I was sitting with a handful of Indonesian and western MAF staff at our quarterly "day of prayer" when the name of a particular couple came up, Wes and Esther.  One of the staff members (we were meeting in his office) reached over and grabbed a letter sent to him by Wes and Esther.  It was a thank you for helping to arrange the shipment of some eggs, along with a few other things.  Wes and Esther are missionaries living in an interior village called Mammitt.  They are the only missionaries in their neck of the woods.  In their small village, they have a bible school to help train native pastors.  Wes oversees that school, and every day Esther provides childcare for and teaches (by herself) thirty or forty children of those Papuan bible students.  As I listened to several different staff talk about Wes and Esther I could tell that they held a special place in their hearts.  When they receive food from us on an MAF flight, they keep very little for themselves.  They end up distributing the majority of it to those who really need it.  They are definitely an example of Christ to the people they are ministering to in love and selflessness.

A few weeks ago my life intersected (very briefly) with Wes and Esther.  During my training process, we brought some people into their village, then stayed about an hour to do some takeoffs and landings for practice.  Their airstrip is one of the more "docile" places that I will be flying to when I am first approved to fly solo.  The length and width of the strip, and the slope help add to its "margin" making it a more forgiving place for us new guys to cut our teeth at.   As we were "turning the plane around"  and I was "limbering up" to go install some seats for our next leg, I briefly met them and snapped a quick picture.

Esther, Wes, and my instructor pilot David on the right

So that's typical of my life right in this season of service with MAF.  Just a quick hello, keeping my nose to the grindstone.  I have so much to learn about our daily flight operations, that my time and attention are directed that way.  Some day down the road when I have everything "down pat" a little bit better, I look forward to connecting more with people like Wes and Esther and the people they serve.

There's something exciting coming up in Mamitt this next week.  It is sort of the "buzz" in our little community here in Sentani right now.  MAF is flying  group of high school kids to Mammitt for a little longer than a week, and Wes and Esther will be hosting them.  These kids attend the local "international school" and many of them have parents who are missionaries in other parts of this island or Indonesia.  This is such an exciting opportunity!  To think about what the Lord is going to do in the lives of both the high schoolers and the people of Mammitt as they are encouarged mutually by eachothers faith and way of life.