Story by Jeremy Toews, an MAF pilot in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

As I walked out to the little red and white airplane loaded floor-to-ceiling for my first solo flight as an MAF pilot in Borneo, I found it hard to believe the day had finally come. My first assignment was to deliver 730 pounds of supplies to a church in the town of Long Bawan, separated from the city of Tarakan by over 100 miles of jungle. As an MAF pilot in Kalimantan, I get to play a small role in enabling the ministries of the local Indonesian church, including the work of church planters, medical doctors, and Bible school teachers, as we all work together to make the name of Jesus Christ known throughout Kalimantan.

A medevac flight arrives at the Tarakan airport; from here, the patient will be transported to the hospital. Photo by Jeremy Toews.

Every day we meet physical needs of these remote communities, virtually inaccessible except by air, by delivering building supplies, medicine, and teachers; providing medevac services, and so on.

After dropping off my load in Long Bawan, I brought five passengers back to Tarakan. Upon arrival, the entire MAF team, families and all, had gathered to observe the MAF tradition of soaking the newly-soloed pilot with buckets of ice water. Very refreshing!

Jeremy, right, is doused with water while teammate Peter Neal, left, shakes his hand (and gets caught in the crossfire). Photo by Tyler Schmidt.

This was so much more than a celebration of a personal milestone. This was about what God is doing in Borneo, redeeming people from every tribe and language. It was a celebration of all of us as the body of Christ, including all of you back “home” enabling us to be here, working together to make disciples of all nations. And that is something worth celebrating.

“…there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” —Revelation 7:9 (NIV)