The Writing Team

Leadership Team

Amy Medina. Amy grew up in an MK’s paradise on the shores of Liberia but went to high school and college in California. Nine months after she married, Amy and her husband were on their way to the coast of Tanzania in East Africa. They spent 16 years teaching third-culture kids and training pastors, and they adopted 4 amazing Tanzanian kids along the way. In 2020, the Medina family relocated back to California and Amy is now serving with ReachGlobal as a pre-field coach to newly accepted missionaries. Amy believes the best conversations happen in the kitchen and is always thrilled when her dining room table is full of guests. Amy blogs at Not Home Yet, and you can find her on Facebook or Twitter @AmyEMedina. | Amy’s posts at A Life Overseas.

Contributors

Beth Barthelemy. Beth grew up in Wisconsin, and has made home all around the world, including the Middle East, Taiwan, and for the past nine years, South Africa, where she and her husband are involved in theological education and discipleship. She is mother to four daughters, lover of the outdoors, an avid reader, and a homebody at heart. Most of her time is spent writing, homeschooling, and cultivating beauty wherever she can. You can find her online at bethbarthelemy.com. | Beth’s posts at A Life Overseas.

Anita Rahma.  Anita’s high school years were spent as an American TCK in the Philippines. For the past decade, Anita and her husband and two children have lived and served in a slum in Indonesia. She enjoys learning piano, playing in the rain, and devouring good books. She is the author of Beyond Our Walls: Finding Jesus in the Slums of Jakarta and Downward Discipleship: How Amy Carmichael Gave Me Courage to Serve in a Slum. You can learn more about the organization they serve with at servantsasia.org. | Anita’s posts at A Life Overseas.

Emmy Lou Lopez. In the icy winter of 2008, Emmy and her husband Cole moved to Afghanistan, where they began learning life and language. After their first child was born, they moved to a more conservative corner of Afghanistan, where Emmy began wearing a burqa and learning yet another language. Their time in Afghanistan stretched into nearly seven years before they transitioned to the Arab Gulf, where they have been residing since 2015. Emmy spends much of her time with Afghan and Pakistani women. She loves mountain gazing, bird watching, and early morning runs. Emmy believes that openness about the darker aspects of global work deserves more attention, but is best served up with a healthy dose of humor and self-reflection. | Emmy’s posts on A Life Overseas.

Tanya Crossman. Originally from Australia, Tanya is the Director of Research and International Education at TCK Training. She went to six schools by age 18 and has lived in four countries across three continents. Tanya has worked with TCKs and globally mobile families for 20 years, interviewed 600+ TCKs, led six large scale TCK surveys, written two books (Misunderstood: The Impact of Growing Up Overseas in the 21st Century and Thongs or Flip Flops? Australian kids overseas and what comes next), and spoken to/about TCKs in 17 countries — and counting! She can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and her website. | Tanya’s posts on A Life Overseas.

Roberta Adair. Originally from Pennsylvania (USA), Roberta lived in Kosovo for three years before getting married and moving to northern Japan in 2012. She and her husband partner with a Japanese church and have four young and energetic boys. She enjoys hiking, camping, and having friends over for average and boisterous meals. | Roberta’s posts at A Life Overseas.

Jenilee Goodwin. Jenilee is a certified professional life coach, a certified autism coach, and an ordained minister with over 20 years in career ministry. Serving in stateside churches and overseas missions, Jenilee brings lived experience, problem-solving skills, curiosity, compassionate support, and creativity into the coaching space. With many in her immediate family on the autism spectrum, Jenilee has a special place in her heart for moms of kids on the spectrum and for wives going through the difficulties of spectrum marriage, especially women in full time ministry or missions where there are very few places to share the full story. For fun, Jenilee loves reading, writing, coffee, going for walks, and watching history documentaries. You can connect with Jenilee daily on Instagram @jenileerachel or through her website, jenileerachel.com. | Jenilee’s posts on A Life Overseas.

Lilly Rivera. Lilly is a happy wife and mama to three brave TCKs. Originally from Latin America, she has moved cross-culturally many times. Her family called the Middle East home for about nine years. Now they are Stateside, continuing to love and follow Jesus, serving him for the good of the work in the MENA region. In a previous life she taught at a Christian school for seven years. Now she is a writer, mental health coach, and lay counselor. Lilly is a book hoarder and reader, is most at peace outdoors – preferably near a lake or the ocean – and welcoming people into her home. What fuels her joy and feeds her hope the most is being one with Christ, and through him, knowing her Father more and more. | Lilly’s posts at A Life Overseas.

