EuroTCK 2022 Workshops and Speaker Bios

Michael Pollock is an ATCK educator, speaker, author, trainer and coach who grew up mobile in the US and Kenya; son of the late Dr. David Pollock. With a Masters in Education and undergrad in Education and International Studies he and his family relocated from the US to China where he served as an International School principal and then created Odyssey, a TCK development organization, for six ISC schools. Michael returned to the US in 2012 to found Daraja, an adult TCK (ATCK) focused non-profit, and for two and a half years brought it under Interaction International which he directed.  He continues to direct Daraja, which separated from Interaction in 2021, to focus on training, coaching and consulting work and collaborations with local and global TCK care initiatives. Co-author of Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds 3rd Ed., Michael envisions a world where TCKs thrive, discovering powerful potential.

Based on the premise that we ‘can’t give away what we don’t own’, we will focus in this workshop on how caregivers must be caretakers of their own selves. We’ll touch on theology and jump into practical application. Practicing good self care enables us to impart to others what we possess through experience.

The LEAP model is based on thousands of hours of working with TCKs for healthy transitions and builds on the iconic RAFT. LEAP helps TCKs take hold of their transitions in an intentional way. In this workshop we’ll break down the model into actionable pieces so that your TCKs will be equipped to specific ways to activate their transition process towards success.

The TCK Profile Workshop is for those delegates who are new to working with TCK´s. We will go over the basic profile of a TCK as described in the definition given by David Pollock, Michael Pollock and Ruth Van Reken but will include elements of child and adolescent development that have a bearing on this profile. Our goal will be to understand the TCK from their point of view so as to better provide for their care.

Guille Eddy (born in Cuba and raised in Panama) has been ministering in Spain since 1980. He has his undergraduate degree in Biology and two masters in Anthropology. Since the year 2000 Guille and his wife Maria Ester have been involved in member care to Spanish pastors and Latin American missionaries in Spain through the ministry they started called Operación Bernabé.  Since 2004 they have been involved in member care for Latin American TCKs through the camp they run yearly, El KampaCTC, and through workshops they give for the parents of these TCKs. In 2013 Guile published the first book in Spanish dealing with the care of Latin TCK´s (Hijos de una Tierra sin Nombre). Guille and Maria Ester have three daughters, a son in law and two grandchildren.

The Raising TCKs workshop we will identify those practices that are beneficial when raising children on the mission field. We will also identify those practices that prove to be less than beneficial. This will be done through interaction with those in attendance so as best to take advantage of the experience that each brings to the workshop.

Shifting cultures can be exciting but also an abrupt shock for children.  Familiar faces, sights, and sounds are replaced with the unknown.  We need to prepare children for cross-cultural living before leaving their passport country and on arrival in their host country. Good preparation can’t take away the adjustment, but it can provide children with the tools they need to make it work.  Yolanda will share from her experiences with Pre-Field Orientation courses which run for a few weeks to one day, interagency PFOs which she has run.

Yolanda has been with New Tribes Mission since 1992, first serving in Ivory Coast and later Papua New Guinea.  She and her husband have 3 wonderful children.  Stephen and Yolanda now work in England at the NTM-UK headquarters in Lincolnshire providing support, training, and advice for missionary families and TCKs.

In this workshop we will look at the long-term issues facing returning Teenage TCKs, explore tools and ways of unpacking and facing those issues, provision of practical support and explore some Biblical resources.

Marion has served in the leadership of Member Care Europe, Global Member Care, and EuroTCK.  She inaugurated the MA in Member Care at Redcliffe College.  Marion travels internationally speaking on aspects of member Care and TCKs and works as a cross-cultural consultant with an international relocation company training expatriates and their families on acculturation issues. She has written two books, “Families on the Move” and “Burn Up or Splash Down - the survival guide to re-entry”.  She has 3 children, 8 grandchildren, and is a rugby football fanatic.

“You have so much to offer which the intercultural world out there so desperately needs.”
Input on pre-field orientation, cultural transitions, culture shock and trauma debriefing – wise pioneers in the MK world have developed wonderful material that has helped countless people in and off the field. It’s too good to keep it to ourselves when there are international workers, businesses and refugees in desperate need of expertise, training and support. This workshop will present opportunities the knowledge we already have in surprisingly new contexts.

Spiritual direction is a relationship that is going somewhere…and that is to a  deeper faith and more generous offering of the whole self. Asking not just “what is happening?” but “what is moving forward?” We seek to discover and pay attention to the ways God is speaking, moving, and directing as we are in the process of discovering our own selves, life, God and what it means to grow.  The question is, how does this look when talking with kids? Perhaps a lot more gentle and spacious than we think.  This workshop will cover what spiritual direction is and isn’t, the unique challenges of the God relationship with TCK’s and some ways of accompanying them in their spiritual journey.

