Home  Publications Working Abroad
 Contents
Previous Article (4.2 Church involvement)
Next Article (4.4 Christian service and Bible College Training)
4.3 Family considerations
If you are married, your spouse may also be looking for work to do. Be sure you are both of one mind in taking the decision to move abroad and discuss thoroughly, before you go, what you will do if only one of you is able (or allowed) to work. This will not be easy. Avoid, at all costs, getting drawn into a disgruntled expatriate 'fault finding' group when you get there.
It is important to involve the children in the decision making process (according to their age and understanding). Children can benefit greatly from living overseas (so don't think that having a family means you can't go). The new opportunities, new experiences and new understandings can be wonderfully liberating for a family. Their skill at language learning may well prove to be a help to you! Make the most of it. Having said that, the beginning of the teenage years is probably not the best time to be uprooting your family and taking them into another culture.
| Marion Knell's book - 'Families on the move' - is full of good advice - (See Appendix 3) |
Find out as much as possible as to what you should take with you, especially for the children. Explore the best means available for their education. However good the local schools, be prepared to 'home-school' your children. Make sure you have a good idea of what they should be learning. Speak to their teachers and try to get a copy of their current curriculum and take some teaching materials with you, if necessary.
World-wide Education Services – www.weshome.demon.co.uk – is a useful source of information
Children usually adapt well to new situation, especially if they have been included in the family's planning of the move but they may well miss their friends. Make sure they are able to say their goodbyes properly and correspond with them while they are away. Internet, email and Skype can make a fantastic difference and if you can set up links for them it will be helpful.
| Make or update your Will before you go abroad bearing in mind the question of guardianship for your children should something happen to you. |
Contents
Previous Article (4.2 Church involvement)
Next Article (4.4 Christian service and Bible College Training)
Acknowledgements
My thanks to Chris Lavy, Eldryd Parry, Ian Spillman and Nick Wooding, all of whom have worked overseas and have a continuing involvement, for their helpful comments and advice.
First edition 1994 - Entitled ‘A Medical Missions Handbook’ by Peter Saunders.
Second Edition 1998 (updated April 2000)
Third Edition September 2003 - by Peter Armon
Fourth Edition 2007 – renamed ‘Working Abroad’ - totally revised & rewritten by Peter Armon
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the CMF.
Christian Medical Fellowship
6 Marshalsea Road
London SE1 1HL
Tel. 020 7234 9660
Fax 020 7234 9661
Websites:www.cmf.org.uk and www.healthserve.org
Christian Medical Fellowship is a registered charity No. 1039823
DISCLAIMER
While seeking to be accurate in all the details contained in this document, CMF cannot be held responsible for the information contained in this booklet. The reader should double check the information for him/herself
|
|
