Round Trip Stories

Welcome back to Part 2 of our interview with Andy and Mary Ellen Faust, Canadian Americans who have worked with a mission organization focused on Bible translating for over 20 years. Mary Ellen is a recruiter and missions coach, and Andy is an instructor at the Canada Institute of Linguistics. Separately, they spent many before marriage in former Soviet bloc countries, and then they met in and ret...

Our guests today are Andy and Mary Ellen Faust, Canadian Americans who have worked with a mission organization focused on Bible translating for over 20 years. Mary Ellen is a recruiter and missions coach, and Andy is an instructor at the Canada Institute of Linguistics. Separately, they spent many years before marriage in former Soviet bloc countries, and then they met in and returned to Central A...

Welcome back to Part 2 of our interview with Marie-Cécile Collomp, an independent education consultant originally from France. Dubai was her family’s third expat assignment, and after COVID, the company transferred her family back to France. With her teenagers almost ready to graduate from international schools, they could not return to the French education system. Marie-Cécile's family had to...

Our guest today is Marie-Cécile Collomp, an independent education consultant originally from France. She began her expat experiences in university, then married and went abroad again with her family. Marie-Cécile speaks about her time in Dubai, United Arab Emirates with her husband and teenagers and the beauty of the international community there. There were camel races and falcon hospitals, but t...

Welcome back to Part 2 of our interview with Pafoua Her Pistoresi, a Hmong American travel blogger, mom of one, and ministry leader. She spent four years of teaching ESL at an international Christian school in Wuhan, China, where she took advantage of all that it had to offer, including paying off college debt, saving, and traveling to 20 countries. But a relationship was calling, and she decided...

Our guest today is Pafoua Her Pistoresi, a Hmong American travel blogger, mom of one, and ministry leader. She studied to be an ESL teacher and got her first job teaching in a Christian international school in Wuhan, China. These are her stories of her adjustment to Chinese culture, love of the international and local people, and beginning of her growing worldview and exploration. Hear how she bec...

Welcome back to Part 2 of our interview with Dave Darval, bush pilot turned commercial pilot and husband to Ginger Darval of episodes 76 and 77. Dave’s work for Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) in Colombia was cut short after safety issues, so he and Ginger packed up their family of five and returned to southern California. He continued flying into Mexico during their first years of transition, a...

Our guest today is Dave Darval, bush pilot turned commercial pilot and husband to Ginger Darval of episodes 76 and 77. Dave picks up where Ginger left off in the story of their forming a family in the mid 1970’s and going abroad for Dave’s work in aeronautics. First they were off to train pilots in Saudi Arabia, and then to fly Cessna bush planes for Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) in the mounta...

Welcome back to Part 2 of our interview with Ginger Darval, a retired nurse and boomerang third culture kid who spent her growing-up years in Ecuador, returned to the U.S., and then went abroad again after she was married (hence, the boomerang). In this episode, Ginger tells us stories from when she returned to Chicago for college and how, even though she was beginning a new life, her previous lif...

Our guest today is Ginger Darval, a retired nurse and boomerang third culture kid who spent her growing up years in Ecuador, returned to the U.S., and then went abroad again after she was married (hence, the boomerang). She finally moved back to the U.S. in the 1980’s where she continued to work as a nurse and raise her three children. In this episode, Ginger tells us stories of what it was like g...

Welcome back to Part 2 of our interview with J. K. Amerson López, author of the book Embassy Kid. Kelly grew up in a U.S. diplomat family in the 1950’s and 1960’s in Latin America, Italy, and Spain. In this episode, Kelly tells stories that take place after the ones in her book. In the early 70’s, she “aged out” of her diplomat family and returned to the U.S. for university. Now a young adult, she...

Our guest today is J. K. Amerson López, author of the book Embassy Kid. Kelly grew up in a U.S. diplomat family in the 1950’s and 1960’s in Latin America, Italy, and Spain. In this episode, Kelly shares stories from her book and her childhood growing up in the warmth of Caracas and Bogota immersed in Spanish and the adventure of exploring Italy with her family unit. She learned to be a professiona...

