Many of us missional women, along the journey of life, may find ourselves married and with missionary kids (MK’s) or maybe you are a MK yourself or work with a c0-worker that has MK’s.
Taken in 1995 of our Family
I just recently wrote my two middle children of 4 (Shawna and Shane), who are MK’s, and happen to like to write,
” I would like to invite you to write something for my blog if interested? I think my audience would be interested in hearing what you have to say. “What was it like to grow up in the Philippines 🇵🇭 as an MK missionary kid? Good and bad , if any, and in what ways has it impacted your life today ? Or if you were to share one story about your life as an MK what would it be and why ?“
Both of them responded back. Shane, our third child wrote, VIVID DREAM (October 2019) and Shawna our second child, will share one of her stories this week in MY SOUL FELT LIKE ONE OF THEM (NOVEMBER 2019). Both are grown and out of the home. We are very blessed by what they have become. I think you will enjoy their insights.
Psalm 139:16 “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” (NLT)
Shawna lives in Pennsylvania, and has been married to Matt Kussmaul, her high school sweetheart since 2010. They have 2 adorable twin boy’s born June 2016. Shawna was born in the Philippines and graduated from Moody Bible Institute with a degree in Women’s Ministry. Besides being an active mom she works alongside of us, her parents with our Next Gen Leaders (NGLC), among other things. (www.nextgenleader.net) Shawna, is a young leader in her own right and is an invaluable part of the team with her eye for details, and her compassion, and intuitive understanding of people.
“MY SOUL FELT LIKE ONE OF THEM”
by Shawna O’Neill
ONLY STORY I KNOW
My life as a missionary kid… where to start? Sometimes, you are asked to share your story and you know exactly why it was unique or worth telling and you dive right in. And then other times you are asked to share your story and it is the only story you know, it is your only normal, so you can’t think of ways to tell it so that others can appreciate how different your life was from theirs. This story is the latter of those two. I will do my best to summarize my childhood and why growing up as a missionary kid was unique.