Story from the Field.

"WHEN I LANDED in Dagi a hundred things were going through my mind. The folks in Korapun had asked if I could do two flights from Dagi to Korapun to fly in the produce and pigs needed for the big celebration. This language group of the Mek tribe was receiving their first completed translation of the Bible! And the party would be huge! As I got out of the airplane in Dagi I asked how many kilos of local cuisine they had for Korapun; they had enough for three trips! I told them I could take 380 kilos and they quickly started to help load the plane with sweet potato, corn, pigs, chickens, and some veggies I had never seen before. I noticed one man struggle as he lifted a bag of veggies into the airplane; Papuan men and women are very strong and this man should have no problem lifting the 18 kilos into the plane, (at least that’s how much the tag said the bag weighed.) I asked to weigh the bag using the fish scale we always carry in the plane. The bag came up to a hefty 32 kilos! If all the bags were like this, that meant that I was probably 100% too heavy! Even though the airstrip slopes downhill 15%, I would still be touching trees at the bottom of the hill as I tried to take off! So, with the weather moving around us quickly in the steep, tall and tight valleys, I asked the good people of Dagi to help me re-weigh all of their cargo, which took about 20 minutes. In that time, the fairly open valley system turned a nasty grey, and the clouds began their death grip on the mountains. By the time I got my plane loaded and secure, the wind had kicked up and the weather was closing in fast. I knew I could take off and immediately return to Dagi if the valleys ahead were closed with cloud. Korapun is only a total of 3 minutes away by airplane. I ACCELERATED down the Dagi airstrip quickly and leaped into the air with one passenger (alocal pastor) and the right amount of cargo. I tried to climb a little but ran into the bottom of the clouds. You don’t go into clouds in Papua because mountains are lurking everywhere. I tried to turn right to go to Korapun but that was blocked, so I circled sharply back towards Dagi, to climb above the strip through a hole, but the hole only led to more clouds. I was trapped with Dagi as my only ticket to freedom! “Lord I need help now.” Just as I made another tight turn to set up my approach to Dagi, God answered with a hole big enough to safely get to Korapun. Two long minutes later I was over the airstrip and thanking God for moving the clouds enough for me to land. Yes, I was definitely back in Papua!!"

Story From Isaac Rogers MAF pilot serving in Indonesia

I will from time to time start sharing a story from someone that is on the field. Giving you an idea what is a head for our family as we look forward to serving there ourselves, and creating stories of our own. But till then we will borrow stories from those that are already there.

Blessings

Greg & Julie Dole

Week 2 Winding Down

Well like the title of this post states we are winding down the second week of our stay here in MI. So far it has been a great trip. We have had the opportunity to share at 2 Churches the last two Sundays. And that was all that we planned before leaving MB. However while we have been in MI we have been asked to speak at a couple more churches one of which is the church Julie grew up in. Which is very exciting. I have also been very encouraged by individuals from these past two churches, that appreciated my message that I spoke. Not that I can take credit as it is the Lords work, but it has lifted my spirits knowing that I was used to touch some lives through the words God choose to speak through me. I'm still feeling however, that preaching is not my calling at least on a permanent full time basis at this time. I won't say never though, saying never can sometimes be a sure way of it coming to pass.

I should mention some of our other highlights for the trip so far. We had the chance to visit the School (SMAT) here in Ionia MI on Tuesday. Looks like it will be a good year working with some good instructors in a pretty nice facility. The course I will be involved in is a 12 month course that once completed will give me an Airframe & Power plant licence (A&P). Which will allow me to carry out basic repairs and maintenance on US registered aircraft. Which is a requirement for MAF US whom MAF Canada is planning to loan us out to.

Tuesday we also had the privilege of watching John JR (Julie's younger bother) play Basket Ball. John plays for a Christian College team from Grand Rapids. The following couple pictures were from the game.

Eager Fan did a lot of loud cheering

Ahhh

Saturday the 15th we celebrated Christmas with Julie's family. The kids had a great time of opening gifts! The best part is most of the gifts were small enough that the kids might be able to take most of them with us when we move. And then as you can see in the photos the Granger tradition of jumping in the pile of paper after words was a big hit as usual.

Johnny being a good sport letting his nephews and niece bury him in paper

Michigan

Our trip to Michigan has gone well so far. Friday we fought with some snowy and icy roads but we managed to get to Randville safely. We then had the privilege of sharing with the Randville Bible Church Sunday morning. They were a wonderful congregation, which extended a very warm welcome as they allowed us to stay in their parsonage next to the church for the weekend. Kids were excited even asked when we were moving our stuff in. Monday we had nice weather and roads for the rest of our journey to Constantine (Julie’s Parents). We have started to settle in the basement of Julie’s parent’s house. Glad that we got in yesterday as I write this blog in Wendy’s restaurant the snow is coming down pretty heavy, glad that I only need to travel a few miles back to the house once we are done our shopping and Internet work. I got the better end of the deal to, as I get to sit and utilize the Internet and enjoy some Wendy’s food while Julie her mom and the kids are out shopping. Hope they don’t forget about me and go home without me. We are planning to be in southern MI for the next 5-6weeks, if you are also in the area and would like a visit please contact us.

Thank you again for your prayer as we travel.

Blessings

Greg, Julie

Franklin, Isaac, & Jaclynn

The Closing of 2010

Well like it or not 2010 is about to end and a new year awaits us. As I ponder over this past year I look back on a year of many changes and adjustments as well as some neat mile stones as well. As many of you already know we as a family have ventured into quite a life changing career by joining Mission Aviation Fellowship. Which has been one of our highlights this year. I thought I would also mention a few of the other hi-lights for the year. Let's try and start from the begining of last year.

