Explore the joys, challenges, risks, and benefits of raising a family in another country. Discover how families can thrive in cross-cultural settings while pursuing God’s global mission.
Kurt Thiel was called to student ministry in college as he shared Jesus with his dormmates and fraternity brothers. Urbana also played a large role in leading him to cross-cultural missions. He has served InterVarsity as a campus minister and Area Director and has also worked with IFES in Slovakia. In his current role, Kurt seeks to connect InterVarsity with its sister movements within the IFES overseas. From Latin America to the Philippines, his ministry has taken him all around the world.
Laura Thiel has been on staff with InterVarsity for the past 32 years, alongside her husband. After serving as staff at CSU Sacramento and having two children, she moved with her family to Eastern Europe to serve college students for five years. After returning to the U.S., she specialized in prayer ministry and has trained many staff and students in the arena of prayer. During this time, Laura finished a master’s degree from Fuller Theological Seminar in the School of Intercultural Studies. After 10 years serving in the prayer arena, Laura has now taken a position with InterVarsity Link. She is also a Life Coach.
After a number of short-term missions experiences, Mike York and his wife, Kris, felt God’s leading to move long-term overseas. After just having a baby and not knowing what it would be like to raise a child in another country, they initially committed just to three to five years. Now 23 years later, they have raised three children overseas, learned much about themselves, and made plenty of mistakes along the way. But they are still amazed how God turned their initial commitment into something much larger than they imagined.
From childhood, Kris York has been interested in other cultures. After she began following Jesus and heard the Great Commision in college, she was drawn to serve overseas. In 1995 with 10 boxes and a six-month-old, Kris and her husband started their overseas adventure. With the birth of twins, life in a communist apartment building became a challenge. Reflecting on her 23 years of ministry, she would not trade any of it and is grateful for the opportunity to raise her children overseas.