It is almost impossible to exclude trauma from any conversation about kids.  From bullying to natural disasters to more complex forms, it is necessary now, to know the effects, screening tools, interventions and process of moving forward with kids who have experienced any form of trauma.  This workshop will overview short and long term effects of trauma and some of the process of forward movement with the unique pains that TCK’s carry.

The Shepherds’ ministry of nourishing a deeper thirst for God in Christian leaders stems from a personal belief that He is the answer for everything we need and want. Through many individual conversations, mission consultations, and trainings, their message is clear: our work for God is only as vibrant as our life in God is vital to our very existence. Prior to transitioning internationally in 2000, David and Jeanni were LPC counselors in private practice for 12 years in Dallas, Texas and Denver, Colorado. They are co-founders of Ministry Essentials, which exists to join Christian leaders in their journey of faith, challenge their assumptions about God, and inspire a fuller experience of Him. Both hold Masters degrees in counseling and theology from Grace Theological Seminary and Dallas Theological Seminary respectively. David completed his doctorate in Spiritual Formation and Leadership from George Fox Evangelical Seminary with a focus on promoting missionary mutual care through spiritual community. They have lived in Budapest, Hungary, Hong Kong, and Chiang Mai and in 2017 moved back to Budapest to establish a Soul Care Training Center. 

Kids debriefing is both a challenge and a joy. How to get them to share what is going on, in a sensitive and age appropriate way? This seminar will give you simple effective ideas for debriefing kids. Practical activities to help them tell their story and move towards exploring the feelings behind them. This is a hands on session, with a lot of resources to try out and an online book of ideas available. It will include a suggested outline for a debriefing/transition day. The activities are aimed at age 5-11, but many can be adapted to both older and younger kids.

Rebecca is an adult TCK, whose parents worked in business in Saudi Arabia. As a teacher  Rebecca has worked in UK  and Indonesia and supported Home Schooling families too. Rebecca and her husband were in Kazakhstan for 8 years with WEC International and brought up 3 TCKs of their own there. Rebecca is now UK TCK co-ordinator with WEC UK and supports families as they move to and from the field.  Rebecca runs the kids ‘rekonnect’ camp each summer: an interagency transition camp open to any families returning to the UK. A developing interest and training in family debriefing has led to running family debrief weekends with Wania Honman.

This workshop aims at looking into goals, advantages and challenges of “Family Debriefing” - either debriefing an individual family, or running a family debriefing retreat with different families attending. To do so, we will consider different case studies.

In this workshop we will consider issues Adult TCKs encounter and explore some creative ways to help them work through these issues. The aim will be to explore ways to provide the ATCKs hope, whilst encouraging them to appreciate their value as an individual and as a person of worth within their home, church, and community; and to take responsibility for their own lives and the process of change and growth. This will be an interactive and experiential workshop.

Christian has a diploma in theology from Emmaüs Bible Institute (CH). He led the work of Operation Mobilisation (OM) in the French speaking part of Switzerland for 9 years before joining an International member care ministry of OM in the UK for 7 years. He has an advanced diploma in Counseling and is a member of the Association of Christian Counselors (ACC) in the UK and of “RESAM”, a French speaking network to care for people in ministry. From 2003 to the end of 2011, Christian was the debriefing manager at “Le Rucher Ministries” (F), a debriefing centre based outside of Geneva (CH). Since 2012, he has been working in International member care as a debriefer / counselor / trainer in member care issues and is a worker of the Swiss Mission Fellowship (CH) and seconded to OM Switzerland. OM Switzerland releases him 70% of his time to serve Christian workers, Humanitarian workers, church leaders, their families and organizations with debriefing, critical incident debriefing and brief counseling. He also consults and trains in member care.

Christian is Swiss and lives currently in France, close to Geneva (CH). Married to Simone (CH), they have been married for almost 34 years. They have three young adult daughters.

‘Mental Health’ issues are plaguing our societies across the globe. It’s become a reality! In this workshop, a professional therapist will be lecturing and a concerned mom will be sharing her personal journey. What is mental health? Why and how are TCKs particularly impacted? What factors determine a fragile or resilient mental health? How can care givers support and create a safe place? We look forward to deepening our knowledge and awareness of this particular situation for the TCKs. Our aim and intention is to be carriers of hope, encouragement and support for them in their lives.

Melanie’s experience as a therapist has shown that mental health issues are a reality in our society and something neither TCKs, Missionaries nor Christians in general are spared. She will illustrate what mental health means, how the experience of a mobile lifestyle of a TCK can affect mental health (positive and negative) and how to take care of the mental health of TCKs.  For Angie, an increased interest and concern for TCK and Mental Health came through recent personal struggles with one of their older children. Angie will share her painful journey as a Mom and how Mental Health affects family life. Her own story will illustrate the dire need for care and attention in order to survive.

