It's Indonesia day at the Candle in the Corner event! 



I realize I'm a little early - this is supposed to be up at midnight EST, and right now it's not even 8 pm EST. But... our internet has been very unstable lately, and I wanted to make sure I am able to get this posted! So, better early than never, right? 

Mission Aviation Fellowship missionaries

in Wamena, Papua, Indonesia 

Where is that?! 

Well, let’s start with Indonesia. It’s North of Australia, Southeast of Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore, South of the Philippines, and West of… well, the Pacific Ocean! 

It’s made up of thousands of islands, and has a population of about 180 million, 2/3 of which live on the island of Java.  We live in the province of Papua (on the very right in the picture above), which has a population of only about 2.5 million.  Papua is part of the island of New Guinea – the other half of the island is the country of Papua New Guinea (much like the countries of Haiti and Dominican Republic share an island.) 

Above is the island of Papua. MAF has families in 6 cities in Papua. We live in the highlands of Papua, in a town called Wamena. Wamena boasts the distinction of being the largest city in the world supported entirely by air. That means everything we buy and use here (aside from local produce) is flown in on airplanes. EVERYTHING – paint, cement, cars, flour, sugar, apples, etc etc. As you can imagine, it gets pretty expensive to live here!!!

Where we live - the little town of Wamena.

The MAF base where we live.

Papua is quite different from other islands in Indonesia. For one thing, the native Papuan people are different from the rest of Indonesians.  Their looks are different, and unfortunately they’re treated differently by Indonesians – as almost sub-human. In fact, they don’t even consider themselves Indonesian most of the time – they say “We’re Papuan, and they’re Indonesian.”  It is a challenge for many missionaries here to teach Papuan people of their value in Christ, even while those around them are trying to tell them that they have little to no value.

Another difference with Papua is that while the rest of Indonesia is heavily M*slim, Papua is considered to be a “Christian” province. What does that mean? Probably about as much as America being considered a “Christian” nation. There are lots of churches here (although there are more and more m*sques popping up all over the place) and just about everyone goes to church, but I’m not really sure how much their nominal faith affects their daily life. Please pray for the people of Papua – that they would understand that their faith in Christ affects their WHOLE life! 

Dan with some of the Papuans in an airstrip he serves.

What do we do here in Papua?  Well, my husband Dan is a missionary pilot with Mission Aviation Fellowship.  He flies Cessna aircraft (the C-206, for those of you who know airplane-type things!) from Wamena into small jungle airstrips, many of which are barely longer than an aircraft carrier!  He flies foreign missionaries, national pastors, church leaders, and also does quite a few emergency flights.   Recently he was able to make the very first flight into a brand-new airstrip. The people in this particular village had been working on building the airstrip for NINE years!  How exciting to be able to open this village up to the gospel! 

Dan landing in a remote airstrip.

One of the Cessna aircraft my husband flies.

A typical scene at the villages Dan flies into - it's pretty exciting for them when the airplane comes in, so just about everyone turns out for the event!

And what about me? Well, right now my life is pretty wrapped up in my two small kids – Natalie who will be 4 in 2 weeks, and Claire who is 1 ½.  My family is my primary ministry right now. I also help with hospitality, guesthouse, and other ministries here in MAF.  My blog mostly chronicles what our life is like here in remote Indonesia, and stories & pictures of our family.

The market where I get my fruits and vegetables.

(this picture is about 2 years old - I'm pregnant with Claire, and Natalie's only a little older than Claire is right now!)

A common sight around Wamena - the rickshaw-like "becak" is the local transportation, and the guy walking next to him is wearing typical native dress (or lack thereof!)

Another "naked gourd guy" as I like to call them!

Oh! What is my contribution to the giveaway? I’m glad you asked!

I’m giving away 2 items from Indonesia.

The first comes from Java, where we attended language school.

This is a wall hanging or table runner made with Indonesian batik fabrics. It was made by a Christian quilting/sewing ministry called Agape Craft.  It is beautifully hand-quilted.

Second is a hand-woven basket from the island of Papua, where we live.
 It comes from a co-op called Let-let Crafts. "Let-let" means "lifting
one another up" in the local language. This co-op provides jobs and
income for people in remote villages.  It is made of indigenous
materials that have been used for centuries here in Papua to make
handcrafted items.

Here are the two items together.

Oh, and I may be throwing in a small surprise item (not pictured here!)