[This article also exists in audio form. You can listen to it on The Pondering Purple Podcast available on most platforms or by clicking HERE.]
“A deeply moving and essential read for MKs, TCKs, and the parents and caregivers who support them. This book is a lifeline for those seeking understanding and connection in their journey. An absolute must-read!”
—
Kath Williams, National TCK Coordinator, TCK Interlink
IT’S BOOK-RELEASE DAY!
And I’m not quite sure whether to dance a jig or take a nap! I cannot wait for it to get into the hands of MKs and TCKs, missionary families, sending agencies, churches, and mission committees.
What is it about?
The book delves into fifteen specific factors that influence the development of TCKs in both beneficial and challenging ways—factors like social dexterity, cultural malleability, gut-level world awareness, the assets and limitations of unbelonging, the impact of grief on fragile faith, and the too-often-overlooked realities of trauma. In conjunction with each other, these help to explain how TCKs might uniquely navigate identity, hardship, and spirituality.
Here’s what the back cover says:
Pieces of Purple is an ode to the beauty and complexity of Third Culture Kids. It goes beyond the usual inventory of TCK strengths and challenges, uncovering foundational truths that shape this community’s sense of self, world, and God.
Blending memoir, research, and storytelling, Michèle Phoenix draws on a lifetime as a Missionaries’ Kid and more than three decades working with Third Culture Kids to paint a compelling and compassionate portrait, inviting the reader to explore fifteen formative aspects of the MK and TCK experience.
More than anything, Pieces of Purple is a celebration of the immeasurable gift of growing up between worlds. It empowers Global Nomads to better understand their unique traits and needs, and equips those who walk alongside them to love them more wholly and effectively.
“Sharing from her extensive experience in working with MKs, Michèle succinctly and accurately describes the benefits and challenges of growing up between worlds. Her insights should be must-read material for all those who are parenting MKs or walking alongside them.”
—
Matthew Wright, Executive Director, The 631 Solution
Where did the idea to write a book come from?
This book feels different than the novels I’ve written before. It’s so much more of a legacy project to me. It holds the totality of all I’ve ever learned, researched, and taught about Missionaries’ Kids and Third Culture Kids in 57 years as an MK myself and 34 years in MK ministry.
As a single woman with no children, I’ve been concerned that when my life ends, all the research and writing I’ve done on this topic with die with me. I don’t want that to happen.
I was meeting with the missions committee of a partner church in South Carolina last August and the words, “I’m going to write a non-fiction book about MKs!” just kind of fell out of my mouth—because it’s been a dream for so long and I think God was telling me that it was time to take the leap. Then I looked at my calendar and saw that I had no major trips planned between September and December… That kind of break in travel just never happens.
I started writing on September 20th and submitted the 171-page manuscript to my graphic artist on December 17th—somehow managing all the other aspects of this ministry at the same time. (Then I spent a couple weeks trying to remember how to stop typing, breathe slowly, and notice things happening beyond my laptop’s screen!)
Can you help spread the word? I’d be so grateful!
This book is primarily written for missionary families and MKs, but it holds crucial information for other sectors too. Could someone you know use a copy or two (or ten)?
- MKs or TCKs in your spheres of influence?
- Missionary families?
- Relatives of MKs and TCKs?
- A pastor?
- A church Missions Committee?
- A church library?
- A sending mission/agency?
- A member-care provider?
- An MK/TCK school?
- A counsellor who helps missionaries families?
“Unlike any other book I’ve read, Pieces of Purple beautifully speaks to the core belovedness of MK and TCK identity. Tender and honest insights into the life of Third Culture Kids, told by a master teacher and storyteller.”
—
Lori Harms, Director of Children’s Debriefing,
Mission Training International (MTI)
If you do read the book, I’d love it if you’d consider writing an honest review and posting it on Amazon and Goodreads. I don’t have any marketing budget or a marketing team, and your feedback will be a really important part of the unofficial word-of-mouth campaign.
To learn more about the content of the book and read some of the amazing reviews it’s received from leaders in the TCK world, click here.
And purchase it, click here:
—> A couple notes about purchasing:
First, the paperback version of the book is gorgeous, thanks to Elise Cheung’s graphic design brilliance, and I highly recommend getting a physical copy if you can.
Second, because I’m using Amazon, the book can be ordered and printed from several global Amazon hubs: Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. So you may want to check those international sites for better pricing and shipping.
I cannot wait for this labor of love to get into the hands of those who want to understand more about themselves as Purple People and those care for them. My hope and my prayer is that it will increase understanding, promote compassion and self-empathy, point to Jesus’ immeasurable love, and even lead to healing.
Please join the conversation!
- Contribute your thoughts in the comments section below.
- Use the social media links to Like and Share this article.
- Click this link to listen to this article in podcast form on Pondering Purple.
- To subscribe to this blog, use the field below.
- Pick up Of Stillness and Storm (my novel about a missionary calling gone awry) on Amazon.
- Flecks of Gold, a coffee-table book that explores God’s presence in our suffering, is available only from this website. Follow the link to learn more about it.
- And don’t miss Pieces of Purple, available from Amazon.
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