end chapter

It’s that time, guys. Transitions. Endings. Next steps. Change.

It’s almost a year (!!) since we landed back on USA soil after having only a week to pack up our house. And here we are again, packing up our house to move on to the next thing.

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  Our paper chain countdown to the next adventure!

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  Little friends and hard goodbyes.

We just wrapped up our time at the Ethnos360 Training. There’s definitely mixed feelings about it all – excitement for being one step closer to getting back to Arizona, and sadness for the friends left behind. It was such a sweet time and I’m thankful for the time spent, and the friends and memories that we’ve made.

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Last post, I shared that we were getting ready to go to Simple Living – 17 days off-the-grid in the woods of Missouri, living in plastic houses and cooking over a fire, all while taking classes out there as well. It was an adventure, and while it was hard and sometimes unpleasant (a stomach bug came through the whole 50+ person camp), we’re glad we were able to do it as a family with our team. If you’d like to see some pics of our time out there – click here.

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  Field Medicine class – learning how to give injections and take vitals.

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  I had “good view” ears – so my classmates practiced on me.

Right now we’re in Wisconsin, visiting our friends, and church families that we haven’t seen since Lucy Mae was just 3 months old! On our way up here, we took it kind of easy and stopped at the zoo for the afternoon. It was so nice to do something fun after the hard farewells to home and friends. We haven’t had much down time for the last few months so it was nice to move a little slower.

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  Loved having the wagon at the zoo!

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  Lucy Mae loved the snake house!

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  The dinosaurs were a highlight, too!

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  Our professional navigator.

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  The hippos were very active and swimming. Lucy Mae loved the fish in the tank, too.

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  Worn out! Extra thankful for the wagon now. 🙂

We’ll be here in Wisconsin for a couple of weeks before we start driving down to Arizona to begin helicopter training! We are just so thankful for the opportunity that God has provided for us to do this training. If you’ve followed along for a while, you’ve probably seen the little graph on the side ➡️ showing our fundraising progress for Josh’s helicopter helmet – well thanks to your generous donations and God’s provisions – it’s fully funded! Thank you! When it comes time to actually order it, we’ll make sure you guys are in the know!

Thanks for following along with us, guys! It has been so full and busy and we are so thankful!

ready!

We finished up our first week of our second semester here at the Ethnos360 Training! It was good to get back into the swing of routine, but we were definitely glad for the weekend to come.

Walking down to class!

My typical view in the classroom. Mask, coffee, laptop.

I was particularly worried about Lucy Mae moving up to a new classroom for the rest of our time. She has had a more emotional week, needing extra cuddles and attention, and not taking great naps, but none of that is unexpected. Overall, she is enjoying her preschool class and is getting along well with her teachers. She’s the youngest one in this class, and definitely the littlest – it’s kind of funny when we pick her up because she gets hidden behind the other, bigger kids. I’m sure those few transitional side-effects will wear off soon.

Lucy Mae is in the middle there during circle time!

Our classes have been full-steam ahead, and we feel a little bit like we just have to buckle up and hang on. One of our classes is taking all of the little foundational pieces that we learned last semester and putting them all together into one enormous picture. Church planting is hard, y’all! Josh and I both have a much greater appreciation for what our coworkers have to do and think about when in the tribe!

The other class we’re taking is called Literacy, and it is talking about the need for and importance of teaching people to read and write. We have a project where we are writing a basic literacy primer in a “foreign” (made up) language. It’s super interesting and challenging! I’m loving it. #nerd

Some extra snuggles on the couch.

This next week we finish up our primers and will start a new class about Missionary Technology. Josh is super excited about this one; and while I’m not sure how well I’ll do managing a soldering iron, I think it’s going to be interesting and fun. We also have some team meetings, and meals with friends to break up the week.

Taking the bike out on a particularly “nice” (not frigid) day.

Lucy Mae is overjoyed to have her friends to play with again!

