MK forum

Oh........yeah!

I had only heard of Short Bread before this........

Interesting. We had mostly phenomenal teachers, and because of the diversity of the nationalities of the students, a high priority was placed on making sure the students were capable of keeping up with their home countries. For us US kids, the fact that our classes in PNG had to keep up with the Aussies, the Brits, and the South Koreans meant that when we returned to the US we were worlds above our classes there.

A couple of questions:
Were you all predominately American and Aussie kids?
How many grades was Numonohi? K-12?
What was the primary goal of the missionaries of ntm? (Wycliffe's was bible translation)
How often did you go back to your parents' passport country?
How large were the grades?

Love the poetry, Bemused, well said.

I checked around, and it sounds like to this day Numonohi and Ukarumpa still visit each other for tournaments, sports, but not much beyond that.

One thing that both Ukarumpa and Numonohi share is the attitude that the ends justify the means. Anything gets sacrificed for what they believe is the best thing. There are a lot of things that we weren't supposed to talk about even at Ukarumpa while we were there, incidents that happened to the students, at least one suicide attempt that I know of... kids causing their families to get kicked off base and back to their passport countries for things that here in the USS would be considered by most sane people to be minor infractions.

It taught us kids to be fiercely loyal an devoted to each other, often very much an 'us against them' mentality. Unfortunately, that was a small group of us kids. There are many who had drank the koolaide and sailed straight through with little trouble, and still believe in the complete value of Ukarumpa and have blind faith in their work there. Either they are unaware of some of the difficulties that there were those who were having trouble, or simply believed they deserved it. I don't know.

Bother now you tell me, my parents joined the wrong mission

I think you are spot on with the "ends justifying the means". When you believe you are 100% right and every one else is less than that, it tends to give rise to a belief that your way is the only way and therefore deserves more entitlements.

Likewise many MKs found the experience good, some even excellent. A reasonable percentage returned to NTM as adults. Many disappeared off the radar screen, with or without faith intact. And some of us are here (mostly with faith intact except for the one notable exception, the Sympathetic Agnostic from Downunder) fighting for justice and healing.

I'll have an attempt at the questions, but my recollections are based on over 30 years ago and Numonohi is now a considerably bigger operation.

1) Predominantly from the U.S. and Canada, a small number from Australia, NZ and Britain. There were some Baptist MKs from the closest town in attendance.
2) Yes K - Year 12
3) Raz help me out on this one, I'm still trying to figure it out.
4) Technically every 5 years (this may have changed with improved air services). But it was rather a fluid arrangement. My parents had a term over 6 years first up, as Dad found himself to be irreplaceable.
5) My info is old, but about 15 - 20 in the lower grade, and probably less than half that by grade 12.

I remember one visit from Ukarumpa early on in my sojourn as an MK, but then the Berlin wall went up and Glasnost came after I departed.

Many thanks for the interesting conversation, your input has been much appreciated, sort of like a mirror being held up by someone who was in close proximity, but not to close so as to be caught up in the drama.

Interesting conversation, my brother lives in Iowa, mostly retired but drives the short bus. Full stop.

"Drank the koolaide"? I'm smiling again, Ghanima, imagining Bemused scratching his head Downunder.

For this one, I will copy an explanation from the Urban Dictionary. This usage of this phrase very much reflects what many who have escaped NTM now feel about their days in it, and about those who still remain:

"A reference to the 1978 cult mass-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. Jim Jones, the leader of the group, convinced his followers to move to Jonestown. Late in the year he then ordered his flock to commit suicide by drinking grape-flavored Kool-Aid laced with potassium cyanide. In what is now commonly called "the Jonestown Massacre", 913 of the 1100 Jonestown residents drank the Kool-Aid and died.

One lasting legacy of the Jonestown tragedy is the saying, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.” This has come to mean, "Don’t trust any group you find to be a little on the kooky side." or "Whatever they tell you, don't believe it too strongly".

The phrase can also be used in the opposite sense to indicate that one has embraced a particular philosophy or perspective."

Oh, I see Bemused has passed the ball to me. (But we're not returning to the soccer/football match analogy are we? You know I'm not good at that game! )

Regarding your question, Ghanima, about what the goal of NTM is:

Wycliffe and NTM have the same targets for their ministries -- unreached people groups around the world. It is no longer politically correct to call these groups "tribes", but back in the 1940s when both organizations were founded, that was what English speakers called them.


New Tribes Mission goes to the same type of people groups, but in addition to analyzing the language, putting it into writing, teaching people to read, and translating and printing the Bible (all using many of the same methods used by WBT), they also plant churches in these remote locations. They would tell you church planting is their primary ministry, and producing the Bible in these various languages is just part of the total picture for them.

This is all well and good, but what has evolved over the years is not always well and good. Over time, NTM came to feel that their emphasis, their beliefs and their church planting strategy were the only valid ones. This has led to insulation, isolation, and a sense of superiority over -- and exclusion of -- others who were also seeking to enlighten people who are unreached with the Good News.

This single-minded and over-confident perspective also contributed to the subject we seek to expose here on this website. In order to become a part of the communities where they were working, NTM missionaries moved their entire families into very remote locations, and threw their energy into learning the language, doing medical work, translating and teaching. During a period of time in the past, it was considered disloyal for a missionary couple to make the needs of their own children a priority. Homeschooling was highly discouraged. In some countries it was practically forbidden. This is no longer the case, thank God, and I would like to think that we here at Fanda Eagles may have played a small part in reminding missionary couples that their children are their first responsibility and ministry. MKs are not possessions, they are people. The way they were treated in the past is a terrible disgrace, and many to this day suffer the effects of rejection and abandonment -- even those who were not physically and/or sexually abused.

I hope this helps define for you the similarities and differences between the two mission groups, Ghanima. Another big difference comes to mind: education. Wycliffe requires candidates to have a college or university degree prior to serving with their organization. NTM actually discourages that, as it feels strongly about educating its own candidates. Few NTMers I know had more than a high school education. Then they were trained BY NTM, in the mission's extensive 2-4 year training program.

Please pass the kool-aid.

Discouraging people to reach their full God-given potential is indeed--
Well, does not bring glory to God.
LIfe-long continuing education, OUTSIDE of NTM
Would be very refreshing, also.
Few have time for that and
Maybe it is still discouraged.

We stood up for NO Kool-Aid (the real stuff) one time
And won.
But they tried, half-heartedly, to make us look like fanatics.

We pass on the Kool-Aid.
Oops! Refuse it. NOT pass it on to others.

It pays to re-read your posts......