Welcome back to Part 2 of our interview with Christen Morrow Ara, a U.S. advocate for youth with disabilities and their families, divisional coordinator for Young Life Capernaum, and mother of four. During five years in Peru, Christen found life- giving work in helping to establish and train others to care for the intellectually disabled. Shortly after she married her Peruvian husband, a frighteni...

Our guest today is Chisten Morrow Ara, a U.S. advocate for youth with disabilities and their families, divisional coordinator for Young Life Capernaum, and mother of four. From a young age, Christen felt a connection and friendship to children with disabilities, and that passion was incorporated into her ministry and into her desire to help establish such support in Peru. She moved there for five...

Welcome back to Part 2 of our interview with Professor Phil, teacher educator and mentor who moved to China to work with international schools. Phil worked for 16 years in teacher training and leadership development with his international school consortium now called LifePlus. As he approached the age where he might not be offered a visa to stay in China, he and his wife returned to the U.S. on a...

Our guest today is Professor Phil, teacher educator and mentor who moved to China to work with international schools. At 50 years old, it was finally the right timing for him and his wife and youngest son to make the move that had been in their hearts for decades. He left his U.S. professor post to become the director of teacher development for a multi-site international school consortium. https:/...

Welcome back to Part 2 of our interview with Carolina Baiza, eco-hotel owner and sustainability entrepreneur from El Salvador. After fifteen years of traveling to study in Europe and then representing El Salvador in trade and world fairs, she decided to settle down and stay put in her home country. Listen to how Carolina took what she learned from her networks abroad and grew the sustainability mo...

Our guest today is Carolina Baiza, eco-hotel and sustainability entrepreneur from El Salvador. When visiting her brother in Germany, she noticed that the El Salvador World Fair booth had no representative. She volunteered to run it and before she knew it, she earned scholarships in Germany and Italy to study how to run trade exhibitions for her country. For fifteen years Carolina ran her hotel in-...

Welcome back to Part 2 of our interview with Dr. Ken Martens Friesen, professor of history and international studies and coordinator of the global education program at Fresno Pacific University. Ken grew up in India and continued to go abroad throughout his life. In this episode, Ken shares about his return to the U.S. as a ten year old and feeling like people looked at him like an alien. Time hel...

Our guest today is Dr. Ken Martens Friesen, professor of history and international studies and coordinator of the global education program at Fresno Pacific University. Ken grew up in India and continues to go abroad throughout his life. Ken’s parents were missionaries from the United States, and he attended Kodaikanal International School until the age of 10 when he moved to the U.S. In this epis...

Welcome back to Part 2 of our interview with elite water polo player athlete Branko Pekovic from Serbia. After twelve years of playing in Italy, Russia, and Kazakhstan and with many medals earned, he and his wife decided it was time to retire to Serbia and to begin to coach. With their five year old daughter and eight year old son in tow, they packed up Branko’s international water polo life. Upon...

Our guest today is Branko Pekovic, an elite professional water polo athlete who grew up during difficult times in Belgrade, Yugoslavia which is now Serbia. He found a love and great success in playing water polo, so much so that he played for Serbia’s national teams and teams in Italy, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Branko shares about how water polo was his amazing job that took him to the Olympics and...

Welcome back to Part 2 of our interview with Carolyn Grant, physical therapist and transitions coach originally from South Africa. Carolyn knows deeply about transitions after moving to London for ten years and then to Texas, USA for fifteen. Along the way she developed her expertise as a physical therapist in London, but she was not able to practice after the move to Texas. This loss of identity...

Our guest today is Carolyn Grant, physical therapist, writer, and transitions coach originally from South Africa. Carolyn knows deeply about transitions after moving to London for ten years and then to Texas, USA for sixteen. Along the way she developed her expertise as a physical therapist in London, was not able to practice after the move to Texas, lost her mother while being half way across the...

Welcome back from summer (or winter) holidays! Melissa and Tracy launch their 5th season with a talk about how our time during vacations can be a way to connect to goals we made while abroad. What is important to us to continue as we return home? Is it service trips or events? Is it keeping connected to our international side? What does that even look like after many years of being back home? What...