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.
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| "Tickets" for our flight! |
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| Ready to take-off |
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| Papa: our pilot |
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| Leaving our town |
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| Our organization's planes are parked in the middle of this photo |
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| What we saw out the window for the first leg |
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| Coming in to land in Mulia |
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| Lined up with the runway |
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| MAF was also flying into Mulia that day |
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| Mulia is in the mountains |
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| Next stop: Nabire, which is right on the ocean |
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| Refueling the plane |
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| Taking off from Nabire. The runaway is right up to the beach. |
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| Beautiful Papua coastline |
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| Landing in Manokwari |
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| Excited to see friends! |
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| We were all happy to be together! |
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| Since it was New Years Eve, they took us up to a spot overlooking their town |
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| Kids rode bikes |
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| We got some photos together |
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| And when it was dark, we did some fireworks |
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| Sparkler fun |
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| Back at their house, we enjoyed getting to hear updates on their life |
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| The next day they showed us around the Bible school campus where our friend is a teacher |
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| The campus has trails leading around the "jungle" |
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| Crossing a bridge on campus |
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| Our friends' house |
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| Later we went to a nearby beach, where the boys had fun in the waves |
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| There was also a calmer spot with tide pools |
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| Fun playing with marbles and water |
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| A unique restaurant entrance |
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| The restaurant had statues of animals and other fun decoration for kids |
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| "Riding" the deer |
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| "Walking" into the tunnel mural |
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| Silly boy (phone wasn't working!) |
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| First phone booth they've seen! |
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| He just keeps growing! |
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| Dinner with our friends and their coworkers |
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| On the way home, I got to sit up front one of the legs |
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B's turn to sit up front
(he kept track of the time of every take-off, landing and flight time) |
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| A part of Manokwari, which is mostly on the coast |
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| Aerial photo of the spot we went on NYE |
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| Beautiful mountains |
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| Peeking at the back |
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| We had to circle a bit before we could land, because of the clouds on the runway. |
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| On the ground, loading up our coworkers and their belongings |
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| Making sure it all fits (well, we actually did 2 loads) |
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| Chatting through details with our coworkers |
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| Ready for the next leg |
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| Waving goodbye |
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| Leaving the village |
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| Almost to the next stop |
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| Landing in the town we waited in while Kars flew the second load |
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| Ice cream break! |
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| Travel by river covers a lot more miles! |
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| Circling over another friend's house to say "hi" since we couldn't land |
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| Unloading the underwing pods |
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Waiting for the next leg
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