Hi, my name is Davey Green and I’ve been an MK in Taiwan for 12 years.  I’ve been on the island since I was 4 years old so it’s like home to me. The people, the food, the culture, sometimes I feel I understand it better than American culture! I have a brother, two sisters, and I can’t forget to mention my dog.

A little fun fact about my family, my grandparents are also missionaries in Taiwan! They’ve served the Lord here for 28 years!

I’m going to tell you about three things an MK can feel.

Awkward. Have you ever walked into a room right as people are praying? You get that feeling, “Oops! My bad!” You want to apologize and then realize you’re just being too distracting. MKs feel this way quite often. I remember going back to the U.S. on furlough a few years ago. I saw a bunch of my friends and was ready to do all the stuff I remembered doing with them. But I’ve come to find out they’ve changed a lot in 4 years. They’ve found something else to do. You try to tell an old joke that you and your friend shared and they have no idea what you’re talking about. Suddenly the feeling hits you that maybe they’re not your friends anymore!

That leads into our next feeling: friendless.

It’s the feeling you get when you walk into a new school, go to a new church, or move to a new town. “I don’t know any of these people. How am I supposed to know who’s nice or who I should hang out with? There’s no one here like me.” Now these thoughts are sometimes true. I have felt this a number of times while on furlough. Now in all honesty there are very few people like me. I’m what you’d call a third culture kid. A third culture kid is someone who is a blend of the habits and lifestyles of their home country and their mission field. For example, I think it’s just an excellent compliment to let out a good, long belch at the dinner table but I think it’s rude to eat with your elbows on the table! So you can imagine my trouble every time I go to a new church!

Homesick. I’m sitting on a bench enjoying the stunning view of a Tennessee valley covered in snow, offered to me by our rented mountain cabin. I look to my right and see my cousin half way down a snow-covered slope on a makeshift toboggan. My Mom is inside making a batch of hot chocolate as my Dad sings to his youngest nephew. The only problem, no one is moving a muscle. My cousin never finishes his descent. My Mom never adds the chocolate into the foaming milk. My Dad doesn’t finish his song. I look up from my phone screen and sigh, as a blast of smoggy air smacks my face and reminds that I’m over 7,000 miles from where I took that picture. I feel homesick. I miss my cousins. I miss my friends. I miss not being stared at everywhere I go. I miss the fresh air and cool weather. I miss almost everything about America!

I make MK life sound pretty rough, don’t I? You know what though? God has given MKs a variety of gifts. For example, I have the gift of a friendly spirit. I can make a friend out of a toothpick and an eraser!  He also has given us You, our Christian family. A friendly smile can brighten our day no matter if you’re 6 or 60! You have no idea the joy it brings to us MKs when you take the time to just remember us, talk with us, and especially pray with us or for us! Another great thing is that we get to travel all over the world! I’ve been to Japan, Taiwan, Canada, Korea, and every contiguous state! I’ve been in more places at the age of 16 than some people will go in a lifetime. God provides so much for us. The least we can do is spread His Word! And that, dear reader, is why we are here.