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!
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Thankful for a dirt bike and gear to borrow for the trip
 | Beautiful Mountain views on the way!
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| Measuring the airstrip length |
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| Measuring slope of the airstrip |
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| Walking the airstrip |
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| Flying into the airstrip the next day |
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| Praise God for easier transportation options with the airplane! |
