Ruth Van Reken
Introducing our keynote speaker and facilitator for the 2021 PNG/KLS/SPLC Reunion. Ruth is author of Letters Never Sent — Ruth’s personal journaling written as she sought to understand the long-term impact of her cross-cultural childhood. She is co-author of Third Culture Kids*: Growing Up Among Worlds.
*Third Culture Kid (TCK) is defined as a child who spends a significant period of time during his or her developmental years growing up in a culture outside the parents’ culture.
About Ruth’s KEYNOTE SESSION, Friday, Oct. 1, 9:30-11:30 AM: Understanding Our Story: The Benefits and Challenges of a Globally Mobile Childhood
For most of us, a globally mobile childhood was the norm. We flew between home and host country with various degrees of regularity. We often went to school in places far from our nuclear family. Our friends did the same. Life became a series of hello’s and good-byes. Yes, it all felt quite ‘normal’.
As adults, however, we also reflect on the paradoxes we have experienced. While our lives have been rich with seeing many places and learning first hand about different cultures, we can also see some of the impact these cycles of mobility created for and in us as well. In this session, Ruth will share how she began to move from looking at her story as an ‘either/or’ event to an amazing ‘both/and.’ We will also look some of the gifts we received as well as seeing how we can deal with some of the challenges so perhaps, in the end, they too become part of our gifts.
Ruth’s Saturday session Oct. 2, 1:30-3PM: Sharing Our Stories – A Guided Discussion
Attendees will explain through a specific (sacred or special) object or a memory, how things experienced or learned in childhood have shaped their lives long term.
As Dave Pollock the originator of the Third Culture Kid Profile, used to say to his audiences, “I’m likely not going to tell you something you don’t know, but you may not know you know it yet.” We are wanting to make this time for you to not only share why some special object we invite you to bring and show us holds so much meaning for you, or how some event that happened to you as a child has shaped your thinking or understanding of life and the world since then. Please plan your explanation for no more than two to three minutes so all who want will have an opportunity to share. (Ruth says she will have a stop watch!)
Ruth is a US citizen who grew up in Nigeria and raised three daughters in Liberia. She now lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ruth struggled with TCK issues in her own life, and began writing about her experiences as a way to understand them. She sent us this description about her work with TCKs:
“As an adult MK I have spent the last thirty plus years of my life looking at the shared story of children who grow up globally mobile, no matter if they are from the international business, military, foreign service, education, or missions communities or ‘sectors.’ I have had the opportunity to travel to over fifty countries hoping to give understanding and normalize this increasingly common experience for current TCKs, their parents, educators, and the professionals who work with them so they can use the benefits with joy and grow from the challenges as well.”
To give you a sense of Ruth’s current involvement, she recently presented a professional development seminar at an international, ‘non missionary kid’ school in India and last April, she attended the totally cross-sector Families in Global Transition conference in Thailand.
Learn more at Ruth’s website, http://www.crossculturalkid.org
If you would like to view Ruth’s presentation from the October 16th ZOOM meeting, please click here.
Sessions at the 2021 Reunion, Friday October 1, 9:30-11:30 AM, and Saturday Oct. 2, 1:30-3:00 PM
George Weiblen, PhD
“A Celebration: 100 Years of the Good News in Papua New Guinea”
Presentation by Dr. George Weiblen, PhD, PNG research and a special celebration
We briefly introduced George Weiblen in the April 2019 Reunion Newsletter as one of our 2020 speakers. George is a University of Minnesota Professor of Plant and Microbial Biology, and Science Director of the Bell Museum. Many of us heard him speak at the 2017 PNG/KLS/SPLC Reunion. He is returning this year to briefly update us on his fascinating research in PNG, centered on the interactions of flowering plants with insect pollinators and pests.
At this reunion George is excited to also share his participation at a unique event in November 2019: ELC-PNG’s Celebration —100 Years Anniversary Bilong Kisim Tok, 1919 – 2019 — at Mis Village in Madang Province.
This was a surprise detour during George’s travels in PNG in Fall 2019. An officer from Mis Village who was in a meeting at the Ministry for Environment learned that George was flying to Madang the next day. The man asked George if he would deliver a banner for an ELC PNG celebration in his village. George learned that “the village is famous in Lutheran circles and among cultural anthropologists because it is the place where the church confronted New Guinea’s first cargo cult, known as ‘Letub—the cult of secret wealth’.” George will share the story of Letub, a violent conflict, and the successful intervention of missionaries to bring peace to the village.
His description of entering the village will bring back memories for many of us who lived in Papua New Guinea:
“On the walk we encounter livestock, a small river, laughing children, and simple homes built of forest materials. As we approach the festival grounds, we bump into youth groups rehearsing their “dramas” (pageants). Among them is a reenactment of Letub, Yali, the violence, and ultimately the holy spirit bringing peace and justice to the community. Missionaries are represented by clothed youths bearing bibles, sunglasses and hats; natives with painted faces and grass skirts.”
Session at the 2021 Reunion, Saturday October 2, 10–11:30 AM
Dr. Yoshitaka Franklin Ishida
Dr. Franklin Ishida, Bio
The Rev Dr. Yoshitaka Franklin Ishida is currently the ELCA representative to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELC-PNG).
Like us, he is also a Third Culture Kid. He is the son of a Japanese Lutheran Pastor and American Missionary mother. He is fluent in English, Japanese and French. Born in Kurume, Japan, Franklin Ishida grew up in Japan, Switzerland, and the United States. Franklin and his spouse, Emily Demuth Ishida, have three children: David, Hans-Martin, and Louisa.
Dr. Ishida serves as Director for Asia and the Pacific with the Global Mission Unit of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He travels extensively, engaging with churches and institutions throughout Asia and Australia, overseeing missionary work, and visiting development projects. He has served on behalf of the ELCA in relationships to churches, theological institutions, agencies, and NGOs in 19 Asian countries. During the summer of 2019 he was at the Companion Synod Consultation in PNG.
Session at the 2021 Reunion, Friday October 1, 2-3:00 PM
Nalon Derr
Nalon Derr completed his senior year at SPLC in 1966. He then attended the University of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby, and in time became the Registrar of the University. He established a Stationery store in Madang and operated it for a few years. He later became the secretary for a local Madang politician. He was called out of retirement within the last couple of years for an appointed position on a task force that is seeking to make sure local Papua New Guineans are benefiting fairly from the natural resources of the country.
Session at the 2021 Reunion, Friday October 1, 7-8:00 PM: An update on PNG, from PNG (or possibly in-person!)
PNG-KLS-SPLC Reunion 