Matt and Amanda

Matt:

I have been on the field in Papua, Indonesia now for two years now.  It has been a dream since I was a kid to be able to serve in Papua.  After the tsunami hit Sumatra, Indonesia in 2004, I dropped out of my maintenance school and my dad and I left for Sumatra.  We were with Samaritan's Purse and their aviation department.  It was during this time that I saw just how vital helicopters are to saving lives.  My main job was to load the helicopter, refuel it, and to help with maintenance.  It was a great month of serving the people of Sumatra, and after that I was all in for Helicopter Ministry.  Since my dad flew helicopters with MAF in Papua, we had a lot of contacts with Helimission.  Helimission took over the helicopter missions for MAF and a few pilots swapped from MAF to Helimission.  I contacted Helimission right away and then 12 years later I'm serving the Papuan people with the useful tool of a Helicopter.  I have really enjoyed learning the language and building relationships with the locals here.  I'm currently serving mostly as a mechanic keeping our aircraft safe for the rugged terrain we fly in.  I just obtained my Indonesian pilots license and am awaiting the check out process with our Chief Pilot to fly here in Papua.  Over the past year and a half of not flying, God has been teaching me patience.  I get so focused on time and feel that I need to get things done right now.  But, we serve a God that is outside of time and he cares more about who we are rather then what we do.  I have always told people, "I'm here to serve" and I think God was testing that in me.  I found out that is very easy to say, but much harder to live out.  I love flying and wasn't sure why God wasn't letting me fly, and it was hard to watch my friends get to fly while I was grounded.  But, God got me to the point of serving in whatever capacity was needed, and loving it!  I told God that he always has a pilot ready to serve when He needs one, and for some reason, that time is now.  But it isn't instant....again I have to wait for the check out process, but God is good and has taught me a lot about Him and myself in the past two years.  He also taught me that God is willing to use me in ways I am not "equipped" for.  As long as we are willing to be used by God, he will supply the "skills" we need to perform them.  From the bottom of my heart I want to thank all of you that support and pray for me to serve the people in Papua!  

Amanda:

I came into this world in 1986 in the great state of Montana.  My family moved to Washington state when I was 12 years old for a job opportunity.  As I continued to grow up I knew all about God and I knew all the right things to say, but they started to seem more like well rehearsed stories rather than truths that were alive in my heart. In my late teens my heart was rebellious toward God and my parents, but Jesus wasn't done with me! He began to change my heart, bringing me back to Him. I am so thankful for His grace and mercy. I was raised in church and my mom tells me I asked Jesus in my heart when I was three years old.  When I was 12 years old my eyes were opened to missions and I was very interested. I still have the Bible I wrote in all those years ago saying, "I know God is calling me to missions."  For years I wondered where this would lead me.  

In my early twenties He led me to Mars Hill church, and I am so thankful that He did!  I have grown so much,  learned so much, and fallen so much deeper in love with Jesus. This is where I met Matt as well. Matt knew he would be going overseas with Helimission when I met him, so he made sure I had a heart for missions.  All these years later and NOW I knew where that call to missions would lead. Now Matt and I are on the same path toward Papua Indonesia working with Helimission. God is SO good, and so faithful, gracious and wonderful. 

Our Family:

We met at a weekly Bible study through our church. On the first date Matt asked all the hard hitting questions, such as "Do you love Jesus?" he was about to ask how Amanda felt about missions when she beat him to it. She wanted to do missions. It is amazing how God works.  We got married in July, 2011.  We had Grace two years later and now Audrey just came to be with us!  We are loving our life serving in Papua!  It is a great place to raise kids and its fun to watch them interact with the locals!  We have a lot of fun together whether its going on adventures, serving in our local church, or just doing life in Wamena!  

 We even had a helicopter at our wedding! 

Our sweet little Grace