Readiness
Missionary Kids
Missionary’s kids (or MKs) are the children of missionary parents, and thus born or raised abroad (that is, on the "mission-field"). They form a subset of third culture kids (TCKs). The term is more specifically applied when these children return to their "home" or passport country (the country of their citizenship), and often experience various difficulties identifying with fellow citizens and integrating "back" into their "home" culture. The resulting feeling is described as "reverse culture shock".
Missionary Kids
​​There is some confusion between the terms MK and TCK. According to the definition developed by Ruth Hill Useem, TCKs are people who have spent a significant part of their developmental years outside their parents' culture. TCK is a broad term that encompasses all children who have grown up abroad (i.e. military kids, diplomats' kids, immigrants). Missionary kids are just one of the many categories of kids who qualify as TCKs. Therefore, while all MKs are TCKs, not all TCKs are MKs.
​In the past MKs usually were thought of only as American or European, but there is as of 2014 a growing number of MKs from other countries, especially Protestant Christian. MKs from South Korea and from Latin America. Generally, this term applies to Protestant Christians; however, it can be applied to any denomination of a religion.