We had a little break in the weather for a couple of days – not warm necessarily, but not frigid. Today it looks more like foggy cold soup, so we’re staying bundled up inside. I mean – that doesn’t sound like a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon, don’t you think? Ready for week 2!

names

You might have heard that New Tribes Mission has changed their name; it’s now called Ethnos360. I wanted to give a little update on what that means for us.

The vision for Ethnos360 is exactly the same as New Tribes Mission, it just uses more culturally appropriate language for the various places they work, stepping away from language that can be offensive or dangerous (such as “tribes” and “mission”). Ethnos still represents the people groups that are the heart of NTM, and 360 represents the globe. The vision is still the same, there’s just a new face.

Right now NewTribes Mission Aviation has not changed their name, although I suspect they will change soon to maintain continuity across the board. Until that happens, we still work for New Tribes Mission Aviation in Papua New Guinea.

Each separate field has the choice to use a culturally appropriate name, and in Papua New Guinea it would actually hurt us more to step away from the ties that NTM has here by changing our name. The relationships, paperwork, and legacy that exists here under the banner of New Tribes Mission is a generally good one, and changing that could potentially damage those ties. This name change from NTM to Ethnos360 only applies to the USA employees.

So, to sum up how this name change affects Josh and I:

In America we are now:Ethnos360andNew Tribes Mission Aviation 

In Papua New Guinea we are:New Tribes MissionandNew Tribes Mission Aviation

If anything changes, we will be sure to let you know! I just wanted to provide a little bit of clarity on this big change within our mission, and how it relates to us.

quieter community

Things are lot quieter around here than the last time I wrote. I’ve gone back to part time in the clinic, which has given me a lot more free -time to build up some of those relationships that fell by the wayside as I inched my way towards burnout. I’ve joined a ladies Bible study, and have regular coffee dates with girlfriends who are teaching me the beauty of walking through seasons together, and always reminding me of truth. Sometimes living in community is really hard, so it’s really nice to have a community within a community to do life with.

The coast from the air. Can you believe that blue?

Josh has been really busy, but he’s loving it. It seems like there is always a new airstrip to be checked out in, or a cargo run, or a medevac to keep him busy. It’s a good thing he loves it! After watching him not fly for the first 10 months of our time here, and knowing the pain that was causing … it does my heart so good to see him flourishing now! Our team is great, and they have gotten to know each other’s’ strengths and weaknesses and are able to help each other; it’s so cool to see! Friendship is a blessing when so easily we could see everyone as “co-workers” only and not as our friends, too. Community living, y’all.

I got to be co-pilot for our trip! So fun to sit next to this handsome guy!

This view never gets old.

We even got to have a much-needed weekend away, as a church from the states put on a free weekend retreat in the beautiful, coastal town of Madang for about 40 missionaries from all over PNG. It was such a nice time of rest and refreshment. I got to meet some people from our other centers across the country, and it was so fun to make those new connections that I hope will blossom into friendships. It might not have been quite long enough to really count as a true break, but it was nice either way.

This week has felt like fall – and knowing how hot it can get here – I am soaking up the cooler temps, foggy mornings, and rainy evenings. And wearing sweaters and scarves because I can. And burning candles so it’s nice and cozy inside. It’s the little things that make me happy. 🙂

Paradise. And that salt air. Oh yes!

big steps

I haven’t written in the last few months, but there has been so much going on! Josh and I have been really, really, really busy. No, really. 🙂

NTMA has been working really hard at getting the flight program back on track, a process that has been going on for a couple of years now. On Dec 10, two of our pilots were checked out by the aviation authority in PNG to be able to train and check our own pilots! This is HUGE because it means that we are able to train our own people instead of pulling our chief pilot – who has his own life, business, job, and family in the states – away from his family for weeks at a time. This will save time and resources and is a huge step in keeping our program on track and moving forward.

Bush strips. This family has to take a boat and then hike after the flight to get into their village!