The year for me started with my first tail wheel student that came ready to learn and five weeks after he started he left with a private pilots licence. Which is quite a feat not mention that he did it all in a tail wheel aircraft as well. For those that may wonder why I mentioned the tail wheel part, it is more challenging to learn to land and take off with an aircraft with a tail wheel opposed to a nose wheel. In February I passed my instrument rating written exam (INRAT) and in March I flew my 1000th hour. End of April and begining of May Julie and I left our kids with my mom and sister for two weeks as we left for Guelph ON. Where we spent two weeks at MAF's spring candidacy course. In July and August I had the honor of finishing at Harv's Air with having the privilege of training the two top Cadets this year! End of August we started full time with MAF working through our ministry partnership phase. During our MP time we have traveled to the north end of Vancouver Island and back again seeking out friends and family that would be willing to partner with us in this ministry with MAF. In November our family finally returned to Steinbach 13,000kms later for some much needed time at home.

Franklin ended his last day of public school in June with many hugs and some really good friendships. For most of the summer the children spent there days riding bikes, trying out the skate board park, hanging out with friends, and spending hours swimming. Then at the end of August life changed for them as we hit the road for MAF. They spent days in the van, sleeping in different houses, and hunting through rubbermaid tubs for their clothes. One of their highlights of the road is being allowed to all sleep next to one another. Camping life was a great adventure for them! In September and October the kids loved living near their grandparents and all the adventure of farm life. Franklin learned how to ride a dirt bike, Isaac became a dedicated fisherman, and Jaclynn took great care of all the farm cats. November brought great joy for the children as we finally returned to MB and their own house and beds. Since the boys were so use to sleeping together they moved into the same bedroom and started sharing bunk beds. At the beginning of December we were able to attend our home Church here in Steinbach and attend Sunday School were they actually knew kids. These last few weeks Franklin, Isaac, and Jaclynn have been hitting the sledding hills and greatly enjoying pushing their mother down the hill when she wasn't ready yet. I'm sure they didn't learn that from me! Christmas was a special day as they enjoyed a few new toys and learning how to play their new games. Isaac's proudest moment was when he finally beat me in the game Mouse Trap after I had beat him the first few times.

"This year has been a blur" in the words of my wife. Homeschooling, living out of rubbemaid tubs, MAF stuff, house work and mountains of other things that blend into the blur.

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year. May this year be filled with many blessings.

Greg, Julie

Franklin, Isaac, & Jaclynn

Happy Holiday's

As our family is getting ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus and bring in the New Year here in Steinbach we wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! We hope that you all enjoy and cherish this amazing time of the year. I will gladly admit that Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year! I love driving through town at night and seeing all the houses decorated with beautiful lights! Or going to our mail box and opening it to find that it is full of Christmas cards from friends and loved ones. I have always saw this as a wonderful time of the year as it should be for we are celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ! And this was not just your ordinary birth, but a miracle sent from God. As I'm sure the heavens were rejoicing over this exciting birth I think that we need to remember to really enjoy and celebrate the birth of Christ! One thing that Greg and I do with our children is hold a birthday party for Jesus on Christmas morning. We even bake a cake, light candles, sing to Jesus and allow the kids to really enjoy partying for Jesus. So through out all the hustle and bustle of this time of year take time to pause for just a moment and really look around you. And ask yourself if you really are celebrating Jesus Birth this year or is it just another holiday to you? Christmas is a time for celebration, rejoicing and remembering to celebrate for Jesus! I would love to here from any of you who have begun or continue neat family traditions that help your family celebrate the true meaning of Christmas!

Julie

Planes and Runways

Adding to the theme of Indonesia I thought it appropriately to post a few pictures of the aircraft we use there and some of the landing strips we fly in and out of. As mentioned previously on this post I was hoping to get a hold of some pictures of the new Kodiak. Thanks from some help in the office I was able to get a couple.

New Kodiak 100

New Aircraft specifically designed for such runways

Cessna 206

The reason we are needed is the DENSE rain forest covering RUGGED mountains. Image the Rocky Mountains covered with thick vegetation and no roads.

C206

Cessna Caravan (C208)

A C206 with a great view

Pray For us this is what some of our runways look like

Few C206s under the umbrella of a beautiful rainbow

C208

C206

Cessna 185 on Floats

C206 Sitting on a beautiful runway "I can't wait to try it out"

C206 on Floats

What a Treat

Dear Friends of ours had us over for some Indonesian Food. It has been their tradition to make traditional food from different countries each year for Christmas. And this year they choose to include us and treat us to a wonderful evening of unique but great tasting food. I enjoyed pretty much all of it, Julie enjoyed most of it, and the kids well they enjoyed some of it. My Favorite was the Mango Chicken Stir fry (Ajam Djahe Mangga)

Someday I may know how to say all these words and know what to order

The center dish (white/yellow with no lid) is the Ajam Djahe Mangga which again was my favorite

Huge spread of great food wish I could have eaten more

Crackers of different Sorts: Peanut, Cassava, and Prawn flavoured

Fruit Salad with Mango's, Mangosteen, Rambutan and Pineapple I think?

Durian Fruit the scary looking thing in his hand

Durian was different. I think it would have tasted better if we were hungry. It had a strange texture and a very unique favor.

Rambutan is the fruit on the cutting board. The red part is the outer shell and the white part the inside which tasted pretty good.

Prawns and hard boiled eggs and I'm not sure what else but whatever it was it tasted good.