Mission-minded
College can be a nerve-racking experience for first-year students.
Teacher expectations, grinding out assignments and for some, juggling part-time work must mix with a culture of leisurely activities with friends, attending sporting events and close-quartered living arrangements.
But it can be especially overwhelming for young students, particularly missionary kids new to the United States, to navigate the intricacies of college.
For Liberty University students David Perhai and Josh May, that transition has been made a little easier thanks to the school’s missionary kid (MK) program.
Perhai, a sophomore from Ukraine, and May, a freshman from Japan, are both recipients of the MK Scholarship, a highly-competitive grant that covers all or part of tuition costs for students.
But receiving substantial financial assistance to come to Liberty is not the only perk Perhai identified as an important aspect of the MK Scholarship.
“I don’t know how to explain it to people that aren’t MKs, but it seems like people that are MKs can connect so quickly to each other — faster than they can, usually, to other types of people who have lived a more normal life,” Perhai said.
The students who apply must meet certain criteria — first and foremost that their parents currently serve in a foreign mission field with a Liberty-approved organization, as well as go through a tedious process of writing essays and answering questionnaires.
One of the most critical queries Perhai and May remember in the application was what they would bring to Liberty.
Once accepted, the university looks to equip the MKs with a weekly class led by Nastinka Morgan.
The class provides encouragement and instruction, as well as the connections and conversations with fellow MKs that both May and Perhai relish.
“I’ve met tons of people through that and not just freshmen but a few upperclassmen,” May said of the class. “Just the community there is really nice. … We’ve done a ton of introductions, so we keep getting to know each other.”
The building of the MK community was bolstered by the special occasion of a retreat Oct. 12 and 13.
The Liberty Worship Collective came to the event that was held at the Liberty Mountain Conference Center, which is less than a block from the north end of the university’s main campus.
May said that Michael Pollock, a former missionary kid from Kenya, was also there giving reminders on the adjustments each MK student faces.
“It was a lot to do with how you relate to Americans,” Perhai said. “Because what it seems like a lot of MKs do is tell their story first and then become friends with them later. And what Americans do is get to know them first and then get to know their story.”
Gaining insight like this and providing opportunities to get in community and share stories are just some of the key ways Liberty helps MKs in their
transition.
“The reason that we connect so quickly is because we understand,” May said. “We’ve been living overseas so we can be understanding to other people’s stories. Not only other MKs, but just anyone. Just more open in general to hearing about someone’s life and caring about what you’ve gone through and where you’ve been.”