The Woodmen Journal April 2009 published the following story about our family...
In 1996, Sarah was 8, Robby and Joey were 5. We had just left WVC and Colorado two months before and plopped ourselves into the middle of Taichung, Taiwan. I sat in the principal's office oozing anxiety onto the old Chinese furniture and waited. "Steve, your kids are doing great." That sent me back into the strange new Asian world feeling a little better, but of course the question didn't go away. Thirteen years later, I sit here in Colorado Springs. Now, our "emerging adults" are 1000 miles away at Rice University in Texas, and I'm still wondering, "Are my kids okay?"
One challenge for international families is dislocation. We grow up on the outside of local cultures. But an opportunity for us is global diversity. We engage multiple communities and cultures. For example, my son spent the night with a Taiwan family growing tea in the high mountains of Taiwan, playing basketball next to piles of tea worth many thousands of dollars. At one point, my daughter felt "stifled" by having to spend her college breaks in Asia with her family. The pictures of us at the tropical beach on Christmas day…all part of the dislocation experience.
A second challenge is life in the public eye. In Taiwan, Americans stick out before you know their names—especially kids. Then when our family does return to the US, we visit our sending churches and partners as a family, to raise money and report back on our ministry. Even adults find this a challenging role, much less teenagers! While these pressures may provide valuable life lessons, they can also be quite threatening.
One goal for our family has been to enjoy the international lifestyle God gave us. On a visit to Delaware, we were briefing our pre-teens on the upcoming family visit, and Joey blurted out, "Dad, this visit is all for you and nothing for us!" But an advantage to being in meetings every night was that we were able to go canoeing in the middle of the day! We enjoyed it! When they were teens, we offered the kids an "end of summer" bonus based on how well they contributed to the "family business." Their Taiwan rap song played at US churches definitely won the prize!
"Are my kids okay?" We pray a lot about that, and we know others do too. There is no question being an international ministry family has often taken us out of our comfort zone, but we are trusting God to use these stresses for the good so our whole family may share in his holiness. As empty nesters, we still think it's been a good thing! Don't let me mislead you. Not all kids who grow up in international ministry families consider it a good thing. We'll never know how our family would be different if we had stayed in Colorado. Global ministry is challenging, but so is raising kids. There are more chapters to be written but we're still wondering, "Are my kids okay?"
[Afternote: Right now we're all 5 back together in Colorado and having a great time--until Saturday, when Sarah leaves for East Asia. When Sarah first read this article, she said, "Dad, what do you mean? Of course, we're okay." One day at a time, right?! BTW, if you want to get Sarah's updates, go to groups.google.com/group/Sarahtravelupdates and sign up.]
Dr. Steve and Laura Spinella, Sarah, Joey, Robby
Da Yi Street, Lane 29, #18, 2F-1, Taichung 40454, TAIWAN
011.886.4.2236.6145, of 4.2236.1901, fx 4.2236.2109, cell 9.2894.0514
USA: 9685 Otero Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80920, 719.528.1702, cell 713.408.7208 (new cell #, note Houston area code)
TEAM, PO Box 969, Wheaton, IL 60187, 800.343.3144 <www.team.org.tw/ccg>, <http://groups.google.com/group/TEAMspinella/>,
<spinella@alumni.rice.edu>, <lauraspinella@alumni.rice.edu>
