“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.” (Matthew 25:14–18)
For a few years, I tried to hide the Father’s gift to me.
My name is Debbie, and I grew up a missionary kid. Growing up between cultures was both beautiful and difficult. Loving people and leaving or being left was a blessing, but also painful at times. Traveling involved seeing the richness of life but also the destruction of sin in many different contexts. I felt fulfilled working alongside others, or empty and lost when it was time to move on. Those who relate to this or have similar thoughts and feelings may be third-culture kids (TCKs).
These experiences have formed me, and the confusion of joy and loss is something I am still learning to navigate. However, there was a time when I no longer saw being a missionary kid as a gift. I decided to try to bury it and forget about missions—running the other way. I still loved the Lord, but the talent was too scary to hold.
Gently and over time, the Father worked in my heart. Through difficult situations, He kept me close to Him, and little by little, He unearthed what I so desperately tried to hide and forget. He brought me to a point where I realized being a missionary kid was his gift to me, and the question remained: how would I steward it?
In a way, my experiences and those of others like me have led me to want to help and support Christian workers and their families, especially globally mobile families and their TCK children.
To serve from a place of healing, I seek to train and prepare so I can be a blessing and serve them to the best of my ability. While this talent is still a bit scary to hold, I ask the Father to cover me in grace and mercy, as he has always done. Pray with me for God to give me strength and courage in this calling and to make the path before me clear, showing me which way I am to go. I have much to learn, and sometimes it is difficult to know where to start. But I have been preparing in one way or another and seek my Father’s hand to guide me.
In Matthew 25, it is interesting to me how these servants were not only servants but bondservants of their master. They decided to stay with their master because of the goodness they found in him. May we remember the love of God, displayed in his Son, that has caused us to want to follow him and be with him forever.
We all face hardship, suffering, and difficulties in one way or another because we live in a broken world. This is a painful reality, but we also have our Savior who has suffered in every way just as we have. He came to give us hope and joy and restore all of creation for the glory of God. May our eyes be fixed on him as he guides us to the Father.