Josh has been flying a lot, and getting checked out into different airstrips, which means that there’s one more person to bear the load of flying for an entire country. He has really enjoyed getting to spend time with people in other areas – and he has built some good relationships with our other centers and tribal areas. He is also working on his check out for Cairns flights, which means that he can help with international medevac flights to Australia, as well as routine cargo flights. These long, international flights have previously only been possible because of two pilots, and the red-tape, long hours, and stress is a lot for just two guys – although they are amazingly resilient – so this is another big step towards bearing one another’s burdens and sharing the load. It still awes me how wonderful Josh’s job is – it’s seriously so cool!

Jon and Josh on the closest thing to Santa’s sleigh around here: the Kodiaks! This was the last cargo flight from Australia before Christmas – they delivered many packages and Christmas presents with their Christmas hats on!

My dear friend, Bonnie, the one who left for medical reasons a couple of months ago received the surgery she needed, has made a full recovery, and has just returned to the field. It feels like whining when I say that it was a long and hard three months without her for me. The hardest part was dealing with myself when I got stressed out. I tend to blow things out of proportion and overreact when I’m stressed; and I take things personally, even when they aren’t meant that way at all. It didn’t help that we’ve had 11 medevacs since July, and not enough people trained to do the front office part of it. I ended up taking myself right to the edge of burnout and putting my toes over the edge. By the grace of God, I was able to step away from the ledge and slow myself down. And just when I thought I couldn’t do anymore, Bonnie came back. That is grace, y’all!

The pilots of PNG! Left to right: John M., Josh V., Brent H., Jon L., Ryan F., Brent R. Not pictured: Mike M.

Another thing which I’m sure did not help our combined stress levels was the unexpected departure of one of our pilot families, and friends. They had to take an unexpected home assignment for their family, and they left right after the start of the new year. While this is a good thing for their family, it adds a bit of stress to our pilot team as one already left on a planned home assignment the week before, leaving just 5 pilots to do the job of 7.

Unfortunately, it also meant that Josh and I had to delay our home assignment as well. We had planned on coming back to the states for a few months in June; however, if we left when we had planned, we would be leaving 4 pilots to do the job of 7. These guys are our friends, and we know what pressure and stress that would put on them. So we have decided to delay our home assignment by three months, which gives enough time for the pilot on planned home assignment to get back and get online again before we would leave for our break. Our new tentative plan is to leave in September of this year. 

Rainy season is here, so this is what my porch looks like right now!

Until it was taken away, I didn’t realize how much stock I was putting in going back in just a couple of months; and honestly, there was a bit of a grieving time. Josh and I are overdue for a break – New Tribes recommends 2 weeks off every 6 months – and we are feeling the pressure. So pushing our break back a couple of months seems like a big step of faith for us. We’re hoping to get some genuine time off in the next month or two. It’s times like these when life feels overwhelming, and for me, it’s easy to become a cynic and forget why we’re here. Honestly, we really do love our jobs and we love the people that we work with and serve – they are amazing and have become family – and just like family, sometimes you need to get away from them to appreciate how great they are.

On a non-ministry-related note – the dry season is finally over and the rains have begun! Every afternoon, you can count on it steadily raining and continuing through the night. So far we haven’t had any of the big, booming thunderstorms that I love so much, but I’m enjoying the cozy, rainy afternoons and evenings. It has even cooled off a bit in the mornings and evenings, so it’s perfect weather for sitting by the window with a cup of coffee and a sweater. The thing I don’t enjoy? The mud. You can hardly walk anywhere without your shoes, feet, and legs being covered in the dark, sticky, clay-like mud. If it isn’t the smoke from dry season grass burnings, it’s relentless mud from rainy season. Choose your evil. 

This is our driveway. This mud is about 4 inches deep. Our car does a bit of sliding when we drive out! And it’s so sticky!

So as you can see, there has been a lot going on – and all of it has added up to some big steps in our departments and our lives. Thanks for coming alongside us during all of this – through your emails, letters, support, encouragement, and even Christmas presents! It really does our hearts good.

busy work

What an interesting couple of months it has been! I can’t even believe it’s been that long since I blogged, because it has been so busy that time has seriously just flown by!

