Ibu Deby inside MAF Hospital House
The woman is 32, with a daughter who will turn 4 a month after my own daughter does. Ibu Deby’s older kids are back in their village—they have to go to school. So, they can’t wait with her in town as she undergoes chemotherapy treatments at the hospital. […]
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 […]
I am so uncomfortable right now.
It’s not that I’m physically uncomfortable, though I am. I’m sitting on a concrete floor with my bare feet tucked under me, trying not to elbow the woman to my left or knock over the open candle on the floor to my right.
But it’s not that.
I’m uncomfortable […]
My first day in Jakarta, jet-lagged and culture shocked, with Ethan (3 ½) and Ellie (4 months).
In January, on our two year anniversary of living and serving here, a deep homesickness hit me—HARD. This was a different kind of homesickness than what I had periodically experienced since leaving the US. There was […]
Dear Scooter,
We’re such good friends now that this may come as a shock, but here’s the truth.
I didn’t like you at first.
In fact, I fought long, hard and tearfully to keep you out of my life. My husband wanted you from nearly the minute we landed in Indonesia, but not me. People said I’d […]
MAF pilots are required to regularly inspect the airstrips where we fly to ensure that our standards for runway maintenance are kept appropriately. Last week I went to Ilu to check over the runway. It’s a nice long runway, but it’s perpendicular to the valley, which means there is a tight little turn at about […]