Kevin & Debbie Ludwig, Papua New Guinea

Kevin's Bio

I am Kevin Ludwig. My wife is Debbie and we have 5 kids, ages 5-15: Brent, Nathan, Andrea, Paige, and (the caboose) Cameron. Debbie and I celebrated our 20th anniversary this past September. I was saved as a child of about 7 years, but it wasn't until I was 21 that I committed my life to God through a medical problem involving my Dad. I am a Family Practice doctor and finished my training in 1985.

At that time, we became very active in various missions programs through our home church, Scottsdale Bible Church. The Lord taught us many things during those years, allowing us to be better prepared and more mature when He finally called us to the mission field. In 1991, the Lord opened the door for us to come to Papua New Guinea, and it took us 3 years to sell my practice and our house and handle all the other preparations for us to come. When the opportunity came up to come to PNG, it was a thrill to us both as we had dreamed and planned for this our whole lives.

Kevin's Job

When New Tribes Mission first asked me to come to PNG, NTM had never before had a doctor stationed abroad, but the medical conditions in PNG had deteriorated so drastically that the medical facilities were virtually unusable. When I arrived in PNG in 1994, the medical clinic consisted of a single 3' x 2' cupboard. Often with minimal staffing, we were able to slowly obtain equipment and supplies and now we have a 1,000 square foot clinic/urgent care center, which provides an array of medical services to NTM's missionaries throughout the country (there are about 1,000 men, women and children associated with NTM in PNG).

We also provide medical care for a number of other Christian missions (SIL, MAF, Baptist, Swiss Mission, CRMF, and several others) , as well as a great number of local villagers at highly discounted rates.

We provide comprehensive care, routine check-ups, routine general adult medical care, pediatric, emergency, gynecology and obstetrical services. We have a small pharmacy, which provides highly discounted medications to our patients. I also consult over the radio to help the missionaries that are running village clinics for their tribe. I can also help them to treat their own families in the bush when it is not something serious. If it is serious, then I fly in or they fly out to me to obtain medical care.

I am the only doctor for NTM in PNG and I oversee the running of all aspects of the clinic. We currently have a staff of 2 full-time nurses and 2 part-time nurses, along with 2 part-time front office workers and one part-time physical therapist.

Debbie's Bio

I was saved in young life during high school. Having a husband who has to leave on emergencies at a moments notice for days at a time and 5 children, makes it difficult to be involved in any type of ministry where people depend on me to do a specific task. I find I need to just be available at home to take care of the kids and things while Kevin does his job. He works lots of strange and long hours. If I were to be committed to a specific ministry, I think it would be more unsettling for our children and upset people when I can't do "my job" because Kevin is called away unexpectedly. The children already need to deal with coming home from playing and be told, "Oh by the way your dad just left for Australia for 3 days or Dad can't go to your birthday party because he just got called away."

The life of a doctor isn't always easy, and I just need to be here for my family at this season of our lives. I do however practice lots of hospitality. Living here on the support center for NTM (New Tribes Mission) PNG (Papua New Guinea) allows lots of opportunities to be of service to visitors to PNG and missionaries out from the bush on a break. Also we are the first to know of a family coming out for a medical emergency. With no 7/11's or McDonald's there are lots of opportunities to be of service to folks arriving here unexpectedly. We have had entire families stay with us many times when there was not room in the guest house or Kevin wanted to keep a closer eye on the patient. I also home school my children and have been a source for advice to our bush moms, many of whom home school. I have been home schooling for 11 years now and have lots of resources and advice that moms come and have a talk or look at my curriculum etc. Not a formal ministry now in this stage of my life, but I feel the Lord is using me as an encouragement to visitors to Lapilo and to young moms and home schooling moms.

I have also used my dietitian skills and knowledge to help Kevin in the clinic and have taught in the school some. I teach Sunday School and assist in various committees and organizing functions when asked to do so. We have relationships with our National friends across the road and members of our NTM Fellowship of Bible Churches.

Mission Statement

It is my goal to help assist other missionaries to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to tribal people in PNG who have never had an opportunity to hear God's Word in their own language. Our missionaries move into a village, where they live among the people, learning their language and culture and then teach them in their own village language, beginning in Genesis and working through the New Testament so they can get a comprehensive understanding of who God is and what a marvelous gift He has given them.

By providing medical care for these missionaries, I can help them stay in the tribe and complete their work. I can help by saving them money - for example, before I came to PNG, if a missionary became sick or injured, there was no other choice than to go to Australia for evaluation and treatment. On average, about once a week, some NTM missionary would have to go to Australia, at a cost of around $3,000, just for the travel costs. Since I have been here, we have averaged about one every 2-3 months. So, we have cut our costs by at least a factor of 10. By assisting them in running their medical clinics, it helps foster trust and a caring relationship between the missionary and his village. This is crucial especially in the beginning when the missionary cannot yet speak the village language and lays the ground work for a caring relationship so helpful for when the teaching does begin.