River Treasure

Upon arriving at work a few weeks ago, one of our night guards, Yanto, had kept his fishing net busy in the wee hours of the morning.

He hauled up this bizarre transparent and blue shrimp.  I had never seen anything like it, and even our other local guys have rarely seen one so big.

Through his semi-transparent exoskeleton you could see his lungs working as well as his heart.

I'll need to keep having my camera ready because Yanto already has a reputation of hauling out some weird creatures from the river.  It amazes me how many different species of animals that live in the river.  Anybody want to go tubing?

From the Logbook...Electricity for Marikoi

A while back I flew an airplane full of cargo to an interior village called Tumbang Marikoi.  One of the items stuffed among all of the other boxes was a new generator.

Something as simple as a gas powered generator can literally be a life changer to some of the communities we serve that don't have any other source of electrical power.

Flying the generator was easy.  Hauling it 20 feet up the river bank was the hard part.  Thankfully, like always, there were some helpful hands awaiting me at the dock.

The generator was immediately taken to its spot and put to use, powering various facilities for two German nurses that have served in Marikoi for over 30 years.

MAF PalangkaRaya Team Photo 2013

We've been trying for some time now to get all the stars aligned right to take a fresh team picture of our MAF crew in PalangkaRaya.  Finally, about a month ago it all worked out for us to get together. (Back Row, Lt to Rt: Isaac Rogers, Sean Cannon, Aaron Hoffmann. Front Row, Lt to Rt: Sugianto, Ogasto, Agus, Abet Nego, Robi.)

Of course, picture time at our place wouldn't be complete if there wasn't a fair share of goofing off thrown into the mix...

In case we can't serve you with our flying, we can be hired for security detail.  We are complete in both Eastern and Western styles of fighting!

I have the privilege of leading a great team.  Together we are able to overcome many different types of challenges and obstacles while at the same time using our giftings to serve those that live in some of Earth's most isolated and hard to reach places.  

River Racers

It's not only our MAF team that tries to have a fun time every Friday afternoon.  Instead of racing their Hot Rod cars, often the local teen boys are seen racing their small boats.

These boats do move along at a pretty good clip, especially considering they are powered by lawn mower type engines.

None of these boats have mufflers on their engines.  I'm surprised anyone can hear after spending a little bit of time in one of these boats.

The New Guys

When I came to work one morning, two of our local employees were all dressed up like pilots.  They were goofing around and had showed up to work dressed like this just to get a laugh.  It's great to work with a bunch of people that know "laughter is medicine to the bones."

From the Logbook...Sungai Pinang

I had the privilege a few weeks ago to take a few Australian and English ladies into a small community called Sungai Pinang in order to perform health clinics as well as host small church services.  I dropped them off and then a few days later picked them back up.  Fun times.

From the Logbook...Muara Mamuat

While visiting a new-to-me-village a while back while giving some flight instruction in the village of Muara Mamuat, I snapped a quick photo through the window.  The landscapes I see on a daily basis sometimes hit me really hard and remind me that I am in the middle of Borneo, nothing like my desert-Southwest American homeland.  I'm very blessed!

From the Logbook...Becca Ride Along

Last month I was FINALLY able to take my best friend with me flying.  While sitting at home due to an Indonesian national holiday, I received a call to pick up a patient an hour away.  It was a perfect opportunity to bring Rebecca with me...finally!  She had never ridden with me in a float plane before that day.

After waiting more than two years, the stars finally aligned and made it possible for Rebecca to come with me.  It was an unforgettable flight for both of us and a great opportunity to serve someone that really needed some help.

River Rodeo

In order to celebrate my birthday last month we decided to have a tubing party after work on a Friday.  What a great time thrashing everyone on the inter-tube. Ogasto hung on well.  He only got "bucked off" once.

Robi rode backwards the whole time.  Despite our best attempts, he never did get bucked off.  

Our office manager Agus didn't last too long.  But kudos to him for giving it a try.  This was something new to everyone, and there was a little bit of fear and trepidation had by all.

