U.S. — Ken and Suzy Trough’s many years in education confirmed for them the value of college for students. But it wasn’t until they began serving with Crossworld at Amazon Valley Academy (AVA) in Belém, Brazil, that they realized how much the college price tag hinders many missionary kids’ (MKs) futures.

It happened when the Troughs met a missionary family working in Haiti. The oldest son was accepted to several Ivy League schools with financial help, but they still couldn’t afford the total cost. So the son chose a state university where he received in-state tuition rates and academic scholarships.

“It was put on my heart to try to do something,” said Ken. Suzy added that “it’s really tough to raise the [extra] support.” That’s why the Troughs are helping launch a scholarship fund for Crossworld MKs.

One MK said, “A scholarship would greatly help my parents as they are still overseas serving with Crossworld, struggling to pay their own bills but having to worry about mine also.”

MKs often aren’t permitted by the government to work in their host country, so they have no chance to save for college. And many MKs who attend non-English-speaking schools overseas score lower on standardized tests and so don’t qualify for scholarships.

Some MKs pay for college with loans, but the debt they incur in school keeps them from things they want to do after graduation. Ken said, “I tried to recruit people to serve at AVA but I found a lot [of graduates] couldn’t because of [college] debt.”

After growing up overseas, many MKs have a heart for people and other cultures and would like to serve in ministry full-time after graduation, but the burden of college debt limits them.

“If a scholarship of $3,000 a year had been available to me, I would have had zero debt on graduation and would have been able to start missionary work three years earlier,” another MK said.

Crossworld’s MK Scholarship Fund is designed to help support these missionary families struggling to pay for college.

“It’s very positive in the missionary’s life and the student’s to see that they have some help,” Ken said. “That’s our goal and I think we honor the missionary, the MKs and our Lord.”