Caleb Hartwig

Meet Caleb.

Age: 14
Grade completed: 8th

His mom: Same as Zach's (Home Ec Teacher)

His dad: Same as Zach's (project manager for hydro)

They have been here in Papua New Guinea for: 2 years (previously in Ecuador) 

Most challenging thing about being an MK:

The responsibility of being an MK – people think so much of an MK that it can be harder to live up to. 

The best:

I’m not sure—I haven’t ever not been an MK, so I don’t know what is different

Favorite thing about the MK highschool:

Teachers (gold stars for Caleb)

That we can work ahead on our schedules, and we don’t need to wait for other students

Learning style:

People showing it to me

Favorite subject:

The ones that are finished

Least favorite subject:

English.

Because it’s English, It’s grammar. I don’t like English.

Want to study:

Probably… some kind of engineering. Probably an electrical engineer. 

Favorite things:

Short walks on the beach

Fire

Swimming

Air, air is nice. Oxygen.

Long airplane rides.

Favorite hobbies:

Computer games.

Movies. Board games, models, burning things. Throwing knives. 

Voted most likely to: 
Lick a spark plug

Sniff a stink bug

Become a gladiator

Grow a mustache

Build a robot named Herman

Best quote from the year:

Aunt Rachel:  Does anyone else have an example of a struggle with pride in their life?

Caleb: I used to have pride, before I came here, but Jo and Ethan have crushed it!

My favorite thing about Caleb
His deadpan sense of humor... either that, or he honestly doesn't know he's being funny.

Either way, it's humorous.

Ethan Myers

Meet Ethan.

Age: 16
Grade completed: 10th
His mom: Pediatrician working in the hospital

His dad: works with local church development

They have been here in Papua New Guinea for: 13 years

Most challenging thing about being an MK:

Separation from family in the states, and siblings that go to college in the states

The best:

"Family" of Kudjip station, close friends here

Favorite thing about the MK highschool:

It’s very relaxed and informal ( I don’t have to ask to go to the bathroom, and that is nice.)

Learning style:

Short sprints with long breaks

Favorite subject:

Math or biology

Biology because it is interesting

Math because it doesn’t take too much memorization and general learning, and I get to listen to music while I do it. It is mindless work.

Least favorite subject:

Literature

It’s subjective,  completely open to opinion, and positively boring. 

Interested in doing:

I have interest in military, but I’m not sure. 

Possibly flying helicopters. 

Favorite things:

Hanging out with small groups of close friends

Watching movies with friends

Talking

Computer games

weapons

Favorite hobbies:

Guitar and running

Voted most likely to: 
Become a bald hermit with a shotgun

Shave a chipmunk

Only ever use one chair in the course of his life

Interpret everything the teacher says as an insult that will scar him for life

Quotes from the year:
"I hate the pictures in my history book of people who already have facial hair, because that leaves nothing for me to do!"

"I can't help it, I have deep-set eyes. Which is actually better because they are more protected this way."

"It’s like sucking jello through a small straw…possible, but difficult."

My favorite thing about Ethan:
His refusal to be anything but his own crazy self. 

Zach Hartwig

Meet Zach.

Age: 17
Grade completed: 11th

His mom: teaches Home Ec. 

His dad: In charge of project management for the new hydro

They have been here in Papua New Guinea for: 2 years (they lived in Quito, Ecuador before PNG)

Most challenging thing about being an MK:

Going on furlough – because it is hard.  

The best:

It is normal life, just in a different location. 

Favorite thing about the MK highschool:

Flexibility – that it can be loud, and that is really fun; and it is a social learning experience, but individual too. 

Learning style:

discussion

Favorite subject:

Study Hall, because you can talk

Least favorite subject:

Literature,

Because it is subjective to the teacher’s point of view, it is not actual facts, and it is frustrating because they are basically forcing you to learn the teacher’s point of view and I think differently than most people. 

Favorite things:

Talking

Friends

Color

Bare feet

Life!

Favorite hobby:

Socialness. 

Voted most likely to: 
Look good in leggings

Marry a foreign dancer

Live in a tree when he's 50

Talk himself out of a speeding ticket

Answer questions in interpretive dance

Best quote from the year:

(giving his current event on a man who died of carbon monoxide poisoning): "People die every day…but it’s NOT every day that people die from a gas I know how to draw the Lewis diagram of!!"

"I like my attached earlobes…I think they are more sanitary."

My favorite thing about Zach:
His cheerful love of people.

Lydia Radcliffe

Meet Lydia.

Age: 15
Grade completed: 9th

Her mom: Same as Jo's mom (mother and babysitter)

Her dad: Same as Jo's dad (surgeon)

They have been here in Papua New Guinea for: 29 years

Most challenging thing about being an MK:

Being away from family

The best:

The people you get to know and the family that you develop in whatever country you do your growing up in.

Favorite thing about the MK highschool:

The relationships developed as you do your school, between the students and the teachers.

Learning style:

Sometimes reading, I think I can retain knowledge pretty well from reading. And also when people explain things. I’m not sure if I have one style that works the best.

Favorite subject:

Biology

Because it is easy to see the knowledge that you learn in biology applied to the world around you – you get to understand how life works. 

Least favorite subject:

Grammar

Because it’s kind of just a whole lot of rules that you learn over and over again.

Favorite things:

Climbing trees

Mountains

Puppies

Sunshine

Teen bible quizzing

Favorite hobbies:

Playing guitar, playing sports. 

