NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

     There are many unique things about the Mission Center where we live!  First of all, there are around 250 people (70 family units) living here.  Imagine now that many of them have come at different times throughout the year and may go on furlough in 2 to 4 years depending on their circumstances.  There is a lot of turnover of personnell.  This center is the main location for all NTM operations in PNG.  There are many different ministries the missoinaries are involved in like: supply buyers, teachers, dorm parents, maintenance workers, lanaguage teachers, field leadership, administration, finances, store, shipping, medical, tech department, aviation, and more!  Not only that but many of these people are not just from the U.S. but from places like Germany, Ireland, Australia, Canada, and more.  There are also many nationals that live within a large radius of our location that work here as work merri’s, store clerks, maintenance, security, lawn-care, finances, mail room, and more.  This is a diverse culture, a whole new world and community right outside our front door to build relationships with.  While many people will come and go our unity is found in our purpose to help the gospel brought to the unreached.

     How do we go shopping?  There is a store (Open only Monday & Thursday) here on the center where we can buy many things that are difficult to find in PNG.

PMV (Public Motor Vehicle)

These items are imported and are rather expensive like cereal ($8-10 per box) (olive oil $20).  Things we would buy here (baking supplies, toiletries, laundry supplies, packaged items).  However, a can of Coke is only 80 cents and I have found Mountain Dew in town for 78 cents.  There is a small market held just outside the gate.   Many of the locals bring their fresh fruit & produce to sell to us on Mondays & Thursdays.  This food is quite in-expensive but slightly more than you would pay at the large Market in Goroka. 

     A trip to Goroka is exciting!  We can rent a vehicle from here to take in (I know have my license) or we can ride a (PMV-Public Motor Vehicle).  Granted this is one of the top ten most dangerous roads in the world.  Many people walk along the road and drivers zoom by and around.  In town there are 3 decent grocery stores with similar prices and selection compared to our store.  There is a hardware and appliance store.  There is a large open market as well as people selling things on every street.  It is always very busy and crowded in Goroka.  The open market is huge (nationals ride in to town to sell the things they’ve grown in their gardens) and prices are cheap for examples: medium tomatoes 25 cents, medium pinapples 1 dollar, huge bunch of bananas 75 cents.  In general all the fruit is delicous and full of flavor compared to the same found in the states.

Goroka Market

     Their are many settlements (ghettos) of different language groups throughout town which make it a highly aggressive area.  There are certain things you have to be watchful and careful about like where you walk, park, how you carry possessions, and never leaving things unattended.  It is highly recommended that you go with someone else and that women never go to town by themselves.  As we learn the language and have been to Goroka 3 times it is becoming more comfortable.  Even though there are “rascals” around, the people in general are very friendly and kind especially to “white-skins”.  They would give you their best seat, give your kids free food to try, smile at you, etc! 

I hope this gives you a good picture of our “New World”

Last Airplane Ride

As we climbed off the plane in Port Moresby we realized we were missing one carry-on.  The flight attendant helped us find it but by that time instead of being in the front we were now last in a long line to go through custums with only 1 1/2 Hours till our next flight.  Amazingly, a man came up to us and led us past everyone else to the front and quickly checked our passports and passed us through.  Next we had to get all of our luggage and pile it on two carts and head to the next line.  Again, a man moved us around the line and helped us pass everything through the scan maqchine and then onlyt peeked at a couple of our food items and passed us through.  No fees, no questions, no digging.  We were told later!  Wow, how did you make it through with jerkey and peperoni packages (that doesn’t usually happen.

After leaving the security area we were met by the New Tribes government rep who helped us check in our many bags again for the domestic flight.  Amazingly we only had to pay about $100 in overwieght charges (In Chicago a kind lady helped us shuffle our wiegth and passed many of our luggage at 5lbs. over with no extra charge (could charge $200 per bag)  As we hurried out of the international terminal onto the street three things overwhelmed us.  The heat and humidity after leaving Michigan winter behind, the beauty of the landscape like Hawaii, and the crowd of very different looking people all around us.  Finally we were able to get into the Domestic Terminal where we had to go through security again and we actually had a few minutes to sit down and buy some water which a kind Swiss Missionary helped us do. 

The final leg of the journey was beutiful as we flew accross jungle, swamps, and winding rivers.  After being in the clowds we finally descended into Goroka surrouned by lush green mountains and valleys.  The airplane landed and we stepped of onto the pavement.  We walked towards what looked like a aluminum sided barn (the airport) and then stood by a table outside where they set everyones luggage.  On the other side of the fence were many people staring but amongst them were some frineds we had already met in the states.  What a comfort!  They helped us load along with a national and we climbed into a very different type o van.  our kids were concerned about no car seats:)  Not only that but we drove on the wrong side (according to our culture) of the road and constantly had to swerve around local people.

A view from the Highlands Region supply center

Finally arriving at the supply center for the Highlands Region (5,000ft.) we were introduced to our new home.  You can see the mountains (about 2 miles away) rise up to 9,000ft.  Geckos are on the screen windows catching bugs, flowers are in bloom, and the temperature is hot but not humid.  We were feeling exhausted but had to push through the afternoon and try to go to bed close to the new time.  It took about 4 days for us to get on the new schedule and now it feels normal.

“Our God is a ever-present help in times of trouble”