Let me try and summarize:

August

It seems like we all had medevac on the brain; there was something like 1 a week during August. Each medevac is different and requires its own debriefings (departmental and leadership). Our processes have to be continually evaluated and revised. Josh was doing a lot of flying during this time, and our clinic was busy keeping up with all of the paperwork.

September

Get well, Bonnie – from the clinic staff! Bonita, Freddy, Katy, Kevin, Michaela, Erin

One of my very good friends, and also the office-manager of our clinic became very ill and needed to go to the States for surgery. Amazingly, all of the pieces fell into place for her to go as soon as possible, and the Lord opened all the right doors to all the right people, and she’s now making a beautiful recovery! However, due to limited front office staffing (2 receptionists + 1 manager) in our clinic, the loss of the manager caused us to be more than short-staffed, and her duties fell to me. Those last couple of weeks in September I was on a steep learning curve and feeling a little overwhelmed trying to find a balance in everything.

October

Wall art – notes, cards, and art from home.

I finally found my rhythm as the interim-manager, and stopped feeling so overwhelmed with the new duties. I began to train two new ladies to work at the desk, so that I could do more of the manager stuff without overwhelming myself – they are doing so well, and fit right into our crazy little family! It isn’t a job that I would have volunteered for, but I’m finding that I actually enjoy it now that there’s a rhythm to it. It’s still hard being the “boss-meri” (aka, boss lady), and I’ve messed up and been rather grace-less a lot; but the Lord has been meeting me right there, and giving me the strength for each day as it comes.

You’re never smarter than the other critters that want your bananas.

Josh and I have an awesome support system here, and everyone pulled together to help get the job done and not overwhelm or burnout anyone. A doctor from Northern Ireland came at just the right time to help with patients right at the same time one of our nurses left for more schooling in the States. Two ladies began training at the front desk so that we could all share the load four-ways, instead of two. I was lucky not to reach burnout, which so often happens with missionaries, but I can absolutely see how easy it would be to do:

Long-term mission work is a marathon, not a sprint, and it really does take a team to support and encourage you to keep going both physically, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally.

Making my own fall.

THANK YOU for being a part of that team for Josh and I! Your prayers, financial support, texts, emails, and letters are such an encouragement to us! They allow us to survive over here, and to keep going even when things get hard. They remind us of the bigger picture of God’s Kingdom work. They remind us that we’re not forgotten. They remind us that we’re loved. Again, thank you! 

july highlights

How can it be August already? Howww?? Time is moving way too fast right now.

I thought that summer would be slow and boring, but boy, was I wrong. It has been so busy and so full that I’m not sure I can even remember everything we’ve done! I just know that there hasn’t been much time for rest, or blogging.

A lovely day for a lunch date with my hubby! 📷: Erin Verdonck

July was super busy for us. The flight department is usually busier in the summer, what with people both coming and going for breaks, furlough’s, or new assignments. This means that Josh has been working full-time, and sometimes more, since he has two full-time jobs that he is doing right now. Pilot and flight coordinator. He’s been doing more flying lately, which is so encouraging, and he’s really enjoyed getting the experience, as well as seeing and encouraging our bush missionaries when he gets to see them, or fly them out for a break. The flight coordinator position is harder, since it requires organizing cargo, passengers, airplanes, fuel, weight, and personnel.

Amazing sights! An active volcano and a beautiful waterfall. 📷: Josh Verdonck

Just one of the many missionary families Josh gets to fly and encourage! 📷: Josh Verdonck

July also marked 1 year since we arrived in Papua New Guinea, and the first time in 3 years that we’ve lived in one place for more than 3 months. Woo! To celebrate, we went out to lunch with our E2 Orientation class (all 2 of them) and just hung out; there’s a special bond between us, since they were really our first friends in this country, and the ones we learned language and culture with.

