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.
Natalie’s parents enjoying their grandchildren in Papua.
Sometimes people tell me they couldn’t do what we do, that it must take a special kind of bravery to face the myriad challenges of life overseas.
But I think my parents have the harder job, and a kind of courage all their own. My husband and I […]
Recently I shed happy tears. I love happy tears, especially since I usually shed sad, hormonal, frustrated, or angry tears.
The Holsten family with Orpa.
We traveled from our home in Papua across the country of Indonesia to Kalimantan, where we served for 10 years, and had a “taste of heaven” reunion […]
What’s it like to move across town in Indonesia?
It’s 17 pickup truck and car loads of our stuff, carted across town to our new house. For two of those loads I was at the steering wheel of the truck, nervous and driving like a granny to avoid potholes (which in this country is […]
Sentani team Thanksgiving, 2012. Photo by Erica Feunekes.
When we first moved overseas, I wondered how it would be celebrating various holidays, especially my favorite one, Thanksgiving. Without crisp, cool weather, my grandmother’s dressing, and post-feast football, what would Thanksgiving be like? Is it even possible in the tropics?
Tarakan team Thanksgiving, 2010. […]
Last week I transported a missionary. That’s what MAF’s all about, right? Only I’m not a pilot, and I wasn’t flying a plane. I was just being who I am, an MAF wife, driving home from my part-time teaching gig at my kids’ school, when I saw a spry elderly lady hauling two bulging shopping […]
Ladies basketball gets a little crazy…
As I bent low to catch a pass, I felt searing pain in my left pinky. Fearing a sprain, I lifted my hand and cried out when I saw my finger sticking out at a sickening 90-degree angle. Thankfully my friend and fellow MAF’er Karen, who’s a nurse, was also […]