Julie Jean Francis. Julie has lived in Southeast Asia since 2012, serving among a large, unreached people group with her husband of 18 years. Together, they raise their seven Third Culture Kids. With a heart deeply attuned to the spiritual journey, Julie is passionate about spiritual formation, nurturing children, and writing about the longing for home. Her life is marked by a deep connection to the power of the Word and God’s faithfulness in the midst of hardship. Julie finds renewal in nature and worship, where her soul finds rest in the quiet moments. She is the author of Bowing Low: Rejecting the Idols Around Us to Worship the Living God and its companion Bible study, as well as books for Third Culture Kids and their families, including When We Called Myanmar Home and T is for Thailand. Through her writing and speaking, Julie seeks to offer encouragement and insight for those walking the delicate balance of life between two worlds. You can find her online here. | Julie’s posts at A Life Overseas.

Anna Danforth. Anna Danforth is a TCK Training Instructor, author, and speaker who is passionate about helping expat families build strong, connected lives across cultures. Anna’s cross-cultural journey began on her first day of kindergarten as the only non-French speaker in a class full of Quebecois kids. She moved to Cameroon at age 7 and later met her high school sweetheart, Sam, in Geometry class at Rain Forest International School. They raised their two kids on a farm in southern Africa—working in Business As Mission. Drawing on her experiences as a third culture kid, expat consultant, teacher, and missionary, Anna wrote Raising a Family Overseas and offers training on expat family health and effective ministry. You can find her at AnnaDanforth.com, Instagram, Facebook, or by email at raisingafamilyoverseas@gmail.com. | Anna’s posts at A Life Overseas.

Krista Horn. Krista has roots in the Midwest but moved to Kenya in 2016 with her doctor husband and three boys ages 3 and under. After exchanging life in the far north for life on the equator, they have lived and served at a mission hospital ever since. While her husband stays busy teaching and training on the wards, Krista stays busy with all the details of motherhood on the mission field. When she’s not homeschooling, cooking from scratch, or helping her boys look for chameleons, she loves to curl up with a book and eat chocolate from her secret stash. She is known for packing chocolate chips before anything else goes into the suitcase. Krista blogs at Stories in Mission. | Krista’s posts at A Life Overseas. 

Michèle Phoenix. Born in France to a Canadian father and an American mother, Michèle is a consultant, writer, and speaker motivated by a deep passion for Third Culture Kids. After teaching for twenty years at Black Forest Academy (Germany), she launched her own ministry—equipping MKs and TCKs for flourishing, while offering those who care for them the information they need to love them well. Her articles, novels, and podcast are available on her website. Michèle travels globally to consult and teach, drawing from her thirty-plus years of experience in TCK spaces. She loves good conversations, mischievous students, French pastries, and paths to healing. Her latest book, Pieces of Purple, won Christianity Today’s Book Aware in 2025. It is a collection of all she’s ever learned about the MK/TCK experience. | Michèle’s posts at A Life Overseas.

Corella Roberts. Corella Roberts makes her home in Northern Thailand where she and her husband partner with an international school to “Serve the Servants.” Their first missionary teaching assignment landed them in the remote bush of Alaska, which you can read about in her book, Colliding with the Call. From tundra to tropics, her life of following Jesus has pushed her to the edge of the spiritual wilderness time and again, and she uses her experiences to encourage others to connect deeply with God, such as in her most recent book, Catch the Rain. Find free devotionals at corellaroberts.com. | Corella’s posts at A Life Overseas.

Karli Von Herbulis. Karli is a writer and spiritual director who has called Kigali, Rwanda, home for nearly a decade. She is married to her college sweetheart, Matthew, and together they are raising two wonderful children. Karli serves as both Regional Director for Africa and Director of Wellness at New International, where she equips and cares for global workers through resources, retreats, and soul care initiatives. She also hosts two podacasts — The Well and Third Culture Thriving — offering encouragement, practical tools, and soul care spaces for people navigating life and ministry across cultures. When she’s not traveling, you’ll often find Karli at TaeKwonDo training, shaping mugs at the pottery wheel, or tucked into a good book on her porch in Kigali. | Karli’s posts at A Life Overseas.

Abigail Follows. Abigail has lived on three continents and understood the life stories of friends in three languages. She is the author of Hidden Song of the Himalayas, Beyond a Thousand Shadows, and The Barefoot Mile: Walking with Jesus in Weakness and Wonder. To learn more about her books and original music, and to get a free copy of The Barefoot Mile, visit www.abigailfollows.com. | Abigail’s posts at A Life Overseas.

Anisha Hopkinson. Anisha is a fulltime homeschooling mom who has spent many years living overseas — raising kids, building friendships with neighbors, and learning to love the beauty and complexity of everyday life in another culture. A previous contributor to A Life Overseas, she’s delighted to return and share reflections on life in fulltime missions — and on what it means to keep following Jesus into the unknown. | Anisha’s posts at A Life Overseas.

Janessa Cypher. Originally from Canada, Janessa is a mum of three who serves alongside her American husband with Cultivate Discipleship Ministries in Northern Uganda. She has a passion to write of the beauty found in brokenness and loves to create using whatever materials she can find. She is often found sipping an iced coffee while homeschooling, creating art with her kiddos, or enjoying the nature surrounding their home in the African bush. You can find Janessa online at Wilderness Writing. Janessa’s posts at A Life Overseas.