Mu Kappa – "By MKs For MKs"

So the conversation often goes when college students meet other students who, like them, have missionaries for parents.

Many Christian and secular colleges across North America have clusters of such students. They wear the tag, "MK", short for "missionary kid". Though this invisible group exists on lots of campuses, not many schools have organized MK fellowship groups. Mu Kappa is changing that.

The embryo stage of Mu Kappa was spawned at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. A group of MKs got together and found out that they had some unique needs related to their experience of growing up overseas. Because they had ties with a foreign culture, the school expected them to integrate into the international students' organization.

Sure, they shared with those students the experience of having been raised in another culture. Like them, they were a long way from family, friends, and the familiar. But some of the MKs didn't feel at home in their club. The MKs desire was not to be distinctively foreign, but to integrate into the overall student life.

The MKs had special needs…practical needs…different even from their North American classmates. So the MKs at Taylor brainstormed the idea of starting their own organization on campus. That's how Mu Kappa (the Greek letters for "M" and "K") was born.

Mu Kappa is run by students, a key factor in its success. The group operates under the principle that MKs relate best to other MKs. There is no one who understands an MK better than another MK.

Mu Kappa's main goals is to help MKs face adjustments to college life. To deal with the social, emotional and spiritual needs during this major transition of life. In addition to planning social activities, Mu Kappa members help each other obtain driver's licenses, make travel arrangements, and find places to store belongings for the summer.

Freshman year can be especially difficult. Until an MK has shared some experiences with his or her classmates, it is sometimes hard just to carry on a friendly conversation. Mu Kappa aims to provide an atmosphere where an MK will be accepted as he or she is. Sometimes just having a circle of friends to talk to can give an MK the sounding board he or she need to iron out wrinkles that come along.

To find out more about this great ministry, check out the Mu Kappa website at www.mukappa.org. You'll find information on local chapters around the country. You'll find resources that can help your family deal with the many transitions you might face.