Missions Life: Navigating Life, Leadership, and Ministry Abroad

#36: Third Culture Kids- Ruth E. Van Reken

What does it mean to grow up “among worlds”? In this episode of Missions Life, we talk with Ruth E. Van Reken, co-author of Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, about the unique joys, challenges, strengths, and hidden griefs that often shape the lives of missionary kids and other globally mobile children. For many missionary families, cross-cultural life gives children incredible gifts: a broader worldview, cultural adaptability, deep empathy, and the ability to become bridge-builders between people and places. But repeated transitions, unresolved grief, identity questions, and the constant cycle of hellos and goodbyes can also leave lasting marks. Ruth helps us understand how parents can better recognize the needs of their Third Culture Kids, walk with them through loss, help them build a healthy sense of identity and belonging, and prepare them for re-entry into their passport culture. In This Episode, We Cover: ✅ What a Third Culture Kid is and why their experience is unique ✅ The advantages and hidden costs of growing up cross-culturally ✅ How repeated transitions can affect children long term ✅ Why unresolved grief is so common for TCKs and their parents ✅ Helping kids process goodbyes in healthy ways ✅ How to answer the question, “Where are you from?” ✅ The “migratory instinct” and the struggle to feel settled ✅ Uneven maturity in TCKs and what parents need to understand ✅ Common relational patterns caused by frequent moves ✅ Preparing children for reverse culture shock and re-entry ✅ How TCKs can become leaders, teachers, and bridge-builders ✅ Encouragement for missionary parents in hard seasons overseas Whether you are raising missionary kids, preparing to move overseas, supporting a globally mobile family, or are an adult TCK yourself, this conversation offers wisdom, compassion, and practical help for navigating life across cultures. Show notes and links: https://www.kylefarran.com/missionslife/36-third-culture-kids-ruth-e-van-reken [https://www.kylefarran.com/missionslife/36-third-culture-kids-ruth-e-van-reken] We want to hear from you! Have a question, story, or idea for a future episode? Send us a message at kfarran@abwe.org with the subject “Podcast” or connect with us on Instagram: @kyle.farran [https://www.instagram.com/kyle.farran/] Whether it’s a challenge you’re facing, a topic you’re curious about, or just a quick note to say hi—we’d love to hear it. Your feedback and ideas help shape the future of Missions Life!

#35: Chasing Contentment- Erik Raymond

Contentment can feel almost impossible in a world that constantly trains us to compare, complain, and chase after the next thing. In this episode of Missions Life: Navigating Life, Leadership, and Ministry Abroad, we talk with Erik Raymond, pastor in Boston and author of Chasing Contentment, about what true Christian contentment looks like and how believers can learn to rest in God in both blessing and hardship. Erik helps us think biblically about grumbling, complaining, envy, hardship, church community, and the deeper battle taking place in the heart. We also talk about the difference between Stoic self-reliance and Christian contentment, which is rooted in the strength, goodness, and sufficiency of God. In This Episode, We Cover: ✅ Where the idea for Chasing Contentment came from ✅ Why contentment is more than simply “being okay” with hard circumstances ✅ How grumbling and complaining reveal what we believe about God ✅ Why discontentment often comes from believing false promises ✅ How trials can become tools God uses to train us in godliness ✅ Why both blessing and affliction can expose our hearts ✅ How the church can move beyond superficial gathering and stir one another toward contentment ✅ How compassion, rather than envy, helps us respond when unbelievers prosper Key Themes: Spiritual Resilience & Personal Growth in Missions Contentment is not passive resignation. It is a learned strength that grows as we trust God in the middle of real hardship, unanswered questions, and daily pressures. Leadership & Team Dynamics Grumbling and comparison can quietly shape the culture of a team, church, or ministry. Learning contentment helps leaders model trust, gratitude, and spiritual maturity. Cross-Cultural Ministry & Adaptation Missionary life often exposes discontentment through transition, loss, unmet expectations, and comparison. This conversation offers practical encouragement for resting in God when life and ministry do not look the way we expected. Missionary Family Life & Marriage Contentment affects how we respond to our spouse, children, teammates, churches, and circumstances. It shapes the tone of the home and the health of our relationships. Episode Encouragement: Christian contentment is not found by pretending life is easy. It is learned by seeing God clearly, trusting His goodness, and resting in His care even when circumstances are painful or confusing. Erik Raymond is the pastor of Redeemer Fellowship Church in Boston. He is also the author of a number of books, including Chasing Contentment. We want to hear from you! Have a question, story, or idea for a future episode? Send us a message at kfarran@abwe.org with the subject “Podcast” or connect with us on Instagram: @kyle.farran [https://www.instagram.com/kyle.farran/] Whether it’s a challenge you’re facing, a topic you’re curious about, or just a quick note to say hi—we’d love to hear it. Your feedback and ideas help shape the future of Missions Life!