Melanie Reuter is 32 and an ATCK, born and raised as a Missionary Kid (MK) in Peru. Now she lives in the south of Germany and works as an Art-therapist in a Christian Rehabilitation Clinic in the Black Forest. She has worked over 10 years as a mentor in camps for Missionary Kids and is one of the coordinators of MK-Care Germany.

Angie Leistner is an ATCK, whose parents served many years in a clinic and children’s home at the border of Nepal/North India. She was born in the Himalayas and educated at a British Boarding School in the South of India. She moved to Germany at the age of 14 for further education, studies and career. Later she and her husband served in Sumatra, Indonesia among unreached people groups for over a decade with VM-International. They have 4 children of which 2 of them are adopted. After the completion of the MC course at AEM Korntal, Angie is now the MC facilitator within VM-International.

Re-entry and repeated transitions are major factors in the life of any TCK.  In this workshop we will look at the often used RAFT acronym and also explore other ways to help TCKs and their parents as they walk through these experiences. 

Matthew and Cindy Wright are member care providers through their ministry, The 631 Solution. Matthew is a TCK, having grown up in Australia and Cindy is a PK (pastor’s kid) from the southeastern US.  Since 1999 they have served in a variety of roles, both on the field (Albania and Greece, as well as world-wide) and off, but have focused on missionary care since 2014.  They have been married for 35 years and have 3 great TCKs of their own as well as 4 beautiful grandchildren.

Joost is a board member at the AEM Member Care Team
Since 2002 International Member Care Provider in Frontiers
2010 – 2017 International Coordinator of Member Care Frontiers
Core Team member in the Frontiers Child Protection Team
Lecturer at the AWM in Kornthal Germany for Child Protection 

GenZ is facing unique challenges and operating within new trends unseen by past generations.  While many of the statistics appear gloomy, there is great hope for this generation of believers as they follow Christ in their unprecedented times. Parents, educators and TCK caregivers benefit from awareness of these differences as they raise, educate and work with this generation.

Emily Mangels is a member of the SHARE Education Services staff, and has lived and served in Europe since 2007. She is a credentialed elementary school teacher, with a Master’s degree in Special Education, who has experience teaching in US public schools, homeschooling, and using national schools in the Balkans. Her passions are children’s literature, exploring new cities, and helping families make educational decisions for the health and well-being of all their members.  She has spoken many times at conferences in Macedonia, Greece, Hungary, Tajikistan, Spain, and the US. She, along with her husband Jonathan and three kids Rebekah, Ross, and Elias, enjoy traveling and learning together.

Would you like to know a bit more of what's going on with the missionary kids in Brazil? Come and learn about our history, challenges, perspectives and celebrations with this time in Philhos ministry. Can anything good come from South America? We think so! See you there.

All adult TCKs are welcome to this special track taking place every afternoon. We’re opening up a space to discuss questions of faith, identity and relationships to share our experiences, challenges and joys. The sessions will be open-ended with a main focus on exchange and community instead of expert input or therapy.

1. Supporting TCKs through deconstruction processes - Katharina von Dessien
   
   Social media is full of stories from people doubting their faith and asking tough questions – a process often called ‘deconstruction’. Some churches and organization see it as a threat to their stability, but often do very little to support those going through it because they overlook how essential this spiritual ‘wilderness’ is. This open-space discussion will help to contextualize the current deconstruction movement and provide practical advice how to walk with those on the journey.
2. TCKs and identity - Katharina von DessienThe question of who you are and where you belong is probably a life-long companion and TCKs might have to answer it over and over again during the many transitions they face throughout life. We’d like to open the space for all of us to share our challenges and questions – or strategies that have helped us. All ATCKs welcome!
3. ATCK Track: TCKs and relationships - Katharina von Dessien / Esther Brumme In a globally mobile lifestyle, building and maintaining relationships can be a challenge. How do you create meaningful friendships if you don’t know how long you’ll stay? How do you live in a cross-cultural marriage? What are challenges and blessings our lifestyle can bring to the relationships in our lives? Join us for an informal workshop with lots of space for open discussion and shared experiences.

Katha von Dessien is an ATCK from Uganda who now lives and works in Southern Germany. Eight years ago, she had to painfully let go of her spiritual safety – which ultimately led to a new understanding of God and faith. Even though she has lived in many other places, she has now settled down in Southern Germany, where she works as a teacher – in a cross-cultural setting, of course.

Esther Brumme is an ATCK, born in Switzerland to British/American parents. She grew up in a North African neighborhood in Paris, attending local schools and later, higher education in the UK, France and Germany. She and her husband spent time in China and the US before returning to Europe where they are raising three loud TCKs of their own in a French village.