Greetings

August 2020 comes with some miles stones, our family can be grateful for.   In no particular order.

• August 23rd 2010 marks our first day on MAF payroll.  10 years longest standing job I think I’ve had, maybe time to move on right?  Well maybe not as we seek to serve where we are called and for the time being that seems to still be here with MAF.
• August 8th 2002 Franklin arrived on the seen.  We had the great privilege of celebrating his 18th birthday with our staff here in Merauke.  We are so thankful for Franklin being apart of our family.  We are excited to see where the Lord will take him.
• Received email this month 2000hrs (almost 75% of which has been in PK-MAO) of accident free flying with MAF here in Papua.  As good as this is I need to keep remembering however the next hour is the most important.
• August 28th 1999 was a special day that Julie agreed to change her last name.  This past weekend after turning her dinning room into a wood working shop she may start having second thoughts, maybe not ;-).  I’m very thankful for the wonderful 21 years and the generosity she has even when her dinning room is being temporary repurposed.  Three days later she is still sweeping up remnants of sawdust.  I found a keeper!!!

One of the other big highlights this month was our trip to Nabire.  We had a mini family conference there with 3 other MAF families.  The 16 of us piled into a large canoe like craft and headed to Kali Lemon.  It was a neat simple little resort type place, situated in a small cove along the coast about 2.5-3 hr boat ride from Nabire.  In true Papuan style our adventure began quickly with one of our props failing about 1/3 of the way there.  About the time we lost the prop on our left outboard the far right outrigger broke and we had to make a quick stop to give it a splint repair.  We continued on with just the one engine enjoying the scenery at a slightly slower pace than planned.  Once there the organizer of the facility knowing our teammate well gave us a loaner prop for the trip home so we were back to running both 40’s for the way home.  All of us would do it again in a heart beat.  My (greg) biggest disappointment was the results of my red filter application on my gopro video taking.  Hopefully I can find a way to put other colors back into the footage.

Highlights from the trip

Julie: Going out with Jaclynn to see the whale sharks.

Isaac: Swimming with whale sharks and hanging with new friends his age.

Franklin: Swimming with the whale sharks.

Jaclynn: Swimming with the whale sharks and hanging with new friends.

Me: Swimming on the off shore reef.  It’s a little creepy seeing the boat so far away and no land for several miles.  During this swim got see a sea-turtle up close, chased a small stingray and saw a not so friendly looking eel that I kept my distance from.