TCK Voices: You Can’t Put God in a Box

Today we have Michelle with us! Welcome, Michelle!

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and the different cultures you are part of?

Hi, I’m Michelle. I’m 19 years old and a TCK from Germany. My parents were born in Russia and moved to Germany in their twenties. Our ancestors originally came from Germany, and when they moved to Russia sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century, they stayed in a Russian-German community that kept its own language and culture. This is the environment in which my parents grew up and, to some extent, are still in, as most people from that community have moved back to Germany by now. My generation pretty much adopted our parents’ culture, even though most of us were born in Germany. Therefore, I have always been a part of more than one culture.

After I finished school, I moved to the UK for a mission year. I worked with Christians who were from other European countries, but also from Brazil, South Africa, India, Malaysia, Mexico, and so many more. Now I am back in Germany, and I see how much all these different cultures shaped me and changed the way I not only see “my own” culture, but also how I see God and life around me. 

What is one memory from your time in your non-passport country that you would like to share?

For my 19th birthday, my mum posted a cake from Germany to England, where I was at that time. 

On phone calls, I had always told her that people there only buy their birthday cakes in grocery stores and that I had never seen a homemade one, which for me, growing up with a mother who always made everything herself (especially on birthdays), was quite a shock! So, my mum made a chocolate cake and wrapped it in baking paper, hand towels, and a jumper before she put it in a parcel. 

It survived its five-day journey, and it was the best chocolate cake I ever had. Not only because of its taste but also because I knew there was someone on the other side of the ocean who loved me enough to not allow one birthday of mine to go by without me having a homemade birthday cake. 

The distance and effort weren’t too big for her to bring me a little joy. That made me think of how much God cares for His children. There is nothing too big that He wouldn’t do when it comes to loving His children.

What is the hardest thing about being a TCK?

The hardest thing about being a TCK for me is having friends all over the world. Of course, it’s a beautiful thing too. I love knowing that on my travels I am able to visit friends and always have a reason to come back to that one place, but these long-distance friendships are heartbreaking at the same time. 

There’s this longing at the end of the day when you think of everything that happened to you, and you want to tell your best friend about it, only to realize she is already sleeping because, in her world, the time somehow goes by seven hours ahead of yours.

Long-distance friendships introduce challenges like calculating the right time difference, not knowing when or even if you will see each other again, and sending ten-minute voice notes on WhatsApp. Being painfully aware of all the birthdays you miss, that you are not there to comfort and not there to celebrate successes. Praying that your friends and family are okay, and praying that the internet connection won’t break on your next Facetime call, because these calls and maybe a posted card for Christmas are all you have for now. 

That’s hard. But distance also prunes friendships. The ones meant to stay will stay, and with God at the center, He will sustain our friendships. 

Who was someone that you met in your non-passport country that made a difference in your life and how?

In England, I was working and living with Gleise, a young woman from Brazil. She was 12 years older than me, and when we arrived, her English wasn’t that good because she had never learned it at school as I had. We quickly realized how different our cultures, our ways of working, and, in general, our perspectives on life were. These differences, our age difference, and the lack of communication led to many conflicts. We were getting on each other’s nerves, we misunderstood each other, and we mostly tried to keep out of each other’s ways. 

Then one day, after about three months, we had a really bad argument, after which we both ended up crying. After a while, Gleise came to me and told me she was sorry and that we needed to stop fighting because we would still have seven months to live together. She told me about her past, her home, how she lived before she knew Jesus, and what she was struggling with. I also opened up to her. 

We realized how much God would be able to use us if we would finally work together, and that these fights we had were the enemy’s strategy to go against us. Gleise and I reconciled and prayed together. Since that day we have never fought again. 

We were patient with each other. We helped each other and learned how to understand each other and each other’s cultures. By the end of the year, we could communicate without words. And even when Gleise would forget a word in English, she would tell me the Brazilian word, then try to explain it in English, and my answer would be, “Oh, I know what you mean! I don’t know the English word but it’s ‘⸺’ in German.”

Through Gleise I learned what it means to love unconditionally. She taught me the power of prayer and the power of friendship, and because she always believed in what God was doing in me, it made me believe in God even more. I learned that God is always sending the right people, people who you didn’t even know you needed. I also learned that it doesn’t matter where you come from and who you were before, but with God in each individual heart, you become a team because you now live for the same purpose. And this union is so powerful. 

We became sisters, and even now with her back in Brazil and me in Germany, we still stand before God, interceding for each other’s lives. 

What characteristic of God have you learned most about in your life as a TCK?

Experiencing how different cultures and people from different parts of the world live out their faith so differently taught me how versatile God is. You can’t put God in a box. I once heard someone saying, “Sometimes we miss out on God speaking to us because in our heads we already think we know exactly how He will speak to us.”

I think that’s so true. We often have this expectation or prejudice about how God will move or speak, and with that we limit Him because we aren’t open to ways He might want to show up to us. Different cultures worship God so differently. Church is lived differently even though it is the same God. And in that same way, God sometimes works differently than we think. We can’t reduce His nature to human principles in order to try to understand Him. Being a TCK helped me understand that God is so much bigger than our human thinking.

What is one thing you would like to tell your fellow TCKs?

Something I learned from my journey with God and that I want to encourage my fellow TCKs with is this: God always has better plans for you than you think.

I would describe myself as someone with big dreams, who is always thinking about what could be. But in reality, the life God prepared for me and the plans and dreams He has for my life are so much bigger than my own, and all I need to do is trust Him to fulfill them. 

Jeremiah 29:11 became one of my favorite Bible verses in the last year: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you” (NIV). 

We read that the Israelites were taken captive but believed the false prophets who said God would deliver them from their sufferings soon. But now Jeremiah is telling them they will stay captives for 70 years and that they should stop believing the false prophecies of an early redemption. And then he adds “But don’t worry. God still has a bright future for you.”

I think sometimes we feel like the Israelites must have felt at that moment. We are in a place or situation in which we feel like God isn’t fulfilling His promise to us. Maybe we are suffering, maybe we feel alone and forgotten. But being in this place, remaining where God has put you for now, doesn’t mean He won’t fulfill that promise He gave you. Maybe God is already in the process of fulfilling that promise. Maybe He is just preparing you to receive it in ways you can’t yet recognize. 

We live in such a rush and always want to reach the next place, the next goal. We need to unlearn this constant rush to see and enjoy the beauty and the lessons God has for us where we are right now. 

He is faithful and He sees your enduring. And when you trust Him with your life, nothing will be wasted and life will be more beautiful than you could have ever imagined. 

Before we end this interview, would you mind sharing a way our readers who are interested in hearing more of your story could connect with you?

My Instagram account is @elleloeven. I would love to connect with TCKs for Christ readers.

Thank you so much for sharing with us, Michelle!