Living in the Unknown

Hi Friends,

The front room to our future home!

This past week our family traveled to Wamena where we will soon be living.  We went up there for meetings with the whole team and headquarters.  It was a very nice time to be together and talk about some of the changes we are going through.
 

One exciting thing is for that week we were able to live in our future home.  The other exciting thing is that we were able to open our crate from the states with all our stuff!  That was an exciting time unpacking things we haven't seen for over a year! 

On Tuesday we had a personal meeting with the team from headquarters just so they were able to answer any questions we may have.  One question that I had was about my colorblindness and the issue we have been having with the Indonesian government not allowing colorblind pilots fly.  I asked headquarters what they are hoping to do in this case as I will not be able to pass the colorblind test that they have at this point.  I also told them that if we decide not to pursue getting my medical to fly at this point it would not change my service here in Papua.  Before the meeting I had found a company that creates contacts/glasses that corrects colorblindness and guarentees I would be able to pass the above colorblind test.  I emailed them and found out it is a $9000 consultation.  I sent them an email explaining that I am a missionary pilot and that we are living in Indonesia to help the people here in many ways and by the end I asked them to donate the consultation for us.  So, please pray that the owner is a Christian and is willing to donate for this, but we also understand that God knows why he has me here.  We decided that even though I am capable of being a pilot, we will wait on the pursuance of the medical until this "closed door" is open. 

Many people have asked me how am I doing with this decision and to be honest I believe God knows what he is doing.  When I was in the states God opened the door for my flying career through a similar case of colorblindness testing and over the 10 years I prepared for being here God has proven faithful many times through my flying.  I have to remember that God works outside of time and that even though I could have been on the field 5 years earlier as a mechanic God allowed me to go through what I did to work on who I am.  God cares about who I am not what I bring to the table for his kingdom.  While we were unpacking after this meeting we opened a letter from my dad that was about living in the unknown.  It was written while we were packing up our life and moving out here to Papua and how we didn't know how everything would play out, but when we read the letter all the "unknowns" were now known and we could see how God directed us through it all.  Here we are again in the uknown: we don't know why God would call me to give 5 years of my life for training and not use it right know, or why he even opened the door to let me fly all.  But we know that if God needs a pilot he will make it happen.  Maybe right now He needs more mechanics. 

Another friend of our's, Wally, encouraged me with the story of Moses.  Moses was equipped as an Egyptian.  When God asked him what is in his hand (or in other words what is your skill), Moses had his staff.  (I have my licenses, a toolbox, a helmet, etc.)  God didn't care what credentials Moses had, he cared that he was willing to do what God asked him to do with his staff.  I feel this is the same right now for me, God doesn't care that I am a pilot, He cares about my willingness to serve! 

So, how am I doing?  I truly feel at peace giving up my wings until God needs me to use them.  I really am here to serve in any capacity needed even if it isn't what I expected.  I believe God is good and works outside of time and when I look back over my training maybe God just wanted me to meet Amanda, or to have stories to lean on about how miraculously God provided for me so when times are hard I will know the heart of our God.  Being here is not about flying its about serving!  We are at peace with this descision and I hope this encourages you too!

Here are some photos of our home and opening our crate!  Love you all!

Opening our boxes and found some fun stuff!

The cement thing is our water tank

Oh boy what's in this one?

Excited about pots and pans!

Washing all the dishes because our crate was full of cockroaches!

Our living room

Our office!

Our pantry room!