I was the original MK misfit.
I remember arriving in PNG and the first 3 months being the last term of the school year. It was o.k., totally different from what I was used to but no real problems. Then there was graduation and a big shift in population as many families went on furlough and others returned.
Then the bullying started and it went on for the next five years. It was a life of being excluded from many activities, regularly being stolen from, beaten up by male MKs, isolated and constantly being verbally abused. My parents were so alarmed about the effects this was having that the called a meeting with the principal, who stated "In U.S. society there is always an oddball, he is it here, he'd better get used to it". And he lead the bullying.
In the end I left the school and did correspondence, I refused to attend bible class taught by the principal and pretty much grew up alone. Eventually I left one day, I doubt any other MK cared or noticed I'd gone. I was just the MK who wasn't good enough because he wasn't an American and didn't kiss the ass of the Principal as was required.
I saw my family bullied and discriminated against and my mother suffer a mental breakdown. They were given the jobs that no one else wanted and in the end they were kicked out and all they had stolen (house and possessions).
What I'd learnt was that if this was christianity, then count me out. I was disgusted and hurt by what happened and I was appalled at how many missionaries mistreated the very people they claimed they were serving. New Tribes Mission for me was just a bad joke and a religious fraud.
I got home and tried to be a good member of society and a loyal son. But I couldn't buy into the fervent religious activities of my father and he started the bullying routine himself. I tried to make sense of my childhood and my family situation, but it didn't add up, so I withdrew from both and made my own life, complete with baggage and hangups.
Then about four years ago I learnt about the worldwide scandal of child abuse and coverup. The physcial violence I was familiar with, the mental manipulation I'd experienced and I knew NTM was corrupt having experienced their attempt at blackmail in 1997, but the extent to the sexual abuse was staggering. There had been rumours when I was in PNG and one dorm parent was well known for his perverted ways, but that so many others had been involved was staggering.
And so began a fascinating journey. A journey away from being the victim and also finding out who my father really was and what he was capable of doing. A journey that physically took me out of the city I lived and away from my immediate family, culminating in a visit to my extended family in the U.K. and finding a family I fitted in with.
So now it is 2016, I will no doubt always be the "Original MK misfit", but it doesn't matter any more, as NTM is not an organisation I wish to be identified as being a part of. I have found peace within and the bullies of the past can take their chances with whatever karma life serves them or awaits them in whatever after life exists.
I am still a misfit to a certain degree in society, but now no one cares because in this little slice of paradise I call home, so are most other people. I've found a home where it is o.k. to be a little different, where I'm not judged by how I look, the accent I speak with or my lack of religious fervour. My father has run his race and I have a new family to be a part of.
So I was a misfit and it was very painful being reminded of it day after day. Now I live a fulfilling life away from the pain of the past, surrounded by others who march to a non conventional drum and life is very good.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
