Eka, his mother, held his mouth to keep him silent. Hiding in a room of the head of their village. Christian’s family was in serious danger. This was the beginning of the conflict in the North Maluku region of Indonesia where organized militias were going from village to village looking for those of the Christian faith. Lody and Eka, Christian’s parents, were the only Christians who lived in a Muslim village. They had friends in the village,...

Winda was 30 years old when she lost her struggle with T.B. but found the hope of eternity. She was an amazing person. She was educated and could speak English as if it was her first language. She had a University degree in English language. Winda told me–she prefers to write in English because Indonesian words were too long. We would laugh but I know how difficult the English language is to master. She was academically gifted. The thing...

I am reminded of the Norman Rockwell painting of a family going on vacation. They are in the family car and everyone is smiling and happy. The family dog has his head out the window and he enjoying the wind in his face. Then the second caption is this family returning from vacation. They are slumped in their chairs and exhausted–no smiles except the family dog. He has his head out the window with the same enjoyment of the experience as he...

  Library Module  

Thanks to a generous grant from the Australian Embassy new dental equipment has been purchased and is in use at the Hohidiai Clinic. It is like walking into a modern dental suite with a reclining chair, overhead light, stainless steel trays and dental tools. The dentist and dental nurses have been serving the dental needs of the patients in what I would describe as an old barber chair. They have helped untold numbers of people with tooth...

Hohidiai School in the initial stages of construction  —   A caretaker’s residence has been erected as the first building.  The following diagrams show the plans as they are being developed.  A total of 15 buildings are planned. International School              ...

We think a hero might be the guy who makes the 50 yard field goal to win the game for his team. I think the greatest heroes are those who serve the sick and poor quietly, faithfully day-in and day-out. The heroes at the Hohidiai base are treating the struggling HIV patient and encouraging their families. It is the young nurse who cleans the room of the crippled 82 year old. She scrubbed until his room smelled fresh and clean. The hard working...

There are things you just cannot do without help. I know that the work of helping people takes a committed band of people. IFC has a large group of partners from all over the U.S. world. Last year there were 27 teams that went to serve at the base in Indonesia. That would be at least 200 people who decided to go, paid their own way, traveled from their home and served at the base. In the last 15 years some 3,000 have come to stand with the...

Davis and Autumn arrived in Fairbanks two weeks ago and came into our circle of friends. They are here to serve our community with their group of young people. I was surprised to meet an Indonesian couple in Alaska.  Davis and Autumn grew up in Jakarta and moved tot he U.S. for their education. We got to use some of our Bahasa Indonesian language with them–it was great to interact. Their English language is very good plus they speak three...

It started with a small ticking sound in the motor. We were going the speed limit and made it to Valdez where I spoke to a wonderful group of friends. We left that beautiful place with a stunning blue sky and climbed Thompson Pass and passed the crazies in the mountain climbing competition.  They called it an event but after seeing how high on the mountain those snow machine tracks were–it looked more like insanity to me. I am just not...