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!

Language and Giant Fish...

Hi friends.  I just had to clean up all the cobwebs on my blog....it has been abandoned since December.  Yikes!  It is funny, moving here it has made me wonder what to say.  Words have not come so easy.  But I feel some blogs coming on.  So be on the watch! =) 

I wanted to share with you what we are doing! We are growing in our language skills!   I LOVE it when I can go out in the town and have a full and successful conversation with someone!  Let me tell you, I never knew I could do this......learning another language, much less while being a mom and wife.  But I am, I am DOING this.  My language is not perfect obviously....and some days I have to fight off the frustration of wanting to be fluent NOW!  =)   But it is coming, and really, that is amazing!  It is truly amazing for me to see the biggest barrier between the people and myself slowly coming down.....brick by brick....or should I say word by word, as I learn more and more how to talk with them, reach out to them, and just be their friend.

Studying words. 

Jesus is so faithful.  moving to this place has tested us, changed us, at times made me a total grump, at times made me full to the brim with joy.  But more to come on that in the future.
Just to say that Jesus is more than faithful to us in real and awesome ways.

It is flashcard central around here.  Grace added some artwork on a few.....free of charge





My friend.  Her name is Silvia, and she is awesome.  She is an answer to prayer.  She is on fire for Jesus, she is fun, and kind, and a wonderful language helper!  She has turned into a wonderful friend.  She helps me understand so much!  Many times she tells me all about culture here.  Such an important thing to understand as well as the language!  In these photos she is helping me understand the culture of women in the mountain regions!  So....we dressed the part!  Enjoy! =)

SO FOR THE BIG FISH PART!  Last monday we went fishing with Jared...(Matt's friend since childhood)  He knows Matt from when Matt's family lived out here.  We woke at 3am, Grace came with us.  The first thing she said when she woke up was "wahoo, we going fishing!"  She stayed awake on the long ride to the beach and as we waited for our boat to show up.  She finally got that glossed over look while sitting on the boat eating her breakfast of champions (pringles) I held her and she was OUT in 2 min.  I made a nest for her at the front of the boat, where she slept for most of the trip.....(except when we caught our fish) 

We had been fishing about an hour when Matt hooked into a fish!  YES!!!!!  Best feeling ever!  He fought the fish in.  It was a Tinggiri!  I thought "wow! what a big fish!"  The boys proceeded to tell me that this was a BABY tinggiri!
About 45 min later I hooked into a fish "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ" goes my line.  The fish was a big boy. I could tell by the way it pulled out the line.  About 100 feet of line!  I thought for sure I was going to run out of line!  I fought the fish (with coaching from Matt and Jared) for about 15 min.   When we got it to the boat, Jared gaffed it, and we LANDED it!  GIANT TINGGIRI!  Aka King Mackarel!  Oh wow!   That was my favorite catch ever.   Thanks God for sharing your fish with us! 

My little blue eyed, adventurous, fisherwoman.

Matt's fish! First catch of the day! Starting us off right babe! 

Little fisherwoman is all tuckered out. 

Now introducing......my giant Tinggiri!

My little fisherwoman in her pink princess pajamas holding a slimy fish.  High heel wearing Four wheeling kind of gal. =) 

AHHH!!  So exciting! 

Add caption

the fishing crew!

Our freezer is full! 

Thanks for reading friend!  Come visit us!  =) =)

Happy Valentines Day! We are thankful for you.

Amanda <3 p="">

A Medical Evacuation Flight

Our Landing at 6500'

On Saturday morning I woke up at my friend Ben's house.  He is a pilot/mechanic with Helimission and I first got to meet him and Anisha when we attended our first Candidacy Decision Camp with Helimission in Switzerland in 2009!  Well he was busy trying to get cell service as it isn't so great in Wamena sometimes.  I grabbed a shower and when I was done Ben told me we have a medevac (medical evacuation) today and that I would be allowed to sit in the back if I wanted.  I was more than eager to see what it's like to fly in Papua, so I accepted.  The other pilot, Tim, who was supposed to fly asked if I wanted to fly instead!  I was so excited!  This was going to be my first flight with Helimission!  I have been working towards this for over 10 years and now it was going to happen.  We preflighted the helicopter, planned our flight, pushed it out and fueled up.  Ben explained the startup for me and then we spooled up, introduced fuel and poof, the engine started to go, and the blades began to spin.  After all our checks were done we called the control tower and we were cleared to take off.  We started the flight at an elevation of 5100' and we cruised at 7500' at around 100 knots/hour.  What an amazing helicopter.  21 minutes later we landed at our destination and landed at around 6500'.  Tim and Nus got out to find the patient and see his condition.  It was going to be a bit so we shut the helicopter down.  After the blades stopped turning Ben and I walked down to the Honai to figure out the plan.  Well the patient wasn't able to walk up the steep terrain to the helicopter so we were going to have to land right next to his Honai.  Ben and I walked back up the steep trail while Tim stayed below to help guide us in.  We started up and repositioned near the Honai, and the patient was loaded while I kept the helicopter running.  Once everyone was on board we picked up, had to back out of our spot and then when clear of obstacles we turned and headed right to the hospital.  Ben did the approach into the hospital as it was a fairly tight spot, and I didn't know quite where it was.  Once we landed he gave the controls to me and he got out to unload the patient onto the stretcher.  When he was clear we took off and landed back at the Helimission hangar. 

