uniquely organized according to cross-cutting themes such as “runaway cookies,” “incredible appetites,” and “slowpokes and speedsters,” this book offers a unique way to share traditional and not-so-familiar nursery tales with your children. (Available at Amazon)
The World of Street Food: Easy Quick Meals to Cook at Home
by Troth Wells
“Sizzling, stirring, frying – delicious fresh street food served up in a trice before your eyes.” This best selling book offers 100 easy-to-cook recipes of local cuisine sold in stalls, carts, and markets all over the world. With a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, this unique book offers recipes such as chicken satay from Indonesia, Dahi vada (lentil cakes) from India, Roti Parcels from Fiji, and Cassava chips from Kenya. The opportunities for trying international street foods right in your own home are endless! (Available at Amazon)
Click here for more on mkPLANET’s Library.
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SUPPORT mkPLANET
• mkPLANET began in October 2004 as a place to connect MKs with one another. Since then we’ve grown not only in terms of membership (1500+), but also in our focus to serve the MK community in various ways as opportunities arise.
• mkPLANET is not for profit, and is made possible by the time and financial commitments of Joel & Dana Crawford (Suo & Dana), so support is always welcome. There are three ways you can support the work and leaders of mkPLANET:
- Donate to the work of mkPLANET – Donations will be used to cover web hosting fees, updates, and upgrades as needed. Donate Here
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CHECK US OUT AT: www.mkplanet.com
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March 14, 2009 at 10:14 am
I am an AMK who grew up in Papua New Guinea. Now at age 62 I have been all fired up after having tapped into the resources of MKs/TCKs. I receive the Among Worlds magazine and read some of the books and articles on the issue as I was able to get my hands on. I would like to register myself with you and would ask you please to contact me for further details. Thank you and God bless.