The July school holidays saw the opportunity for three King's High School students, Zach Schwenke, Jack Caldwell, and Blake Carter, to travel to Papua New Guinea (PNG) on a Mission trip with Dunedin City Baptist Church Youth Group. They went along with four other high school students from around Dunedin and two leaders. They travelled to PNG with the destination of Kapuna Village/Hospital. The aim was to connect and create relationships with the locals and immerse themselves in the way of life there, as well as assist and engage in school and church activities.

Blake Carter:

“Late one evening, after three days of travel, we arrived by boat to Kapuna Village located deep in the Gulf Province of Papua New Guinea. Our first few days in the village were spent getting to know the local youth and learning about village life and local customs. During this time we played lots of games of Football and Touch; becoming great friends with the local teens. Even though it was also winter over there it was incredibly humid and the temperature was around the mid-to-late thirties throughout the day. Ironically Dunedin was amid a snow storm when we flew off!”

Zach Schwenke:

“During our trip we were set to travel down the river from Kapuna to another village called Era Mipua for outreach, we planned to go down to this village for the middle weekend of our trip. We departed early Saturday morning and returned late Sunday evening. Over our time in Era Mipua we engaged in things like games with the kids, helping out with the church services there and sharing our testimonies and teachings with the village folk. The people there were so free and cheerful and some of the most welcoming and friendly people I've ever met. It was amazing to see how happy they are just living life considering how little they have.

During the church services in Era Mipua we would stand and share our teachings and messages to the people who all gathered in a small building made of flax weaving and tree bark. There was also worship where we would all join together to sing and shout out songs. These services would go for a few hours and then the people would happily disperse back into the village and carry on with their day. Throughout this little outreach we stayed in the school village, sleeping on mats made of flax leaves on the classroom floors. We hung little nets up from the roof and the desks and other equipment around us to stop mosquitoes from feasting on us while we slept. I really enjoyed the outreach and honestly couldn't have asked for a better experience."

Jack Caldwell:

“The learnings and lessons we gained collectively from this experience were invaluable. Engaging ourselves in their culture and way of life taught us so many things about gratitude and materialism, due to being in a place that is low on affluence but abundant in contentment. We take so many blessings and things for granted here, and observing a polar-opposite attitude and approach to living up close was amazing. Personally, and I know others experienced similar convictions, I found myself being challenged to step out of my comfort zone and find new and exciting ways to feel fulfilment and gratification, especially when engaging in church and school activities with the locals.”

To simply say this experience was eye-opening or perspective-altering is an understatement. To engage in a trip like this was life-changing and the friendships that were built, connections that were established and memories that were made are unforgettable.