Resources – Singles and Family

Articles and Books About Singles and Family

Articles

We Were Missionary Kids. Here’s What my Parents Did Right, by Rebecca Skinner (Go Serve Love). Explores the importance of inviting your children into your missions adventure and being mindful of their needs as well as kingdom needs.

Single Missionary Issues: Loneliness, by Ronald Koteskey (Missionary Care). Part of a collection of articles about issues singles in missions often face.

Must Singles Be Lonely? Advice for the Mission Field, by Nairy Ohanian (Urbana). Truths about loneliness and strategies for navigating it when living single on the field.

The Missionary Soul Mate: Simultaneous Waiting and Preparation, by Nairy Ohanian (Urbana). Characteristics to look for in a mission-minded dating partner.

Missionary Marriage Issues, by Ron Koteskey (Missionary Care). Cross cultural living has many challenges. If you add marriage to that mix, it can get really complicated and interesting.

Here Am I, Send My Sister, by Paul Fleming (The Traveling Team). What is it that attracts the women to the mission field in such great numbers compared to men?

Women in Missions, by Marguerite Kraft and Meg Crossman (The Traveling Team). Brief overview of women in missions, today and historically.

Toddlers on the Move, by Lisa McKay (OSCAR). Thoughts on helping toddlers and young kiddos cope better with a massive change like an overseas move.

What Missionaries Ought to Know about Aging Parents, by Ronald Koteskey (Missionary Care). Being far from home can increase the tensions and struggles anyone might face in caring for aging parents.  

 

Books

Single Mission: Thriving as a Single Person in Cross-cultural Ministry, edited by Dr. Debbie Hawker and Rev. Tim Herbert (Condeo Press). Encourages and equips single missionaries and helps them be strong in their faith, effective in their ministry, resilient and content.

Missionary Singles Issues, by Ron Kotesky (Missionary Care). Compiled series of brochures written to help individuals deal with some of the situations that arise when singles serve in other cultures: loneliness, comparison, identity issues, and more (free download).

Through Her Eyes: Perspectives on Life from Christian Women Serving in the Muslim World, by Marti Smith (IVP Books). Accounts from two dozen women, single and married, provide a candid look at issues associated with living cross-culturally.

Screams in the Desert: Hope and Humor for Women in Cross-Cultural Ministry, by Sue Eenigenburg (William Carey Library). Poignant insights into issues many women encounter on the mission field, through one woman’s humorous accounts of life overseas and lessons learned along the way. 

Parents of Missionaries: How to Thrive and Stay Connected When Your Children and Grandchildren Serve Cross-Culturally, by Cheryl Savageau and Diane Stortz (Authentic). A counselor’s professional insight and a parent’s personal journey teach parents/grandparents of missionaries to understand missionary life, stay connected long distance, and more.

 

Missionary Kids

Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, Revised Edition, by David C. Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken (Nicholas Brealey Publishing). Examines the TCK experience and its effect on development, identity, and readjustment.

Families on the Move, by Marion Knell (Monarch Books). Help for parents as they take their kids through the sometimes awkward and frustrating moments of being a third-culture kid.

Hidden in My Heart: A TCK’s Journey Through Cultural Transition, by Taylor Murray (BottomLine Media). Tells Taylor’s story as she transparently unloads her grief and anger on him and, surprisingly, finds him willing to listen and bring her to a place of healing, and ultimately joy.

For additional mission resources including blogs, podcasts, events, courses and videos that relate to this topic see our complete mission resources page.