I have been to Papua New Guinea [PNG] twice before. My mother is from an island off the coast of PNG called New Ireland. It is a tropical paradise with amazing coral reefs and beautiful rainforests. My mother grew up in a village and met my father while he was studying malaria in the 1980s. They traveled for his work to South Africa and eventually settled in the UK where my siblings and I were born. But I have uncles, aunts and cousins in New Ireland.
As a mixed Papua New Guinean, I wanted to discover the other half of myself by participating in work that gives back to these people. I couldn’t really experience what their lives are like if I came as a tourist or through another corporate organization.
My job as Corporate Services Manager for Mission Aviation Fellowship [MAF] in the Goroka Eastern Highlands province allows me to connect with the ancient PNG way of life. We reach out to isolated communities by providing solar panels, radio communications and evangelism. I have a genuine passion for people who are cut off or marginalized and humanitarian work is where I believe my strengths lie.
My day job consists of administrative duties such as human resources, personnel management and contribution to the strategic development of the organization in the field of personnel. I previously worked as Compensation Manager for Network Rail in the UK, which was a finance/analytical role.
My personal mission is for all human beings, regardless of gender, but it is more acceptable in PNG to contact women as a woman. They are the backbone of PNG society and very strong. There is an unspoken bond and sisterhood between all the women here. We instantly become sisters – it’s just the culture, regardless of background or race. I have a lot to learn from them. They have gone through many hardships, but they have retained their mental and emotional strength.
It can be said that women in some regions here do not have a voice, and I believe that Christ’s mission is to protect the helpless. If I can do that, then I believe it is a good job.
For now I’m still moving around and learning about the culture, while taking advantage of every opportunity that comes my way. MAF Technologies has a “mummy waiting hut” project that seeks to help women who give birth to babies in the bush. They can go to these huts in remote locations, which are equipped with solar panels and electricity, and a local doctor or midwife can assist them in giving birth. Often, women who give birth in the bush face blood loss or complications with the baby. We hope that this project will reduce the number of maternal and child deaths during childbirth.
All cultures have something to learn from each other. Friction in cross-cultural relationships is important and allows people to learn and grow. Having said that, Western missionaries should not believe that they are the saviors of the culture they are going to. White people are often seen as saviors or held in high regard by the citizens of a country, sometimes to their detriment.
As missionaries, we want to immediately teach people what they should or shouldn’t do without taking the utmost care not to destroy their history. We must operate within a set of clear boundaries and guidelines and only where we are wanted and accepted. We should never impose values that are not welcome or accepted in a culture, and we should always be careful not to undermine an ancient culture or practice, which happens in many countries.
Misogyny, for example, is presented differently in the West and in PNG. In PNG, it often takes the form of violence against women, which is a real and dire threat — but we cannot, for example, tell PNGeans to stop offering or paying a bride price. This would be detrimental to their identity, history and culture. However, we can try to educate men and women in the biblical principles of loving your neighbor or loving your spouse as much as yourself. You would never harm your own physical body; so how could you do this to your wife?
I spent two years in Lesotho where my father was a biology teacher. We then moved back to the UK and I grew up surrounded by the beautiful countryside and beaches of North Wales. My father took us to places like Israel and Europe and I was exposed to a cross-cultural approach from an early age. He instilled in me the western values and my mother instilled in me the spiritual side of life which definitely comes from the PNG culture. She told me stories passed down through generations of giants and distant travelers who settled along their shores, of spirits and strange creatures.
My parents divorced in the 90s, and at that time North Wales was undeniably racist. My brother and I received a lot of racial abuse from other students, but if I hadn’t gone through hard times, I might not have developed the resilience to be a missionary. I tend to accept and welcome challenges and get bored if I’m not being challenged or growing mentally in some capacity. I have an insatiable thirst for adventure. If there is a mountain, river or seashore, I want to explore them as soon as possible!
My mother told me about God but there was a particular time when she went back to PNG for six months to visit relatives when I was five or six. I remember going to bed one night and it was hard because I was used to sleeping in the same bed with her and I was just spontaneously singing songs to God. I sang about how amazing God is. It was a made up song and I don’t know where the words came from, but looking back I see that God was looking at me at that moment.
I believe in acknowledging failure, doubt, fear, pain, sadness, anger, resentment — and all good emotions, too — and then giving those emotions to God, confessing them, and being completely honest without trying to be perfect. I allow myself to be angry, and then I say, “God, I’m so angry right now: this person did this, and I just don’t want to deal with him anymore.” Then I notice something change inside. God is either changing my attitude or meditation itself is giving me time to find peace. God is the constant help that never tires in every situation we face.
I love playing my guitar, writing songs. I love to walk and explore. I’ve recently started to really enjoy a good book. Traveling to new countries is big.
I often struggle to create a realistic plan for my life, because I see so many possibilities: to learn to sail, maybe to learn to fly. I want to learn at least two or three more languages. I want to visit countries that are considered dangerous but have so much history and culture: places like Iraq, Iran and Pakistan.
I get angry when people don’t keep their promises, or bullies or harasses others.
I am happiest in nature with good company. I also know that my family members and loved ones are well and have a relationship with Jesus.
I think about all the plans I would like to make in the future. None of them will mean anything unless God walks with me and keeps me. I trust that God will open and close doors and answer my prayer needs and concerns.
Most often I pray for my unsaved loved ones, especially my father and my younger sister.
If I were shut up in a church, I would like to be with Moses, so I can ask him about the parting of the Red Sea: whether it is really true and what it was, and about all the other miracles that God has done. Not that I doubt it happened; it’s just so incomprehensible these days. And to ask about when he was on the mountain and God passed on a cloud—I would like to ask him what that was.
Natasha Tordoff spoke with Terence Handley McMath.
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