The MAF Blog: Worldwide Pulse

Posts Tagged ‘kalimantan’

Measuring True Impact

Posted on: March 7th, 2012 by John Boyd |

When I reflect on 2011 and the kind of work MAF did over the past year, it’s truly amazing. Looking at the amount of things accomplished as a direct result of MAF’s involvement, it’s quite satisfying to see how both the demonstration and proclamation of the Gospel occurred.

The demonstration—the “hands and feet” of Jesus—is happening in powerful ways.

In Papua, Indonesia, MAF delivered food to more than 55,000 people in an area suffering from severe flooding. In Kalimantan, more than 100 people were provided life-saving flights for medical emergencies.

In Haiti, MAF continues to support development and aid organizations as well as mission agencies rebuilding the country from the devastating earthquake two years ago. In Africa, we have supported the MozMed flying doctor service, provided critical air service for Doctors Without Borders in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and provided water to four villages through the Mali Well Drilling Project.

The Gospel is also being proclaimed through MAF.

In Africa, MAF helped an indigenous mission group in Lesotho translate God’s Story Project material into the Sesotho language. In the DRC, MAF also distributed Bibles to military camps. In Indonesia, MAF supports Bible translators as well as a large church that provides ministry support and training to Bible students.

MAF’s Learning Technologies team also helped equip Latin American church leaders from four language groups with oral strategy workshops, enabling ministers and lay leaders to share the Gospel in effective ways.

In 2012, the challenges continue to seem immense. Nothing is easy in the remote places where MAF works. There are even times when true change seems impossible. But the Gospel is going forth, good is being done, and seeds are being planted.

Fortunately, we aren’t doing any of this in our own strength. The impact that we make in any of these countries is a direct result of God working through and in his people—both MAF missionaries and those we so diligently serve—to shine the light of His love in places that are desperate for the Good News. We are excited about the opportunity to serve God again this year and see what amazing things He will do through willing vessels.

Soul-Shaping Chores

Posted on: January 24th, 2012 by Natalie Holsten | 4 Comments

I’m the new girl again. After 10 years of living off the coast of Kalimantan, we have moved to the other side of Indonesia, to the province of Papua.

There is a steep learning curve––new stores to learn, new way of driving (the traffic lights go from red to yellow to green . . . still trying to figure that one out), new weather patterns to learn, and new people groups to get to know.

But one thing is back-achingly familiar––the unending and tedious housework that comes with life here, and the exhaustion I feel after a day of said housework.

Just coming back from furlough, my housekeeping muscles are pretty weak. Not that I was a total slob when staying with our parents, but loading the dishwasher and running the vacuum in a climate-controlled and convenience-oriented home is a whole different animal from mopping floors, hand washing dishes, and hanging out laundry in the tropics.

I am thankful for housework. I mean, might as well be thankful for it, since it’s an inevitable, right? And while I don’t love housework, there are definitely some benefits from it––besides the obvious (we eat, have clean clothes, and have fairly-clean floors).

Housework shapes my soul. I find I have more time to think, and to pray. Pushing a mop back and forth across the floor, different people and situations come to mind, and I pray for them. Mindless tasks can become meaningful times of prayer, if I’m intentional about making them so.

Housework gets me outside. Lugging the laundry basket to the backyard, I can look up and see magnificent Cyclops Mountain behind our house. The ritual of hanging up our clean laundry makes for strong arms, and gets me a good dose of vitamin D. And there’s nothing like the smell of clothes fresh off a clothesline––that amazing mix of sunshine and wind.

My housekeeping duties are definitely not fodder for any newsletter (“Dear Supporters, can you believe it? Natalie mopped the floors, again!!!”), but they’re a very real and necessary aspect of life over here.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, the toilet needs scrubbing.

Where You’ll Find Me This Year

Posted on: January 4th, 2012 by Sarah DesJardine | 2 Comments

I’m the type of person who makes resolutions…you know, a (usually unattainable) list of all the things I want to accomplish, bad habits I want to break, good habits I intend to start. I recently dragged out my list from last year and went down the annual shame spiral as I realized how many lofty goals I consistently did not meet. I think this year I will narrow it down to one…

Be here now.

Kalimantan Indonesia

That’s it. Just be present at any given time. Not thinking of where I’ve been or wondering (worrying) about where I will be in the future; just actively participating in the moment . . . the now. In the midst of power outages and sweaty afternoons, laughs with friends, crazy moments that I will probably only experience while living here (a family of 5 using a single motorcycle like a minivan, the rooster that sneaks into our side yard and startles me several times a day when it crows, kids yelling out “Hello Mister” to me whenever I go out), quiet evenings and weekends with my husband uninterrupted by the hustle and bustle that usually accompanies life in the States, and so many more things, important and mundane. I am resolving to be here in those moments now.

I think so often being fully engaged in the moment God has brought me to is all He asks. If I’m there and keep my eyes and ears open, He can show me how He’s working and what part He wants me to play.

