Hope you guys are still out there defending the stem burn! I really laughed at your responses to my last post. Glad you enjoyed it. Here's a few pics from the latest happenings around this part of the world.
We continue to be very busy flying for the folks in the interior regions of Northeast Kalimantan. Seems like lately we've been getting a ton of medevac flights. Each time I'm reminded of how critical a role MAF plays in the lives of these dear folks. And nearly every day at least one person in a village tells me that very thing. Yesterday I had the privilege of flying the Consul General, Jeffrey Tunis, from the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. He came all the way out here to Tarakan to visit the U.S. citizens (that would be those of us with MAF) who call this home. It's really nice to know that they know we're here, and care enough to check in on us. So anyway, we thought it would be neat to show them a little bit of who we are and what we do. It was a great day!
Last week we had a petugas seminar. A petugas is an "agent" or someone who helps arrange things. In almost all the villages that we frequent, we have a petugas (usually the village pastor if there is one) who helps us in a myriad of ways. They report weather over the HF radio each day, report on flight requests, medevacs, etc, and weigh passengers and barang (stuff), as well as helping to load/unload the aircraft and maintain their airstrip. Our job would be infinitely more difficult without their help. Every few years we try to get them all together in one location (no small task since they come from numerous villages scattered over hundreds of miles of jungle.) It's as much an opportunity to hang out and fellowship together, as it is to brush up on the skills needed to be an effective, efficient, and safe petugas. At the end of the time we took a group shot with all the folks from interior as well as our local hangar staff here in Tarakan. There were nearly 80 people in all!
This past weekend we attended Stefny and Yusuf's wedding. Stefny used to work as a house helper for another MAF family before they moved to a different base. After that she worked part time for us until we went on furlough. It's always fun to go to weddings here, as the bride, groom and families get totally decked out in traditional garb!
The truth is, it's usually hard to even recognize them after they're dressed up and "made up". Someday Joy and I thought it would be fun to rent the costumes and do the make up and take some shots...you know, sort of like when you dress up in old western clothes and get your photo taken? But then again, it's probably really expensive!
There's always tons and tons and tons of traditional type foods at an event like this. Since we like the local foods, we love it!
Here's a shot of Joy and kids, along with our wonderful helper, Abi at Stefni's wedding. Abi has been a working for us since we got here several years ago. She is an absolute blessing to Joy, and the kids totally love her! It would be nearly impossible for Joy to get everything done here on a daily basis without her help!
And these are just some random shots from around town the past week or two.
Happy Easter! He is Risen!
Last week we had a petugas seminar. A petugas is an "agent" or someone who helps arrange things. In almost all the villages that we frequent, we have a petugas (usually the village pastor if there is one) who helps us in a myriad of ways. They report weather over the HF radio each day, report on flight requests, medevacs, etc, and weigh passengers and barang (stuff), as well as helping to load/unload the aircraft and maintain their airstrip. Our job would be infinitely more difficult without their help. Every few years we try to get them all together in one location (no small task since they come from numerous villages scattered over hundreds of miles of jungle.) It's as much an opportunity to hang out and fellowship together, as it is to brush up on the skills needed to be an effective, efficient, and safe petugas. At the end of the time we took a group shot with all the folks from interior as well as our local hangar staff here in Tarakan. There were nearly 80 people in all!
This past weekend we attended Stefny and Yusuf's wedding. Stefny used to work as a house helper for another MAF family before they moved to a different base. After that she worked part time for us until we went on furlough. It's always fun to go to weddings here, as the bride, groom and families get totally decked out in traditional garb!
The truth is, it's usually hard to even recognize them after they're dressed up and "made up". Someday Joy and I thought it would be fun to rent the costumes and do the make up and take some shots...you know, sort of like when you dress up in old western clothes and get your photo taken? But then again, it's probably really expensive!
There's always tons and tons and tons of traditional type foods at an event like this. Since we like the local foods, we love it! 
Here's a shot of Joy and kids, along with our wonderful helper, Abi at Stefni's wedding. Abi has been a working for us since we got here several years ago. She is an absolute blessing to Joy, and the kids totally love her! It would be nearly impossible for Joy to get everything done here on a daily basis without her help!
And these are just some random shots from around town the past week or two.
Happy Easter! He is Risen!
3 comments:
HI Dave...great to see some pics of daily life, good shots! Viva la Stem Burn!
Thanks Dave for keeping us part of life in Indonesia...we so appreciate your updates and your pictures....you are so talented...we continue to pray for you guys...love and miss you all
Joy & Dave - The wedding pics are great! The kids are grow so fast! We continue to pray for you all often!
Safe flying!
Praying always - Dixie & Lew
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