In this video, Sam Cronin of Third Culture Music talks about his TCK childhood and how it has impacted his lifestyle, career, and music.
“Country or no country, nationality or not – it was the realisation that a passport means nothing, and this is an ideology that has really inspired my lifestyle today.” ~ Sam Cronin, Third Culture Music
Listen to more of Third Culture Music’s songs here.
Follow Third Culture Music on YouTube here.
TCKs for Christ strives to serve, encourage, and challenge teenage Christian TCKs and young adult TCKs to live victoriously with a firm identity in Jesus. TCKs for Christ considers all types of Christian TCKs such as missionary kids, business kids, diplomat kids, etc. They publish articles, interviews with TCKs, poetry and send out content via their newsletter.
Their team is made up of TCKs from around the world (five continents, to be precise) with various backgrounds, all connected by their faith, their desire to serve, and their love of writing.
Find out more by visiting their website, tcksforchrist.com
Lyrics
When the way come, you know we can’t stay
And then blissness is calling out for me
And you flashes pink and life is colour blue
I’m not here, I’m gon’ never die
We got love, we can still survive
And what I feel’s what I gotta do
But can I rest with you?
Where is home?
I’m starting to believe that it is gone
‘Cause I don’t find it
Though I’m looking
Keep searching
Where is home?
All I want is silence in my soul
But I don’t find it
Though I’m looking
Keep searching
Yeah, I’ve been searching, searching, searching
Life is drifting so fast, I don’t sleep
I’m afraid to miss a moment where I’m free
With you, we’re both lost, and nothin’ we’d approved
I can jump ’cause I know I land
All I need is to trust your hand
And like the wind, I will blow away
Unless you make me stay
Where is home?
I’m starting to believe that it is gone
‘Cause I don’t find it
Though I’m looking
Keep searching
Where is home?
All I want is silence in my soul
But I don’t find it
Though I’m looking
Keep searching
Yeah, I’ve been searching, searching, searching (do I look so sore?)
And I’ve been bursting, bursting, bursting (look at me more)
My mind is rumbling, rumbling, rumbling (is right)
‘Cause I’ve been wondering, wondering, wondering
Where is home?
I’m starting to believe that it is gone
‘Cause I don’t find it
Though I’m looking
Keep searching
Where is home?
All I want is silence in my soul
But I don’t find it
Though I’m looking
Keep searching
Where is home?
I’m starting to believe that it is gone
‘Cause I don’t find it
Though I’m looking
Keep searching
I need peace
All I want is silence in my soul
But I don’t find it
Though I’m looking
Keep searching
Yeah, I’ve been searching, searching, searching
“Where do we fit in” by Mimi
Art drawn by missionary kids at a re-entry retreat in Georgia, 2023
Lyrics: by Angela Soffe
Let us speak of daytime dreams
And those forbidden things
That you dare not tell one another
They will say it can’t be done
But you’ve already won
Put your shoulder to the wheel and start walking
If you can dream it up it’s yours to keep
These walls are made of sand
Wasted all my time being not enough
And I hardly know where I have been
Traveling on a second wind
Come and paint your name in frost
When the sun comes all is lost
As it slips and drips through your fingers
Callous minds now don’t be shy
You’re afraid and so am I
Of the fire that burns just beneath us
If you can dream it up it’s yours to keep
These walls are made of sand
Wasted all my time being not enough
And I hardly know where I have been
Traveling on a second wind
Woah, woah
Wasted all my time being not enough
And I hardly know where I have been
Woah, woah
Wasted all my time being not enough
And I hardly know where I have been
Traveling on a second wind
Writing, Flying, Free is a blog by Breanne Eckman, where she writes about her unique identity and perspective as a third culture kid and a Christian.
The purpose of the blog – “My goal is to reach people who have grown up feeling like they don’t belong and remind them where they do. To show people the truth, beauty, and meaning amidst a diverse and ever-changing life. I want to remind you that your experiences aren’t without purpose, your talents aren’t useless, and your story is a part of God’s big story for the whole world.”
I’ve been sleeping on an airplane pillow all this while
drowned in a white pillowcase
folded over and set at the top of my mat
and the impermanency has etched itself
over top of every memory I have here
I always knew I wasn’t meant to stay
But somehow that airplane pillow
folded over and over itself until it was
small enough to fit in my pocket, to go back
the same way it arrived; and all my hopes
got tiny too, squished and soft and transportable
like maybe that could make up for the rest
But it didn’t
and I left
everything
hopes and pillows
and all the rest
small behind me
~ Elizabeth Hemp
When I was young, all I wanted was a normal childhood, but it was impossible. We were always moving homes and nothing in our life was permanent. Every move was a disruption, full of goodbyes and fears about an unknown future. But slowly I learned to embrace the chaos, because I realised that when I walked boldly towards the unknown and did my best, there was enough kindness in the world to catch me even when I tripped.
Through my art, I want to capture the strength of courage and kindness so anyone facing turmoil in their lives can draw strength from it. That’s why I wanted to share my art with you today. ~ Jane Peng
About under our own piece of sky, written by third culture kid artist Josh Barkey
I recorded “under our own piece of sky” on Sept. 13th, 2020 during a Facebook-livestream at The WAV Lab in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Just one mic, my baritone ukulele, and a bucket of jitters.
The album title was suggested by my artist friend James Alfred Friesen, then chosen from a poll-list during a livestreamed run-through the week before. After we recorded, James threw together this amazing album cover and here I am four days later, posting my first-ever EP to bandcamp.
I’m hoping that if enough people dig my vibe I’ll be able to head back into the studio with some of the musical genius-friends I’ve accumulated over the years and record a full-length album of my favorite songs.
released September 18, 2020
About Josh Barkey
When I was six months old, my Canadian father and American mother took me and my older brother Jo-Ben to the Amazon basin of Peru, South America, where we would live (excepting the odd furlough in AmeriCanada) until I graduated high school.
My childhood, then, was spent migrating from fruit tree to fruit tree, paddling a dugout around Yarinacocha, and catching iguanas and boa constrictors and anything else that got too close to my bare, nature-stealing hands.
These days, I live a pretty idyllic life: I keep house with my fabulous wife, hang out with my family, play a little soccer, and write. Oh boy, do I write.
I’ve got aspirations, see?
I intend to write and write and write until I croak, telling stories that entertain, delight, and challenge the entire world. I’m honing my craft in the belief that this will lead to widespread acclaim, which will assuage all my insecurities and give me the financial resources to buy everybody I know a pair of gold-plated pinking shears. Because that makes total sense.
Mostly, though, I’m trying to do it for the love. Writing and making is at its best a love-based endeavor, and I want nothing more than to up the love-quotient in the world before the lights go out. I firmly believe that storytelling is the best way for me to do this.
“I been making waves like I am the storm”
Bahrain raised Hip hop and RnB artist Xenai represents a sonic kaleidoscope between the East and the West. Being born to a Hindu family in a Muslim country while attending a Catholic school, he was exposed to a wide spectrum of traditions and cultures growing up. This led to a rich musical palette whose hues and patterns can be heard in his tracks today.
Xenai transcribes his third culture upbringing into his music, melding Middle-Eastern textures with East Coast street grit and Indian rhythms. His work combines countless influences spanning from Alt Rock and Metal to RnB, Hip Hop and sometimes folk.
Click here to listen to more of Xenai
