Christmas Flying

Merry Christmas! It's been a busy week here in NE Kalimantan, Indonesia. Typically we get a ton of flight requests close to Christmas. There's no way we can do them all. However, we do our best to get as many as possible, prioritizing the church-related flying. I had the privilege of flying many National pastors and their families this week, right up through Christmas Eve. Above, left is a picture of Pastor Angit Aje and his family. I flew them from Long Nawang to Long Sule to hold Christmas services and visit family there.

Most of the interior pastors are actually missionaries themselves, serving far from their home village, culture, and even local language. Many of them serve for several years or more at a time, before getting the chance to return to see family and friends from their home town or village. So it's a joy to be able to take some of them back and forth for this reason. Others, I was actually taking to villages to hold special Christmas services for local folks. Either way I was blessed to be able to help in this small way.

On Christmas Eve I took a few shots of the terrain over which I carried these folks. Keep in mind, these were all shot in one day (actually just in the morning of one day,) and this just represents a small glimpse of the vastness and ruggedness of the terrain over which MAF flies daily here. Indeed, without MAF, much of the ministry going on interior would be severely hampered in Northeast Kalimantan.

Above, another shot of our picturesque "volcano mountain." Below, numerous waterfalls can be spotted, cascading hundreds and hundreds of feet down sheer rock walls.

If you look at he size of the trees at the base of the rock spire below, and imagine that they're probably at least 80 to 100 feet tall--or more, you get an idea of just how tall it is. The face of this wall is actually slightly inverted when looked at from the side. It would be an incredible climb!

In this shot below, four falls are visible. This is unbelievably rugged and inaccessible terrain! Keep in mind these are different than all the other waterfalls posted here. The terrain is just endless cliffs, mountains, jungles rivers and waterfalls, so there's plenty to choose from.

One of my favorite falls. It's visible from 12,000 feet above if the weather is nice, but rarely is it as clear and well-lit as it was on Christmas Eve.

Anyway, trust you had/are having a wonderful Christmas celebration with family and/or friends. Thanks for the part you play in allowing us to be here. We feel truly blessed!