So this year, I’m going to be here now, wherever and whatever “now” means, and let God take care of the rest.

Want to join me? How is God calling you to be in the here and now?

Top 11 Quotes of 2011

Posted on: December 12th, 2011 by MAF |

Here are some of our favorite quotes of the past year, received from the people we serve or gathered from interviews.

We’re the smallest of the villages in the area, and without MAF, no one else would care for us. As a servant of God ministering here, it would probably be impossible to be here without MAF.”
— Pastor Hendry, working in Data Dian, Kalimantan, Indonesia

We have 40,000 students in our schools, and in the last two years 15,000 have professed faith in Christ. It’s just amazing what God is doing. There’s no way we could exist there without the work of MAF and what it does for us.”
— Dr. Sam Vinton, Grace Ministries International, EDRC

I think I’ve had the chance to fly every plane in Papua. But it’s not the flying; it’s what we do with those planes. There are guys who like to talk about this plane and that, but the real bottom line is, what are we doing with this plane? How are we ministering and serving?”
— Phil Nelson, MAF pilot in Papua, Indonesia

I’ve worked with MAF for about 13 years, and during that time I have grown personally. My faith has grown. I’ve gotten a lot of new experience working with MAF. When I joined MAF, I got direction in my life.”
— Yonatan Karel (an Indonesian MAF staff member in Kalimantan) Assistant to the Chief of Maintenance

The VSAT [provided by MAF] has been a big boost for the effective communication of Shalom University with the outside world. It enables quality research via the Internet essential for a University in the center of Africa, where books are extremely expensive and hard to come by. The connection has been reliable and a blessing.”
— Ted Witmer, Director of Development, Shalom University of Bunia, EDRC

I think we could easily say that we depend on MAF for several mission-critical functions, and without them, we could not live here. And I haven’t even mentioned flying yet.”
— Kent Rasmussen, Linguist and Bible translator with Wycliffe in Bunia, EDRC

More than once we have stood beside the plane with hearts breaking, buckling our kids in to send them off to school. Always, the pilots have caught our eyes with a reassuring glance that said, ‘We’re praying for you. We’ll get them there as safely as possible. And we’ll look after them for you.’ Such comfort and encouragement as they passed on to us during these times cannot be overstated, and for that, too, we are grateful.” Steve and Carolyn Crockett, New Tribes missionaries in Papua

Before the airstrip was completed, we had air drops from MAF. They supplied us with food … whatever we needed. The secret was MAF. It couldn’t have happened without them.”
— Former missionary to Ethiopia – Harvey Hoekstra, Talking Bibles

MAF is such a big support for us. Without MAF it would be impossible by road to go into the villages.”
— Daniel Kasereka, OEIL reconciliation ministry, EDRC

MAF has been a big help in bringing in consultants and teams of different sorts. It is much easier to throw people on a 50-minute flight versus an 8-hour car trip to come down here. This allows us to accomplish in a weekend what would otherwise take almost a week with travel time.”
— Phil & Elin Henderson, New Tribes missionaries, Mozambique

This is how much God loves Papua. In spite of all that your family has been through, you’re coming back as a new family to continue serving here. God must really love us!”
— A Papuan friend speaking to Beth Lynne upon her return from furlough as the new wife of MAF pilot Kevin Lynne.

2011 In Pictures – Mission Aviation Fellowship Delivers …

Posted on: December 5th, 2011 by MAF | 3 Comments

Medevac flight for stroke patient, Kalimantan. Photo by Tripp Flythe.

Food delivery with the Kodiak, Kalimantan. Photo by Dave Forney.

Pilot Nathan Fagerlie delivers supplies and teachers for first-ever school in Pogamba village, Papua. Photo by Steve Richards.

Soccer teams lined up during Indonesia’s Independence Day celebration as MAF Caravan departs Pa’Upan, Kalimantan. Photo by Dave Forney.

Celebrating the Lani language Bible delivery in Papua. Photo by Nathan Fagerlie.

MAF Medevac Flight in Ecuador. Photo by Chad Irwin.

Fighting measles – vaccine deliveries in WDRC. Photo by Tim Chase.

MAF pilot Jon Cadd assists John Ngayo of OEIL upon arrival in Lubutu, DRC. Photo by LuAnne Cadd.

Fighting cholera in Bilobo, WDRC. Photo by Nate Birkemo.

Medevac of an 18-year-old girl with heart troubles in Kalimantan. Photo courtesy of Sean Cannon.

Chicks in flight with MAF pilot David Harms, Haiti. Photo by Will White.

Celebrating the arrival of the first Majang New Testament Talking Bible in February 2011 with the Hoekstra family, Ethiopia. Photo courtesy of Denny Hoekstra.

To learn more about the impact that the Hoekstra missionary family has had in Ethiopia, read the 2011 Spring addition of FlightWatch, page 3.