The God of the Wind and Rain

 I shared a story in our newsletter a few months ago, which was then requested to be shared on the JAARS website.  Check out the story at: https://www.jaars.org/updates/the-god-of-the-wind-and-rain/

Checking a New Airstrip

    In March Kars had the privilege of traveling into a remote location on our island in order to check out a new airstrip.  This particular location was accessible via a rugged mountainous road.  Kars, together with another YAJASI pilot, flew into a nearby village.  There they were joined by two others and the four of them drove dirt bikes to the new airstrip that afternoon.  The drive was intense and took almost 2 hours on dirt bike (Kars said in a car, it would have easily been double the time and quite uncomfortable!).  This is typical procedure: before landing on a new airstrip, YAJASI will send a pilot to attempt to reach the airstrip first by foot (think intense hiking), by boat (along rivers) or in this case, by dirt bike.  

    Once they arrived, they walked the airstrip, checked for obstacles, measured and made a plan for how to land the following day.  Then, they returned to the village where the plane was parked, to spend the night and fly into the new airstrip the next day.  Thankfully, the airstrip was usable, despite one end having lots of ruts from pigs digging in the dirt!  Good information for the pilots to have BEFORE attempting their first landing!

    Now that the airstrip has been checked, YAJASI anticipates serving the people in this village, as they plan a celebration of Scripture being translated into their language (by local translators).  Pray for God's work in this place!  And praise God for easier access via air!

Thankful for a dirt bike and gear to borrow for the trip

Beautiful Mountain views on the way!

Measuring the airstrip length

Measuring slope of the airstrip

Walking the airstrip

Flying into the airstrip the next day

Praise God for easier transportation options with the airplane!

Faithfulness

    We see God's faithfulness clearly displayed in the lives of Syd and Nola.  They arrived in Indonesia in 1991 and have served the Papuan people for the past 30 years.  Their perseverance and dedication to serving the Lord in this beautiful land is inspiring.  Syd was one of the pilots to serve Kars' family when he was a child growing up in the remote village of Landga, which was only accessible by airplane.  Syd and Kars first communicated with each other in Indonesian (their only "shared" language at the time, as Kars didn't learn English until middle school)!  Syd was an influence on young Kars, inspiring him to also become a missionary pilot.  Kars graduated from high school in Indonesia and moved to the US to attend Moody Aviation.  He was trained as a pilot and mechanic (and this is where I came into the picture...).  God led our young family to join Wycliffe and then clearly directed that we were to return to serve in Papua.  So, when our family moved to Indonesia for Kars to be a pilot with YAJASI, Syd was one of the experienced pilots serving here and leading the aviation team.  "Uncle Syd and Aunt Nola" (as Kars called them as a kid) became our co-workers and adopted uncle and aunt to our boys.  What a joy and privilege it has been to serve alongside Syd and Nola these past 8 years.  Syd and Nola will be finishing up their time in Indonesia at the end of this year and returning to the US.  We are so thankful for their examples and the influence they have had on so many.  While we will greatly miss them, we are confident in God's plan, both for the next phase of their lives and for the team here at YAJASI. 

In order to honor the many years of flying, the team planned a special event for Syd's final flight at the end of May.  Upon returning to our airport, Syd's plane was welcomed by the airport fire engines shooting a water cannon over the taxiway. 

Above: After he parked the airplane, Syd was welcomed by the YAJASI team and more water, in the traditional "baptism" after special flights.

Above: Syd and Nola

Above: The pilots of YAJASI

Above: A time of thanksgiving and prayer for Syd and Nola

The day zucchini came

Yesterday I saw a recipe that a friend shared online that looked yummy.  I clicked on the link and then saw that it called for 4 cups of shredded zucchini. We cannot buy zucchini here, so I thought, "Well, I guess I can't make that recipe."  It's a fairly common occurrence that I don't have access to all of the ingredients in a recipe, so it wasn't that big of a deal.  

But then Kars comes home from a day of flying...and he pulls a zucchini out of his backpack!  What?!?  One of the missionary families he'd seen in the village had sent out a zucchini for me, completely unaware of my recipe dilemma that morning! I didn't even know that anyone grew zucchini here, so this was a complete shock to me.  I felt like God was smiling down on me, showing me in a very tangible way that HE sees me and HE is not limited by the things I feel limited by.  What an incredible God He is!

I spent this afternoon baking yummy things with zucchini and I'm still smiling thinking of God's amazing provision.  I wonder what we will get next time?!

(Chocolate Zucchini Cake, Zucchini Bread & Zucchini Pizza Casserole)

Vacation to Manokwari

On the last day of 2019, our family took advantage of a flight request out on the west side of our island and went to visit some close friends of ours.  It was the first time for us to visit them in their town, see their home and get a glimpse of their life.  We know firsthand how encouraging it is to have people come and experience your life, so we hoped to be an encouragement to them.  We had a great time!  An added bonus was that Kars was our pilot all the way there and back (it was multiple legs, since it's so far away), so we got to see him at work.  Once again I am impressed with the abilities and skills that God has given him, which fit so well in his role as a pilot here in Papua.  Here are some photos from along the way.

"Tickets" for our flight!

Ready to take-off

Papa: our pilot

Leaving our town

Our organization's planes are parked in the middle of this photo 

What we saw out the window for the first leg

Coming in to land in Mulia

Lined up with the runway

MAF was also flying into Mulia that day

Mulia is in the mountains 

Next stop: Nabire, which is right on the ocean

Refueling the plane

Taking off from Nabire.  The runaway is right up to the beach.

Beautiful Papua coastline 

Landing in Manokwari

Excited to see friends!

We were all happy to be together!

Since it was New Years Eve, they took us up to a spot overlooking their town

Kids rode bikes

We got some photos together

And when it was dark, we did some fireworks

Sparkler fun

Back at their house, we enjoyed getting to hear updates on their life

The next day they showed us around the Bible school campus where our friend is a teacher

The campus has trails leading around the "jungle"

Crossing a bridge on campus

Our friends' house

Later we went to a nearby beach, where the boys had fun in the waves

There was also a calmer spot with tide pools

Fun playing with marbles and water

A unique restaurant entrance

The restaurant had statues of animals and other fun decoration for kids

"Riding" the deer

"Walking" into the tunnel mural

Silly boy (phone wasn't working!)

First phone booth they've seen!

He just keeps growing!

Dinner with our friends and their coworkers

On the way home, I got to sit up front one of the legs

B's turn to sit up front
(he kept track of the time of every take-off, landing and flight time)

A part of Manokwari, which is mostly on the coast

Aerial photo of the spot we went on NYE

Beautiful mountains 

Peeking at the back

We had to circle a bit before we could land, because of the clouds on the runway.

On the ground, loading up our coworkers and their belongings

Making sure it all fits (well, we actually did 2 loads)

Chatting through details with our coworkers

Ready for the next leg

Waving goodbye

Leaving the village

Almost to the next stop

Landing in the town we waited in while Kars flew the second load

Ice cream break!

Travel by river covers a lot more miles!

Circling over another friend's house to say "hi" since we couldn't land

Unloading the underwing pods

Waiting for the next leg