You may remember that it was almost exactly a year ago when my buddy, Paul, and I spent a week hiking through some of the most remote and rugged jungle in Borneo. (If you want to see the posts from that trip, click on the "2009" link under the Blog Archives on the right side of this page, and then click on "May".)
Well, we came away from that trek pretty beaten up physically, but with a HUGE appreciation for why we're out here serving the people with the airplane. Jungle travel is extremely difficult by foot! However, I guess we didn't quite learn the entire lesson...because tomorrow we're leaving on another trek--this time eight days from start to finish in a different region. I'm sure there will be plenty of exciting pictures and stories upon our return. In the meantime, please remember to pray for Joy and the kids in my absence, as well as for safety for Paul and I.This week I had the privilege of flying over a hundred sheets of roofing, and other building supplies into a tiny, little village, for Pastor Welson, pictured below with his wife.
This is the Sungai Barang airstrip. It's extremely short and very marginal! We not only have to severely limit take-off loads, but even landing loads are cut significantly in order to maintain safe margins.
Pendeta Welson and his wife were so thrilled to get their roofing and building supplies for the new house that the church is building for them in Sungai Barang. They greeted me with tea and cookies, and gave me several delicious pineapples to take home to my family. Without the airplane, supplies like the ones I delivered for the new Pastor's home, would be extremely difficult to get in remote villages of Kalimantan.
A typical day in Long Sule.
And Mahak Baru.
Afternoon weather around Malinau.
One of Joy's friends.
Several night ago there was a hatching of flying termites. They usually all hatch at the same time and then swarm the screens and lights like a Biblical plague. The next morning they're all dead. It happens a few times a year. This time a bunch of them found a way into our porch light. So did a gecko, who obviously was gorging himself on the easy meal.
Around the same time Britton found a large praying mantis in our yard.
I'm sure I'll come across a lot more critters over the next eight days. So stay tuned all you critter-loving people! More pictures to come.
5 comments:
It is always a blessing to read you blog. We're big MAF fans! (Jungle Pilot is my favorite missionary biography!) Praying for you and your family. We have your prayer card on our bulletin board and pray for you all often.
Hey Dave! I enjoy seeing the pictures of the villages, especially from the air. In the picture of the airstrip, where is the village in relation to the runway? Is it still a hike for the villagers to get to where the runway can be built?
~Kenda
Jen, thanks for your prayers for us and MAF! Kenda, In this case the village is about a half mile away from the airstrip. It takes 15 - 20 minutes to walk from the village to the strip. It usually depends on what was there first. If the village was there, and then they built the airstrip, it will usually be some distance away, because a suitable spot has to be found. However, in some cases the village has essentially moved to the airstrip location and surrounds it on both sides.
We'll be praying for you and your family. Where are you hiking from/to?
I recently had an experience that really brought home the importance of MAF. Fortunately it was only with the horses. We had a mare in hard labor, with the foal in breech position, and had to wait an agonizing 40 minutes for the vet to make it out. No jungle to deal with, no long days of walking, but still such a long wait!
Thank you for serving God in Indonesia!
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