Voted most likely to: 
Spend all summer finishing her math lessons

Marry a horse breeder from Wyoming

Memorize the entire Bible

Own 22 pets

Best quote from the year:
"You are treading on DEEP WATER."

My favorite thing about Lydia:
Her dedication to excellence.

And her neat handwriting. 

Josiah Radcliffe

Meet Jo.

Age: 17
Grade completed: 12th

His mom: is an amazing missionary mom, and another of Theron's favorite babysitters. 

His dad: is a surgeon working at the hospital

They have been here in Papua New Guinea for: 29 years

Most challenging thing about being an MK:

Relating to people who are not MKs.

The best:

That you get a little bit of both worlds, your home country and a culture that is completely different than your native land. 

Favorite thing about the MK highschool:

It is laid back

Learning style:

I like reading and listening.

Favorite subject:

Math

Because it makes sense. 

Least favorite subject:

English Lit.

It is all poetry, and I hate poetry because it is hard to understand. 

Favorite things:

Guitars

Driving things

Any sport

Play computer games

Watch movies with friends

Being weird

Favorite hobbies:

Playing the guitar, playing basketball

Want to study:

Engineering and aviation – mission aviation, or some kind of engineering profession

Voted most likely to: 
Regularly play Switchfoot on guitar while flying an airplane and dribbling a basketball. 

Become a valiant pungent reindeer king. 

Become famous

Best quote from the year:

Zach: Is it okay not to love math?

Aunt Rachel: No, you must love it.

Zach: Even if it’s fake love?

Aunt Rachel: Yes, that’s fine.

Caleb: Is it okay to fear math?

Jo: Yes…just like if you were married to a Viking woman, you could love her but also be afraid of her!

My favorite thing about Jo:
His ability to lead while making his followers laugh. 

Allison Dooley

Meet Allie.

Age: 16
Grade completed: 10th

Her mom: surgical nurse that works in the hospital, helps out at both the MK elementary and highschool, and is one of Theron's favorite babysitters.

Her dad: Hospital Administrator here at Kudjip.

They have been here in Papua New Guinea for: almost 11 years.

Most challenging thing about being an MK:

Answering difficult questions about being a missionary kid!

The best:

All the different opportunities that we get, and seeing different sides of the world.

Favorite thing about the MK highschool:

The flexibility of schedules, I can change around my classes to work best. 

Learning style:

I like reading it first and then ask someone to explain it to me.

Favorite subject:

Chemistry.

There is so much new exciting stuff that I haven’t learned about a billion times like every other subject!

Least favorite subject:

Literature

It is difficult to know what the book wants you to answer, it feels like there are a whole lot of different answers and I’m not sure which is right.

Favorite things:

Water, especially for swimming--- no actually I just like water in general. When it rains, and swimming, and to drink….

Books and reading

Favorite hobby:

I like hanging out with friends and reading. 

Voted most likely to: 
Live in the Library of Congress
Cover every surface of her house with tiny doodles
Lose her hairbrush 

Best quote from the year:
"Uhm... nobody lick the table for a while."

My favorite thing about Allie:
Her peaceful creativity.

The Earth is Round and Therefore Has no "Ends" or "Corners"

I beg to differ.
The earth totally has ends and corners, no matter how "round" it supposedly is.

No, I am not a member of the Flat Earth Society, nor do I believe in the physical flatness of the planet Earth.

However,

I'd like to introduce you to Kudjip Nazarene Mission Station. This little plot of land up in the highlands of Papua New Guinea is pretty much sitting out here on a spit of land at the end of the earth.

Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse nations on earth, with over 800 languages and about as many "traditional societies" or tribes. (Ethnologue)

Only about 18% of these people live in urban areas, making for a vast island of rugged mountains and traditional villages. (Urbanization)

Papua New Guinea has only about 5 doctors per 100,000 people, compared to the world average of 139 per 100,000 (Statistics)

Here at Kudjip, quite a number of those few-and-far-between doctors make their home, serving at the ministry that is Kudjip Nazarene Hospital. 

Kudjip hospital in 2013:

-saw 52,541 outpatients

-admitted 5,542 patients 

-delivered 1,575 babies

-did 577 major surgeries

-did 839 minor surgeries (hospital website)

Kudjip Mission Station is also home to several other ministries, as well as being the headquarters for the Church of the Nazarene in the South Pacific and Melanesia (7 different countries).

Just like any ministry (or any organization, for that matter), Kudjip would not run without people in the less-obvious supporting roles.
 Doctors need electricity,
bathrooms,
cars that run,
schooling for their children,
and chocolate, just like anyone else.
You might think that chocolate is not as necessary as the other things listed, and you are entitled to hold that opinion, but you would of course be wrong.

My husband and I are here at Kudjip to play some of these supporting roles.
Morgan, working with Field Maintenance, makes sure that
the doctors' houses do not fall apart
their toilets flush into a sewer system rather than the yard or house
their cars get them where they need to go and not only halfway there.

I, as one of the two highschool teachers, make sure that
their children learn how to spell
and add
and diagram a sentence'
and write chemical equations
and calculate the derivation of the formula of a hyperbole.

Just kidding, the other highschool teacher does the last one.
She has a degree in math.
I take care of the English papers.
We have a good arrangement.

I'd like to, in the next few posts, introduce you to the students I teach and the families that are able to minister here because the highschool exists, and are able to drive to town in their cars to do grocery shopping because Morgan is here.
They are pretty cool people.
I think you'll agree.

*pictures taken by various missionaries here at Kudjip