Natalie and her husband David joined MAF in 2000 and spent 17 years in Indonesia in the provinces of Kalimantan and Papua. In 2018 they relocated to MAF’s headquarters in Nampa, Idaho, where David now serves as President/CEO and Natalie writes for MAF and the local newspaper. They have four children and a miniature dachshund.
There are things we tolerate for love of our children. For me, one of those things is our cat.
Two years ago, a scrawny grey cat showed up at our house, and my kids immediately began showering love and affection up on it. Not being a cat-lover myself, I left the care of it to the […]
Do you hear what I hear? Unless you’ve got dub-step “Jingle Bells” coming at you from one side, and “We Wish You a Reggae Christmas” from the other, then probably not.
It’s Christmas season in Papua, which means Peak Noise, particularly in the form of Pondok Natal, or Christmas booths, which blast almost nonstop Christmas music […]
6 a.m. – I wake up and get the first load of laundry going. Christmas music is already blaring from a pondok Natal in the valley below us. I set out breakfast and sit down to read the Bible. I go out to check on the laundry and see one of our neighbors, Pak Pilipus, […]
In the gospel of Luke there’s an account of Jesus’ response to several people who have excuses for why they can’t follow him. One man says, “Let me go back and say goodbye to my family,” to which Jesus replies, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for […]
This week marks the 15th anniversary of 9/11, a day that will forever be etched in my memory.
Our family had just arrived in Indonesia to begin formal language study. We were so brand new, we could barely get around without a “handler” to help us.
It was actually September 12th in Indonesia when we heard the […]
So much of my life here centers around food – the procuring of it, the preparing of it, the cleaning up after it. It’s practically a full-time job. It never stops, and usually I’m a hot and sweaty mess by supper time.
But over the years I have found joy in cooking. I’m no Master Chef, […]