Tag Archives: Papua

Messy Rooms: Struggling with Transition

It was time for my family to leave language school in Salatiga, Central Java, and relocate to the MAF base in Sentani, Papua, on a completely different island of Indonesia. Our lives were packed up again; moving, again. Friends came to say good-bye, and we smiled for the pictures while our hearts were breaking. […]

Quick to Kindness

Within the first few days of arriving in Papua, I witnessed an act of kindness that would be the first of many experienced here.

After eating dinner with an MAF family, they took us out to get some dessert. We stopped at their favorite little smoothie shack to order some cold mango drinks. While we waited […]

New Year’s Fireworks

Fireworks over the airport runway at Nabire, Papua, Indonesia.

When we first moved to Papua in December of 2012, I was quite surprised to see fireworks being sold in the remote highland town of Wamena. Dozens of stands popped up alongside the road where you could buy any kind of firework, for a price. […]

Generations of Innovation

In 1964 violent uprisings gripped the country that is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Missionaries found themselves in increasing danger and needed to escape before the fighting claimed their lives. Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) played a key role in these evacuations. While airplanes were obviously integral, according to decades-old reports and testimonies, another […]

Boomerang Blessing

Linda (left) and Esther.

Friends of ours, Wes and Esther Dale, live in the interior village of Mamit. They are amazing missionaries from Australia who have served in Papua for many years. So, when Dave asked if I’d like to ride along with him to Mamit, I said, “You bet!”

Esther communicates via humorous […]

Seasonal Delusional Disorder

It’s September. At least, that’s what the calendar says. Outside, though, here in Papua, it’s screaming July. Hot, humid, tropical, ain’t-no-such-thing-as-fall July.

The end of September launches an annual time of seasonal delusional disorder (SDD) that affects ex-patriates hailing from temperate climates now finding themselves in perpetual summer.

The first stage of SDD is […]