I love the silhouette of the people!

It was such a surreal moment for me to start that Helicopter and to be able to finally use the talents God gave me to save a life!  I talked with some people and they said that to walk to the village would take 3 days for a fast walker just to get there.  Without the Helicopter this man would never make it to the hospital.  The terrain here is so rugged.  There was an airstrip just a mile away as the bird flies, but to get there you would have to walk down almost 3500' and back up 3500'.  When I was in the village the people were so thankful that we came.  One lady was crying while she shook my hand and kept saying thank you over and over and touched her heart then mine.  It almost made me cry!  I wasn't able to take a lot of photos as I was flying, but was able to film the whole flight with the go pro and Tim also filmed for me from the back seat and he filmed the approach to the Honai.  I will try to make a short film and upload it, but the internet bandwidth is small here so no guarantees.  I hope you enjoy the photos, and I want to thank all of you who have supported or are supporting us to be here!  Thank you for investing into God's kingdom and into the lives of the Papuans!  They are very thankful and so am I!

It is hard to capture the setting

My first landing with Helimission

Ben cascading down to the patient

Ben and a Honai

This is where the patient was

We had to reposition the helicopter
to the left of that honai

Just beautiful

That machine has saved many lives

The red line is my route of flight from Helimission to Mobianggama and back!

Bakar Batu! A true cultural experience!

A bakar batu is a lot like a luau in Hawaii.....except Papua style....so really it is quite different. =)   Warning! The bakar batu started with the killing of the pig, so if you don't want to see photos of this....then stop now. =)

We recently went to Wamena for our second visit!  Wamena is a 40 min flight away.  =)  We went for the big Helimission Christmas party!  It was the first time the current Helimission team has been ALL together.  =)  We had a great time!   The party was for the Indonesian and Papuan workers with Helimssion.  There was balloon art, face painting, pinatas, a nativity skit, singing of Christmas carols and gift giving! It was such a special day!  

The Bakar Batu started off with a bang! The killing of the pig.  It made my stomach churn, but I had to watch.  It was a true cultural experience.  It was fun seeing all the work and all the different rolls. 

When it was time to eat, I tried everything! Go me! =)   It was actually pretty good! =)  

I will let the pictures speak for themselves.  =)  

Here is a Bakar Batu!  A true cultural experience!

burning off the first layer of skin and hair. 

heating the hot rocks to cook the pig and veggies

party girl

face painting for all the sweet kids. 

most wanted a helimission heliboo! =) 

Grace had miss Adria paint some cute pink hearts

Pig bladder makes a great balloon. =) 

Of course Matt had to get in on the fun! 

Hot rocks moved with giant homemade tweezers! 

after she realized the pig was dead and that we were going to eat it, she said she wanted the pig spicy....I'd say she's adjusting well. ;) 

Corn being added.  Everything is added layer by layer

Adults getting in on the fun! 

My friend working hard making sure the kids are well supplied with balloons

All the helimission men together for the first time! 

I love this photo! 

Made a friend in Wamena already.  Looking forward to spending some time with her.  

seasoning the meat

love this guy and his heart for people! 

finishing up.  Time to let it cook for two hours!

Everyone who helped make the bakar batu happen! =) 

blowing bubbles with his hands

waiting in line to hit the piñata!  Grace chickened out.  lol

Grace and uncle Tom

Grumpy little nativity bunny needs a nap! 

daddy is a good shepherd watching out for this little bunny! 

Oh gosh. Too much cuteness

tired bunny

Nativity skit!

and she is out!

the three kings bowing down to baby Jesus with their gifts

time to open up the pile! 

This was the ibu's (women/mommas)  job. 

Praying before our meal. 

first course.....eating the cooked greens