Our E2 Orientation people. Me, Josh, Freddy, and Melanie. Just missing Brooks and Nina! 📷: Melanie Keeney

July also meant no doctor at our clinic: one is on furlough, and the other went to see his son get married. There was a temporary doctor who came to check out our clinic, and to get her feet wet in third-world doctoring. In hindsight, the Lord was in it all, because she came just in time and for just long enough, to help with a very serious and very scary medevac to Australia. During a medevac the medical clinic, headquarters, and NTMA all work veryclosely to complete all of the necessary (and enormous amounts of) paperwork: securing an accepting doctor in Australia, communicating with insurance companies, getting the airplane prepped, and keeping the patient alive (an wayyy more). During this medevac, it seemed that whatever could go wrong did go wrong. It was long hours of waiting, lots of prayers, and countless phone calls. It was chaos and tears. But it was also incredible: our team here is amazing, jumping to do what needed to be done and then some; and I think we’re all a little bit closer now. It probably sounds heartless since a woman was dying, but I felt alive during the whole thing, and I truly believe it was the Lord using it to show me that I am right where I should be. In the end… it was vibrant life, unspeakable joy, miraculous recovery, and glory to God.

The flight side of the medevac. This is the transition as our medical staff hands-off the patient to the hospital. 📷: Josh Verdonck

The medical clinic office side of things. Jessie, Me, and Dr. Shelly working together. 📷: Josh Verdonck

Another exciting thing that July held: cream. Yes, cream. Do you remember my post about how grocery shopping here is a lesson in hoarding? A lesson in appreciating what you have when you have it because you never know when it might disappear again? Well, it’s still true today. There has been no cream (the beautiful heavy kind for whipping, or pouring in your coffee) in the whole country since March. Have you ever tried baking and cooking with no cream; it eliminates a huge number of recipes. Well, it just came back into the store, and I definitely did a happy dance right there in front of the cooler. Luckily, everyone else was just as excited as I was, so my insanity wasn’t soobvious. I’ve learned that happiness comes in all forms, including a blue box of cream.

Insert all the heart eyes and happy faces.

I think those are the main highlights of July. I can’t wait to see what August will bring. Already it has brought some much-needed rain!

currently

I’ve been a bit gun-shy since my last post. I shared all about my trip into the bush to help put on a little preventative clinic for a village; since most of you who read here regularly know I work in the medical clinic this shouldn’t surprise you. However, the rest of the world is not as knowledgeable or understanding as you, and I encountered something I’ve never had to before: hate mail. Hundreds of hateful comments between Facebook, this blog, and my personal email.

The post and comments have since been removed, but the sting is still there, making me wary of writing again. The hateful comments, while they certainly hurt, are not the thing that upset me the most. It’s the ignorance. The ignorance that these treatable diseases are making a comeback, with deadly results in places like PNG where they can wipe out entire villages because there’s no access to treatment. Even if you choose not to vaccinate your children, they won’t die because there is help easily available there if they do get sick. You don’t have to watch your baby suffer and die from hepatits, or measles, or whooping cough, or tetanus. Without help, these village mamas do.

Sweet village mamas with their babies. 📷: Erin Verdonck

Apart from that, life here has been pretty quiet. Since graduation at the beginning of June, a lot of people have left for summer break or home assignment. At the end of July, many will return and many new people will arrive. Until then, I’m loving the quiet of the center, and the easy, relaxed attitude that is permeating the center. It helps that “summer” is a little cooler in this hemisphere, as it’s technically fall/winter on this half of the world. We don’t get much variation in temperature, but the cool mornings and evenings are a nice change.

A quiet day at the clinic front desk. 📷: Erin Verdonck

Josh has been flying and/or riding along a lot lately. In addition to flight time, he’s the flight coordinator in the hangar. This has been good, as it keeps him busy, plus he’s getting more experience in-country. Win-win! The Kodiaks have been a huge blessing here. They have opened up more opportunities to fly into our more remote, and far away areas. Once a week or so, a team of two pilots will fly to one of these areas and stay there for a night or two to get all of the flying done in that area. This is a huge encouragement to the missionaries there, who are often quite isolated.

