Staff Spotlight – Cheryl Gibson

What do you do at SIM UK?

I’m the Families Advisor for SIM UK, which is part of the People Care team. My role involves resourcing and supporting parents in educational issues and offering pastoral care as they serve overseas. I also connect with TCKs (Third Culture Kids) to help them navigate the joys and challenges of growing up between different cultures.

What does your job look like day-to-day? 

No day is the same, and it varies, depending on the time of the year. During the summer months, many families return on Home Assignment and so I’m much busier doing debriefs with the children and checking in on families, with time to chat through any concerns they might have and to try and support them in whatever way they need. There’s a lot of preparation involved as I create bespoke material for each family’s needs in order to support them in the best way possible.

Throughout the rest of the year, my time is spent checking in on families via email, or Zoom, and answering questions they might have about education, or anything else they need help with. I’ll also send them any resources that might be helpful.

Tell us more about your time overseas and how it impacted your current job?

Before joining the team as the Families Advisor, I served with SIM overseas with my family. After a short-term trip overseas, it was clear God was leading us to serve him long term. We felt that SIM was an organisation we could get on board with and felt like a family where we’d be supported well.

When we came back from serving overseas, it never felt right to cut ties with our SIM ‘family’ that we’d been a part of since 1994! The transition back to the UK wasn’t an easy one for us, and because it was a rocky re-entry for my own children, I ended up doing a lot of reading and research into what it meant for them to have left the country they grew up in and return to their ‘passport country’, alongside considering the impact all on TCKs and this sense of longing and identity.  As I did this, I became passionate about sharing what I’d learnt and wanted to ensure other families also had this understanding and information.

How have you seen God working through your job?

I’m sure there are times when we all wonder whether what we do makes a difference to those we’re serving or working with, and I’ve definitely wondered that sometimes!  So, it’s really encouraging when families have been in touch with comments such as, ‘We didn’t know we needed you until we spent time with you. And because of you, we’re able to remain where we are.‘ That’s a huge encouragement and spurs me on in my role.

Having the opportunity to meet with TCKs and to see God working in their own life and in their family’s lives is really encouraging to see.

How can we pray for you?

  • For the families that that serve with SIM: that I’m able to serve them well. For wisdom in knowing how to interact well with them, and for me to support them in the best way I can.
  • For our TCKs as they live a life that’s incredibly different from their peers in this country. For God to work in them, and for opportunities for them to go on and to serve him later in their own lives. 

This was posted on 25 October 2024 in Ministry stories.

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