Costal Islands

Rugged Mountains in the island's center.

Mountains march across the center of the island of Papua. The ruggedness of these mountains has created some of the most inaccessible valleys in the world. Yet, in these hidden canyons are tribes of thousands who still are waiting to hear the Gospel. The picture to the right is a beautiful view of a mountain valley in which a stone age tribe may live, waiting to hear of God’s love. To the south and north, between the mountains and the coastline lie miles and miles of dense jungle. MAF has been working throughout the island for over 50 years, helping missionaries travel in and out of the interior of the island, speeding their work toward completion. MAF has played a key role in planting hundreds of national churches across the island. In many places, the missionaries would not be able to continue their work without the help of MAF.

Mt. Puncak Jaya at 16,024' has a permanent ice capped summit.

]]> http://geaslen.com/home/geography-points/feed/ 0 http://geaslen.com/home/tech-talk-2/ http://geaslen.com/home/tech-talk-2/#comments Thu, 13 May 2010 16:58:05 +0000 admin http://geaslen.com/?p=710 Aviation is all about acronyms. I have to admit, we love them in fact. STOL is one very good example. It stands for Short Take Off and Landing. I’m not sure who created it, because it’s a bad one. “Takeoff” is usually one word now, so why would you include the “o” in the acronym? No matter. STOL it is.

STOL is actually very important to MAF’s operations though. Without that ability in an airplane, we’d probably not be able to serve as well as we do.

The average airstrip that MAF serves in Papua, Indonesia would be around 1200 to 1500 feet long. This may sound like a long runway with lots of room, but let’s put it into perspective. Chicago O’Hare Airport has several runways, the longest of which is 13,000 feet long, and the shortest is 7500 feet. In fact, most runways have a marks on them at 1000 ft called the Fixed Distance Markings. These marks serve as a sort of aiming point. Basically, you need to be on the runway by those marks. That same distance is almost the whole length of an MAF runway.

This creates the need for Short TakeOff and Landing. A lot of factors will effect how long of a takeoff roll the Cessna 206 will have, including wing, runway slope, runway up or down grade, runway surface, altitude, aircraft weight and even humidity. Generally speaking though, the 206 can usually leave the ground in about 650  to 700 feet. As a contrast, a similar aircraft, the Piper Cherokee Six, won’t leave terra firma till it passes 1050 feet. Clearly, then Cessna 206 is an airplane made to get flying, and to do that fast. There are some special modifications that MAF installs to improve the ground roll distance. All these things help make the MAF 206 one of the safest aircraft to operate in our jungle conditions.

Then Pilate asked the question. “What is truth?”

It’s amazing how the same question seems to haunt the human race. It can be seen everywhere you go. Much of post-modern philosophy deals with the idea that truth is subjective, after a fashion. Popular thought seems to put truth on the shelf, deeming it too difficult, or too uncomfortable to think about.

So what is it? Jesus claimed to come and speak it. He even claimed to be the Truth. But what is it?

Here is how dictionary.com defines it:

–noun,plural truths
1. the true or actual state of a matter: He tried to find out the truth.
2. conformity with fact or reality; verity: the truth of a statement.
3. a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like: mathematical truths.
4. the state or character of being true.
5. actuality or actual existence.
6. an obvious or accepted fact; truism; platitude.
7. honesty; integrity; truthfulness.
8. (often initial capital letter) ideal or fundamental reality apart from and transcending perceived experience: the basic truths of life.
9. agreement with a standard or original.
10. accuracy, as of position or adjustment.

This definition seems to be clear enough. So if truth is obvious, and fact, then why don’t we see more of it?

Perhaps it’s because we choose not to see it?

I like tools.  They are useful, if you have the right one, they make the job a lot easier.  We are headed out to Indonesia to be God’s tools in the lives of people around us.  Sometimes, though, you need to use several tools at the same time, to get a job done.  For example: When I need to remove a spark plug from an aircraft engine, I go to my toolbox and get out a few things.  First, I find my ratchet, then an extension, and my spark plug socket.  The socket is just the right tool, made to fit the spark plug and loosen or tighten without breaking it.  The extension is used to the get the socket into the tight spot where the spark plug sits on the engine.  Then I used the ratchet to get the leverage I need to turn the plug loose.  The socket represents the national pastor in Indonesia.  The extension is the MAF pilot who comes along side him, to help take him where he needs to go.  The ratchet is that missionary’s support team, and God is the technician who uses the whole team to do his work.

We are ready to go and do our part, but we need you to be the ratchet in God’s hands.  Your prayers and ministry support are the driving force behind what we do.  Will you pray?  Will you commit to give as God enables you, be that $5 a month, or $500?  Together, we can be the tools to show God’s love in places where it would never be possible on our own.

To give, please visit our MAF webpage.

Daniel, for both of us.

February Prayer Letter

March Prayer Letter

MAF Letter

More and more, though, I’ve been realizing that I’ve been relying on my own strength to raise support. I’ve been relying on my own wisdom and ability to find people who will support my ministry. I’ve been trying to accomplish God’s work for Him essentially. I knew all along that God was the one who would provide, but somehow, I felt like I could get it done, and just let the nebulous “working in people’s hearts” end of things to Him. You would think I’d have caught on before this, but no, I’m a stubborn one. God has been waiting for me to ask Him.

In the last week or so, I’ve been learning to ask Him first. And it’s been exciting. I was pretty well at the end of my rope last week, and then I went to a small Bible study. I had hopes of talking with people, and maybe building some relationships. I also really wanted to hear from God, because I was realizing just how much I needed Him. So, He showed up on Saturday night, just for me. He spoke through the people at that Bible study in ways I would never have expected. Not only did I end up sharing about my ministry, but they prayed for me, gave to me, and even asked me to come back and meet with them again! The rest of the week has been just like that. People from all over, in the most random places and ways giving, or committing to give. It has been overwhelming!

When God says He will provide, He will. But don’t get in the way. Let Him work, and just ask Him to keep doing it. And like the persistant widow, don’t stop asking either.

This difference between us has led to some very interesting conversations. Just this morning we were talking on the phone and I approached the subject of politics. Joy and I actually share some similar political views on certain topics, like for example abortion. The way that we approach these views however, and the action that we feel should be taken is actually quite different as a direct result of our personalities. I tend to lean more toward political action, legislation, and civil action to help prevent abortions and to raise awareness of the danger and horror of abortion. Joy’s perspective is more of a relational one. Where I see the movement of a society, and want to change that, Joy sees the individual, and longs to reach them in their hurt. Joy’s approach is to reach out to the young women who are faced with a difficult pregnancy and to help them through it on a personal level. Joy wants to help them see the consequences for their child and themselves that come from abortion.

After a long and confusing conversation, I think we’ve both learned about each other a lot. I think I’ve come away a little better as a person. I’m coming to see that I need to not forget the people in my attempts to accomplish things. I need to learn to see the hurting individual, not just the flawed system. I think that’s how Jesus would have approached it. Yes, He would have been ready to engage the political system (and He did by taking on the religios leaders of the day) but He never forgot the person. When the adulteress was brought before Him, Jesus did both. He challenged the system and convicted the men who were there, saving the woman’s life. Then, Jesus touched her life too, by forgiving her, and sending her on her way.

So, I don’t have a corner on the market on Christlikeness. There are still many things for me to learn. Thanks Joy, for helping me learn today.