Missionary Kid Monday: Thank You Bob Barker!

{For more info on this series, click here}


"JAN KENT... COME ON DOWN!!!!"
It may as well have been God's voice booming through the microphone, calling my family to be missionaries in France.

Like any Missionary Kid (MK) story, it all begins with my parents. They were happily living in southern California: my dad teaching high school chemistry, my mom at home with me and my sister.

My mom had this crazy wish to be a contestant on The Price is Right. When she showed up to the set, she noticed that an employee was holding brief interviews at the doorway before everyone took their seat.

"What do you do for a living?" he asked when it was her turn.

"I volunteer!"

"You volunteer doing what?"

"I volunteer to clean and cook for my husband and children!" my mom answered enthusiastically.

She must have made an impression because it wasn't too long before she was called down. We have this episode on videotape, and although I've watched it a few times, I can never remember what game she played. I just remember how she looked coming down to the front - smiling ear to ear, giddy, enthusiastic, and a borderline nutcase!

She ended up winning a Jacuzzi and some other small prizes. My parents sold her winnings and decided to take a second honeymoon to France.

When they were there, they visited a lot of beautiful and EMPTY churches. At one such church, an English-speaking pastor struck up a conversation with my dad. Upon learning that my dad was going to seminary, he asked him if he would move to France to pastor a church.

My dad's reaction, understandably, was "Ummm, no. I'm a chemistry teacher. I don't speak French. I'm just going to seminary for my own spiritual growth."

But, long after their return to California, my parents were haunted by the empty churches. They spent months praying about what to do. Two years later, after much prayer and financial support raising (and the addition of my little brother!), they moved our little family to France.

{Stay tuned for more next Monday!}