Missionary aviation is dirty work – but someone’s gotta do it! 📷: Josh Verdonck

We’ve also had a couple med-evacs from the tribe to our clinic lately. As one of the receptionists in our clinic, I get to work closely with NTMA’s flight coordinator (my hunky husband), to arrange transport for these med-evacs. It’s always amazing to me to watch our team here in PNG pull together to help out in these situations. Between the guest house preparing rooms for them, to people making meals for them and the clinic the staff, to people all over praying, to NTMA being on-call for a possible evac to Australia, to our nurses and doctors (and even receptionists) pulling all-nighters to give the best care they can. This is what the Church is; this is 1 Corinthians 12 in action, and it’s amazing.

Josh flying a med-evac. 📷: Josh Verdonck

Josh with one of our nurses and team transporting our med-evac patient 📷: Koen Verdonck

tribal trip

Last week I mentioned that I was heading into a tribal location to help our medical staff run a vaccine clinic, but due to some inclement weather on both ends, it was delayed until the next day.

View from my window. Michaela Huebner

Since we knew that the weather in this location can get real bad real fast, we opted for a dawn departure to make sure we got in before the weather turned sour. This means leaving our center at 5am, driving to the hangar where minimal staff prep and load the airplane so we can leave by the time the sun rises. After about 30 minutes in the air, and a breathtaking sunrise, we landed on an airstrip that’s about a six-hour hike from the village we were aiming for.

Tribal airstrip. 6 hours from our final destination. See the helicopter waiting for us?

Everyone in the area comes to watch the missionaries unload from one aircraft and reload into another. They don’t talk, just watch. Michaela Huebner

This particular airstrip is on a mountain ridge-top that seems to be just long and just wide enough for it. There isn’t much on either side except trees and rocks heading straight down. Oh, and you land going up hill (take off going downhill). It’s a fantastic sight!

On the return journey, I got to sit in the front seat!

We were met there by a helicopter that would shuttle us and cargo in 2 groups over to the village; I’m so glad we could skip the six-hour hike! This was my first ever bush trip, and I had no idea what to expect. Once on the ground, we were greeted by the whole village! They lined up from the “heli-pad” to the door of the makeshift clinic so that we could shake everybody’s hand and greet them.

That’s a lot of hands to shake! Chris Walker

After the first “group” of handshakes was a wall of greenery; big palm branches and banana leaves formed a beautiful arch. Suddenly music and singing came from behind the green wall – there was a group of guitars serenading us as we walked through the green arch, received a beautiful hand-woven lei (marigolds and hibiscus) from the young women of the village, and shook even more hands right up to the door! It was a welcome I’ll never forget.

Shaking hands and taking selfies is super hard.

Since our time was limited to a one day clinic instead of two, we jumped right to work. One of our nurses showed me how to draw vaccines from the vials into the syringes, and gave me a lesson in shot-giving. We set up different stations: a “check-in” where some of the church/village leaders greeted and signed in patients, recording their names and ages. Next was a washing station, where arms and legs were washed with soap and water so the shots could be given without introducing infection. Next patients received up to 5 vaccines (some oral). Finally, there was the lollypop station, where everyone received a reward for letting us stick them with needles.

Everyone is going to sit and wait their turn.

They let me give shots! Chris Walker

We started with the kids, and went until we were finished with all ~250 of them before we broke for lunch. I learned that squirming and screaming kids are really hard to give shots to, and that leg muscles (when squeezed tightly) can bend a needle.

We finished with the kids about lunch time and when I looked outside I saw – nothing! It was completely socked in with clouds. Not rain, not fog, not mist – normal clouds. Because of the elevation and location of this village, the clouds just roll right through the village in the middle of the day.

