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Currently accepting for theme: misunderstood

Growing up between cultures, we frequently feel like no one fully gets us. And yet, it is essential for our well-being to reach for support and be known.

How do we navigate this tension?

We want to hear your stories and advice — when have you felt misunderstood, how did you deal with it, and what can you share from that experience to help others?

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    Guidelines

    Submission Guidelines

    Love writing? Have cross-cultural experiences to share? Think deeply about TCK life and your faith? We would love to read about it!

    Download guidelines

    WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

    TCKs for Christ publishes articles and essays about the TCK life as seen through the lens of faith. In our writing, we aim to explore specific, third-culture experiences and provide advice and encouragement. Our audience is teenage TCKs and young ATCKs.

    Our main categories & topics

    Belonging: Where are you from? How do you think about place? Do you feel rooted? Unrooted? Are you from everywhere and nowhere at once? What does it mean for you to belong? What does home look like?

    Change: How do you adapt? Are you constantly mobile? How do you navigate repatriation? What is it like to assimilate and acclimate to another country, culture, and language?

    Difficulties: What specific and odd struggles have you had to deal with? Losing your mother tongue? Connecting with relatives when going back to visit? Feeling left behind in your life’s timeline? Feeling misunderstood by monoculture individuals? Navigating the in-between spaces?

    Identity: Who are you? How do your home countries shape your identity? What cultures are you a part of? Where do they blend, or disappear? What languages do you speak? Are you a chameleon?

    Grief: What have you lost? What did moving feel like? Are you still unpacking grief you didn’t process? How do you deal with long distance? What do you miss about your last home? Do you grieve things you could have had?

    Relationships: How does the TCK life affect relationships? Are you close to your siblings now? How do you manage long-distance friendships? Is it hard to make new connections? What have you learned from friends of other cultures? Are there unique angles to dating as a TCK?

    TCK Gifts: How has the TCK experience been a blessing? What strengths has it given you? What are you grateful for? What unique perspective do you bring to the world? How had it made you stronger?

    CONTENT GUIDELINES

    • Articles must address topics and issues TCKs have to deal with (e.g. identity, moving around, making/losing friends, saying goodbye, etc. Browse our categories and read previously published articles to get a feel for what we are looking for.) 
    • Articles must be in line with the Bible and adhere to our Statement of Faith, as we are a Christian ministry. 
    • Please do a search on the website beforehand to ensure your article is not too similar to one previously published. If you are not sure, submit it and we will let you know. 
    • There is no need to provide images. Our team will do this for you. 
    • We prefer to use articles that have not been published previously. However, if you have published an article on your personal blog that you believe would fit our website, you may send us a query, and we will consider it. 
    • We do not accept pitches. Please send us your full article. 
    • All work must be your own. When quoting others, make sure you have permission and include the reference.
    • We do not accept work written with AI, nor writing that has been extensively AI edited (beyond the regular proofreading done by applications like Grammarly or Hemmingway, etc.).

    STRUCTURE & STYLE

    • Your word count should be between 500–1500 words (but if it’s slightly shorter/longer we may consider it). 
    • We prefer articles that are split up with headings and/or bullet points since they are easier to read.
    • Keep your paragraphs on the shorter side (preferably 3–5 sentences each). 
    • You can use either British or American English as long as you are consistent throughout the article. 
    • Please capitalize pronouns when referring to God. 
    • When quoting Scripture, please include the reference and the translation. Translations we allow are KJV, NKJV, ESV, and NIV.

    HOW TO SUBMIT

    • Submit your article by email to team@tcksforchrist.com. Paste your article (the title and draft) into the body of your email (no attachments). 
    • If this is your first time publishing an article on our website, please include a 60–80 word bio written in third person. If you would like to, you can send a good picture of yourself to go along with the bio, but this is not mandatory. It is possible to be published anonymously if it is a question of safety and privacy for either you or the people around you. 
    • If you have not heard from us within 2 weeks, feel free to contact us. 
    • If your article is accepted, we will edit it for minor mistakes. If your article requires a lot of editing, we will reject it. 
    • Once your article is accepted*, it will be published on our website, and we will post about it on our social media profiles. 

    Everyone at TCKs for Christ volunteers; contributing writers will not be compensated.

    Still have questions? Please contact team@tcksforchrist.com. We look forward to your contribution!

    Happy writing!

    *We reserve the right to reject a submission if it does not align with what the Bible says, needs major editing, or is in any other way not suitable for the ministry.