This is why MKs need Transit Lounge now–not every TCK experience is a good one. Some have great experiences. All experience loss and grief. All need Transit Lounge.
MKs Need Transit Lounge Now Because Being a TCK Can Be Painful
We see this on their applications. This year one applicant wrote, “I moved back to the US right before high school. High school was rough. I feel stuck here, and I just want to go home but my country is at war. Being a TCK feels more like a curse than a blessing right now.”
Another applicant told us that TCK life is “…just hard. It is so painful some days and it takes time to heal from so many goodbyes. Carrying the burden of all of the mini griefs and losses is painful some days.” We can’t erase that pain, but we share it. As the old saying goes, “A grief shared is a grief halved. MKs need Transit Lounge to help reduce the load of grief they carry.
“In elementary and middle school, I went to an international school where there were few children who were of my ethnicity, and as a result, I was bullied for how I was different.” Bullies exist everywhere in the world. We can’t change that. However, we can provide a place of belonging for all MKs/TCKs. That’s part of what Transit Lounge does.
Isolation, another common TCK experience, can come in many forms. One MK wrote on their application, “Between being in a foreign public school or being home schooled, it made me very lonely due to either being surrounded by people who would make fun of me for my beliefs or by being surrounded by no one at all.” Every educational choice has a price tag, a lot of those are emotional rather than monetary. Transit Lounge gives MKs a place where isolation is not the norm and community exists.
In a study conducted by TCK Training on the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE.) of TCKs, they discovered that 21% of the Adult TCKs surveyed had an ACE score of 4 or higher. This is significant. In the general population of the United States, only 12.5% of adults scored 4 or more on the ACE scale. Higher ACE scores indicate a greater possibility for a person to have more physical, mental, and behavioral problems in adulthood.
Thankfully, ACE scores can be mitigated by Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs). These include being listened to, belonging to a group of peers in high school, being prioritized, and having at least two non-parent adults who are invested in you. Transit Lounge is a week long PCE celebration! This is part of the reason why MKs need Transit Lounge now.
Another Reason Why MKs Need Transit Lounge Now
Those same MKs who struggled with belonging and grief and hardships also said the following things about why they’re thankful to be TCKs.
“I have loved being a TCK and getting to know people from unique and new backgrounds. I feel so much more capable when it comes to being independent because I’ve seen so much more of the world. I know how to adapt, how to be humble, and appreciate new experiences and cultures. The wider worldview that being a TCK has given me is something that I truly cherish and to (and will) take with me wherever I go.”
“I learned how it feels to be excluded and to have empathy for those going through it. These experiences have both helped me learn compassion for the people who do not have friends or family and will help me serve those who have had similar or worse experiences… I feel that I have learned what…my calling will be…I have learned how Christ would want me to treat those who have less.”
If needs were duffel bags, a sense of belonging would be the biggest duffel bag most campers arrive with. Even if they belonged to a place and a friend group before they moved. A new continent, country, school, workplace, and church all at the same time creates a new need to belong. Transit Lounge helps to normalize this experience. One of the reasons why MKs need Transit Lounge now is so they know they are not alone in the midst of this humongous (and often monstrous!) transition.
Transit Lounge helps TCKs understand that healing can start immediately. They leave with tools, strategies, and the courage to keep at it. The also leave knowing a community exists where they belong.
Transit Lounge is more than a week of learning or a week of camp. Transit Lounge helps shift perspectives. Transit Lounge impacts lives forever and that’s why MKs need Transit Lounge now.
Jump into June
Interaction’s Jump into June campaign provides scholarships that make Transit Lounge financially feasible for most missionary families. A scholarship for a day of camp costs$50. A week of scholarship is $350. We need your help in providing scholarships for MKs and other TCKs who might not be able to afford Transit Lounge. You can find more information (and give!) here. You can watch a video of our President, Bret Taylor, talk about why MKs need Transit Lounge now. Follow the link and join in!