Our night guard Yanto squealed with delight the whole time. He was hanging on for dear life.  Awesome!

Yanto squealing.  

Yanto STILL squealing.!

Hanging loose, Borneo river style.

Abet Nego rode the tube the most aggressively...

...and then paid for it quickly by getting bucked off.  Awesome!

Most everyone stayed on, but a few times they hit the waves just right and over they went.  So awesome!

Sugianto, our flight scheduler, tore it up also.  This calm, quiet man is not to be underestimated!

...but, he did get buckled off.  Hoo Raa!

...oh yeah!

We rode the tube until the sun went down.  Playing together with our team is so fun and beneficial and something we try to make happen every month or so.

Hoffmann Solo

In mid-April we were able to watch the third member of our PalangkaRaya team return from his first solo flight as an MAF pilot.  After three months of on and off flight training with me, Aaron was finally ready.

After Aaron returned I "pinned on his bars."  Officially putting the 4 stripes on his shoulders welcomes Aaron into the ranks of Captain.  Pretty cool!

With those 4 bars comes some other fun traditions.  After shaking Aaron's hand, a preset plan was initiated...Aaron's floatplane baptism.

My celebratory handshake quickly turned into a full on assault as our Indonesian staff and I scooped him up and took him to the river.

Thankfully, we work with an amazing group of men, and they were all instrumental in helping Aaron reach this milestone as well.  Convincing them to help was easy.

We took Aaron to our small launching dock, normally used to dispatch the airplane...this time we had other intentions.

And just like that, Aaron entered the Kahayan River, full water emersion float plane pilot baptism.  Welcome to the club Aaron.

He popped up and floated to our other dock, where all of these pictures were taken by our other pilot, Isaac Rogers.  Great pics Isaac!

Aaron's baptism and solo represent YEARS of preparation and training to reach this point for him.  It's a huge sacrifice to fly in the mission field and it's not always easy.  Congrats Aaron!!!

Afterwards, everyone was feeling a little spunky and thought they would try to throw the boss in the river.  I'm happy to report that I remained dry.  Guess you'll have to try again some other day little boys!

From the Logbook...Kuala Kapuas

Late last month, we were contacted to provide transportation to a high ranking government official that had a meeting in a far away town.  His role is called the Bu-pati, something we would consider almost like a vice-governor.  We have flown Pak Willy on countless flights.

But, this was a new one for me.  Although the passengers were familiar, I took him to a new location called Kuala Kapuas that I had never been to before.  Because there are no suitable docks at this community and the river is HUGE, I shut the airplane down in the middle of the river and was met by a boat that picked up the Bu-Pati and his colleague.  It was a fun experience.

Because the float plane doesn't visit this community very often, we had a few onlookers paddle over to investigate what was going on.

These boys were fun to chat with.  I tried to invite them to return to PalangkaRaya with me since the airplane would be empty, but they declined.

On the way home, I flew over Sabangau National Park.  Due to the high water right now, the swamp looks really beautiful from the air.  In the distance you can see a small rain shower adding to the swamps already full ecosystem.

From the Logbook...Jujang Parit

After visiting the village of Tumbang Olong (see previous post), we made the short flight the the village of Jujang Parit.  Even though the communities are only separated by a 15 minute flight, the two communities couldn't be more different.  After landing and finding a suitable dock, we had to use a boat to cross the river to the side where the majority of the community lived.

While crossing the river, we saw some boys enjoying a snagged tree on the river bank.  Any excuse to jump off of something high into water is good enough for me.

We made a short walk to Pastor Wilson's house in order to look at his HF radio.  We knew it had some problems and we brought some parts with us hoping to be able to fix it.

Thankfully, after changing a few connections, and plugging the radio into a battery, we were able to communicate with our office in PalangkaRaya, some 150 miles away!  Pretty cool.  Now, this VERY isolated community can contact us for any reason.