Suppose you’re a parent of a missionary. (We’ll pray for you. : ) ) What do you need to know? Where can you get help? What’s a body to do? Read on. You’ll hopefully pick up something you can pass on to parents of missionaries in your church, agency, or circle.
First, there’s at least one (slightly-dated) book for you. Find it at https://www.amazon.com/Parents-Missionaries-Connected-Grandchildren-Cross-Culturally/dp/0830857303/ref=sr_1_1. (BTW: It’s 15 years old now. Here’s a revision or new book waiting to be written by some enterprising parent of a missionary out there? A lot has changed in 15 years. Goodness. 15 years ago, TikTok was the noise a clock made.)
Second, we need to understand all these generations. Frankly, it’s all rather confusing to me. I can find articles on this… like the Axis article at https://axis.org/resource/gen-z-parent-guide/. But, still, I’m left with questions. I think I understand:
The Lost Generation, b. 1893—1900, came of age during WWI
The Greatest Generation (G.I. Generation), b. 1901—1924
The Silent Generation (the Lucky Few), b. 1925-1945
Baby Boomers, b. 1946-1964
Generation X (Gen X), b. 1965-1980
Millennials (Gen Y), b. 1981-1996
Gen Z (iGen), b. 1997-2012
Generation Alpha, b. 2010-2020s (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Alpha)
But it feels like we need more information on this. Does any organization or agency have more help on this in readymade form? If so, please comment below. We need more help.
The Missionary Mama’s Survival Guide Is a great resource for moms sending their children overseas.
Awesome, Dave! Thanks!