TCK Perspective – Clement Ho

Clement Ho

My name is Clement Ho. I’ve grown up in Austin (Texas), Hong Kong and Beijing. Out of all these places, I call Beijing home. I’m currently studying at Abilene Christian University at Abilene TX, working towards an undergraduate degree in computer science. My plan is to pursue a career in mobile development and use that for the glory of God.

What do you love/hate about being a TCK?

Being a TCK allows me to gain a deeper understanding of the pros and cons of different cultures. It’s great as it gives me the opportunity to see the world in a different perspective. However, at the same time, being a TCK also usually means that you can’t really identify yourself with one country. If someone were to say, “where are you from?”, you struggle to conjure up an answer that’s true because the fact is, the best way to describe where you are from is: earth.

What do you think you gained/missed out on through your TCK life?

Being a TCK has given me the chance to experience many events and opportunities that most people do not have the luxury of experiencing (from events such as trekking in the Himalayas to just simple traveling – though easily taken for granted). It was only recently that I was reminded about how fortunate being a TCK is. Being in college, it still sometimes surprises me that some people don’t even have passports.

What tips would you give to a youth worker seeking to serve their TCKs better?

Don’t assume you know the abilities of a TCK before you get to know him or her. I’ve had a friend who was ethnically Chinese yet never received the opportunity to learn the Chinese language. Although it was sometimes fun to joke around that people expected him to speak Chinese (especially when people spoke to him in Chinese), it was tough for him and made it harder for him to connect with people. Assumptions like this can unintentionally create a barrier between youth workers and TCKs.

What are you thankful to previous/current youth leaders for?

I am thankful for the amount of work that they put into the ministry. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am both physically and spiritually.

What do you wish previous/current youth leaders had done for you?

I wish my previous youth leaders would have invested more into small groups and discipleship within the youth community. After spending two years in college, through the college ministry, I’ve begun to see the power of small groups and discipleship. Meeting just once a week and sharing our lives with one another is truly empowering for both the people in the group as well as the surrounding community.

 

Lively listening: one of my most memorable youth small group experiences

In my second year of youth work in Beijing I began a small group for the older homeschooled girls living in a certain area of the city. These were good, solid girls with personal faith and leadership skills they were already putting to good use. All 5 were oldest children (with the exception of the younger sister of a pair who were both in the group – although the younger sibling was a total type A anyway!) They are wonderful young women and I love each of them dearly, despite the fact that I don’t talk to them often as they are living in different parts of the USA, busy with college.

I tried to make the group something different to a “normal” bible study. Most MKs have a LOT of Christian knowledge. They’ve been hearing it, just about breathing it, for most of their childhoods. I figured that if we did a regular bible study, these girls would stay in their comfort zone – with easy-access answers, safe in the Christian bubble.

Instead, I tried to poke and prod them a little – try to find questions they didn’t have stock answers for.  I tried to challenge them to think laterally/critically about their faith – to examine the things they accepted; to think about why. Sometimes I was successful in asking questions they didn’t have a ready answer to; sometimes I’m not sure they followed the weird angle I was coming from.

The most memorable small group for me – certainly the most lively discussion by far – was the one in which I didn’t reference the Bible. Not even once. And yet, I think it was the most “productive” afternoon I spent with that group of girls.

I’m not entirely sure where we started. I think we were talking about how to love other people well. We listed a bunch of ways to love people, and honed in on listening to them – we all agreed that when we feel listened to we believe the other person really cares about us. Therefore, listening well to the people around us was a way we could minister to them, showing God’s care and love.

So I asked them a question: how do you know someone’s listening to you?

It took a while to get some answers (they seemed to think it was obvious!) but eventually they began to describe concrete ways they measured whether a person was listening to them.

The 1st said: “their face is animated”
The 2nd said: “they ask lots of follow up questions”
The 3rd said “the keep eye contact with me”
The 4th said “they share similar experiences they’ve had”
The 5th said “I can see it in their body language”

I thought to myself “Wow! Five different responses! I couldn’t have planned this better!”

The only thing was, they hadn’t seen it yet.

I asked the first girl “are you careful to keep your face animated when you’re listening to them?”
“Of course!” she replied, animatedly.

I asked the second girl “are you careful to ask lots of follow up questions when you’re listening?”
“Of course!” she replied, enthusiastically.

I asked the third girl “are you careful to maintain eye contact when you’re listening to someone?”
“Yes…” she replied with a hint of “what are you getting at” to her voice.

I couldn’t believe I was still getting blank stares. I changed tack.

I asked the first girl “are you careful to ask lots of follow up questions?”
“No,” she answered. She didn’t say “well why would I?” but she might as well have.

I asked the second girl “do you keep your face animated when you’re listening?”
“No,” came the reply.

I looked at them. Then it clicked. They turned to each other and started talking at the same time.

“You mean you don’t…!”
“Why wouldn’t you…?”
“Don’t you think…?”
“But it’s normal to…!”

And they were off and racing! I don’t think I contributed much more from that point on. We must have had a full 20-30 minutes of conversation discovering that the way you show something and the way I perceive it are different – and that when you learn how someone else works, you can express listening (and love) to them in a way that they understand. I might be showing someone love without them realising it – and the people might be showing me love in their own way, it’s just not obvious to me.

That discussion was so gratifying to me as a leader – I don’t remember them ever being that animated ever before or after. I had that wonderful sensation of having unlocked something for them – nothing earth-shattering or revolutionary, but bringing them to that point of catching a new concept for the first time. They would have worked it out sooner or later, but it was wonderful to watch them unpack it excitedly together.

I think that’s one of the most wonderful parts of small groups – giving teens the chance to work out their faith together: to understand new concepts and work out the practical applications. Creating a safe space for those discoveries and the experimentation that follows is a great goal for any small group.