That’s the missionaries house, in the middle of the day.

Lunch was simple and quick – pizza rolls, and for those of us brave enough to try it – roasted guinea pig. Yes, you read that right. Hey, I tried it!

After lunch we got back to work, this time vaccinating all the adults.  At the end of the day we saw about 440 people from two villages, and gave somewhere in the ballpark of 2000 vaccines.

We all went to bed really early, and were up early for another dawn departure to reverse the process (helicopter, Kodiak) to take us back home. It was a whirlwind, but so amazing to be a part of! Preaching isn’t always with a Bible, sometimes it’s by giving vaccines to keep a village healthy so they can live long enough to become missionaries themselves.

Wish I had gotten a picture of this sweet, chunky baby! And later we had to give him shots. 😦 Chris Walker

the quest for kodiaks

Three years ago, New Tribes Mission Aviation’s quest for a Kodiak for Papua New Guinea began. It was one based on the need to replace our older, less efficient 206 program with the newer, more efficient (and let’s face it, much cooler) aircraft, the Quest Kodiak. This is an airplane designed by bush pilots with missions in mind. It can take off heavier and faster, and land shorter than the 206’s we were flying, plus it’s big squishy tires means it doesn’t tear up the grass strips our missionaries work so hard to build and maintain.

Josh and I standing with Kodiak #3

The decision was made to replace the six 206’s with just 3 Kodiaks. This would use the same amount of pilots, but with two man crews and increased payload, it would be more efficient and ultimately cheaper for our missionaries. At 2.5 million dollars an airplane, this was not a cheap goal… but nothing is impossible for our God.

NTMA sent a pilot to PNG to begin flying another mission’s Kodiak, building his in-country hours, increasing his training, and kickstarting our own Kodiak program. The drawback? NTMA didn’t own a Kodiak, and only had about $10,000 towards the first one. But the Lord honored their step of faith, and within months of sending Jon Leedahl to PNG, the first Kodiak was purchased. You probably remember the rest, that Jon was in a life-threatening accident which resulted in his leg being amputated above the knee. This was disheartening and humbling, reminding all of NTMA that everything, including airplanes, personnel, and training is in God’s hands.

In order to drive that reminder home some more, God brought along some generous donors who bought the second and third Kodiaks for Papua New Guinea! Now we had 3 brand new Kodiaks ready to be outfitted and ferried across the Pacific Ocean to Papua New Guinea.

Our team!

On May 5, 2016 the third and final Kodiak landed in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, ready to begin serving the people and missionaries we love so much. It was a time of worship, thankfulness, excitement, and relief that it had finally made it (and there would be no more headache of importing an airplane). Within just a few days, it was up and flying along with its two sisters.

It’s humbling to be a part of this small piece of history… the quest for a Kodiak, and the closing of one program to open a new one. It’s very clear that God was in these airplanes’ journeys from the beginning, and He will continue to be there as these aircraft fly personnel, groceries, building materials, Bibles, medicine, and other supplies in order to support our missionaries planting and building churches in the some of the most remote places in the world.

Three answers to prayers! Photo by Ryan Farran

On a completely unrelated to aviation note… Here’s a couple more fun things: 

• I love Downton Abbey, and so do a lot of other ladies here. Unfortunately, due to our location it takes a long time for us to actually see stuff. But one of my dear friends’ mum gifted her (and us!) with the final season of Downton. We watched them all over a couple of weeks, and then had a lovely tea so we could watch the finale together. There were all sorts of sandwiches, dainties, and of course, tea. It was such a fun evening pulling party “crackers”, drinking with our pinkies out, and being dressed up in our best Downton garb! 🙂
• Yesterday I celebrated my 25th birthday! It was pretty low key, which is just how I like it. 
• Today I was supposed to fly into one of our bush locations with some of our medical staff in order to run an immunization clinic for their village. Unfortunately, due to bad weather on both ends, we had to reschedule our flight for tomorrow at dawn. 

My Downton inspired outfit.