#34: Richard Blackaby Interviews Kyle on Godly Grit

In this reposted interview, Richard Blackaby talks with Kyle about Godly Grit and the kind of resilience needed for life, leadership, and ministry. We explore why spiritual strength matters, how grit is formed through challenges, and what it looks like to keep moving forward with faith and endurance. Show Notes and Links: https://www.kylefarran.com/missionslife/34-richard-blackaby-interviews-kyle-on-godly-grit [https://www.kylefarran.com/missionslife/34-richard-blackaby-interviews-kyle-on-godly-grit] View Godly Grit on Amazon [https://www.amazon.com/Godly-Grit-Unshakable-Resilience-Leadership/dp/B0GLGQ9Y9W/ref=sr_1_1?crid=NKUO759TO2KZ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8aR3wvApI0GnPl-m0CAP7wzVnXV5j4BMSKK2TLveZ77CXMlrcOYOqkz2t3Hd8sEW.zVc31IC3Re7GxqPoPwumO_sVze2NGkXJBzWZrOEFKXw&dib_tag=se&keywords=godly+grit+kyle&qid=1775740888&sprefix=godly+grit+k%2Caps%2C306&sr=8-1] The Richard Blackaby Leadership Podcast [https://richardblackaby.com/podcast-2/]

#33: Godly Grit: How to Be Unshakable When Bad News Hits

Godly Grit: Unshakable Resilience and Grit for Life and Leadership launches today—in this episode we’re talking about how to stay steady when life gets hard and bad news hits. What if hard seasons didn’t have to shake you to the core? In Psalm 112, God gives us a picture of the person who is steady, calm, and unafraid—even when bad news comes. In this episode, we talk about how Godly Grit grows when we stop expecting life to be easy and start building our life on the One who never moves. “In the world you will have tribulation.” (John 16:33). “For the righteous will never be moved… He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid…” (Psalm 112:6–8). “I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken” (Psalm 16:8). In This Episode, We Cover: ✅ Why expecting “easy” sets us up for discouragement and quitting ✅ What it means to be unshakable (and how resilience is different than being shaken) ✅ Psalm 112: the marks of a steady heart that doesn’t fear bad news ✅ How fear is often rooted in comfort, control, and wanting to know the plan ✅ Why real faith isn’t trusting a plan—it’s trusting a Person ✅ A story about a charging rhino (and what it taught us about trusting God) ✅ How your response to challenges can make God look big to the people watching View Godly Grit on Amazon [https://www.amazon.com/Godly-Grit-Unshakable-Resilience-Leadership-ebook/dp/B0GJ2T2146/ref=sr_1_1?crid=O8NXGGRA8TF3&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Vdz3ByvcAkxoMNleh04tjOLIFxhF82DH7P8KcAoXyRk.01W59UlYHKCIBij16iHbKvNC1iqYuT1FXQT1iwl4gOA&dib_tag=se&keywords=godly+grit+kyle&qid=1772500691&sprefix=godly+grit+k%2Caps%2C177&sr=8-1] Show notes and links: https://www.kylefarran.com/missionslife/33-godly-grit-how-to-be-unshakable-when-bad-news-hits [https://www.kylefarran.com/missionslife/33-godly-grit-how-to-be-unshakable-when-bad-news-hits] We want to hear from you! Have a question, story, or idea for a future episode? Send us a message at kfarran@abwe.org with the subject “Podcast” or connect with us on Instagram: @kyle.farran Whether it’s a challenge you’re facing, a topic you’re curious about, or just a quick note to say hi—we’d love to hear it. Your feedback and ideas help shape the future of Missions Life: Navigating Life, Leadership, and Ministry Abroad!

#32: Grounded In The Word: How To Endure Faithfully- E.D. Burns

In this episode, we talk with E.D. Burns about why being deeply grounded in Scripture is essential for missionaries who want to endure faithfully for the long haul. Drawing from his book The Missionary-Theologian, Evan challenges common assumptions about preparation, ministry methods, and success in missions, pointing us back to a Word-centered vision shaped by theology rather than trends or results. In This Episode, We Cover: ✅ The central message of the book and why theology matters for everyday ministry on the field ✅ The dangers of shaping ministry methods around culture, trends, or measurable results instead of Scripture ✅ What modern missionaries and everyday Christians can learn from the Word-centered lives of Adoniram and Ann Judson ✅ How missionary methods reveal underlying theology—and practical ways to evaluate whether our approaches flow from biblical convictions or pressure for quick outcomes ✅ Preparing the heart to endure suffering, weakness, and hardship without losing joy, hope, or faithfulness This conversation is a timely reminder that lasting fruit in missions does not come from clever strategies, but from leaders who are immersed in the Word, anchored in sound doctrine, and willing to endure faithfully for God’s glory. E.D. Burns is the executive director for training and development at ABWE, and  also directs the MA in Cultural Apologetics at Founders Seminary. He is on faculty at Asia Biblical Theological Seminary, and he and his family live in a small hilltribe village in Northern Thailand, where he works with training and translating materials into hilltribe languages. We want to hear from you! Have a question, story, or idea for a future episode? Send us a message at kfarran@abwe.org with the subject “Podcast” or connect with us on Instagram: @kyle.farran Whether it’s a challenge you’re facing, a topic you’re curious about, or just a quick note to say hi—we’d love to hear it. Your feedback and ideas help shape the future of Missions Life: Navigating Life, Leadership, and Ministry Abroad!