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New training role with MAF International

19/8/2014

In mid-July, David attended interviews in Cairns for a role in MAF International’s Aviation Department. He has now been offered the position of Training Captain for the single-engine piston fleet of MAF aircraft worldwide, known as the FTC-SEP.

This role is based in the MAFI regional office in Cairns with the training performed at the new MAFI Flight Training Centre. This is being established at Mareeba Aerodrome, about a 70 km drive from Cairns. He will be involved in both new and experienced pilot training in the Africa and Asia Pacific regions.

We will therefore be moving to Cairns in mid-September for David to attend an initial induction course starting on 22 September. He will be renewing some of his lapsed ratings in the following months. We had been anticipating a move within six months but this is a lot sooner than we expected!

A waiting game

15/3/2014

After two days of planning the weather has changed from blue skies and light winds to a more ominous dark grey, with light rain and constant thunder in the background. The spiral arms, reminiscent of those of a distant galaxy, are now starting to sweep over NE Arnhem Land bringing instability and rain. The red and amber returns in the image above are associated with storm cells.

MAF brought all of its aircraft into Gove yesterday afternoon and left the families in the communities in accordance with our wishes. We are now waiting for the strong winds and finalising our preparations. We have gas stoves, water stored in readiness , torches and candles, and inverter backup from car batteries to try to keep fridges and freezers running if we lose power for an extended period. The garden has been cleared of loose objects and we are restraining items at risk of turning over or becoming airborne.

Building for the future

31/1/2014

There’s a saying that nothing is for ever, and when you live in a remote setting that certainly holds very true. Many people come to work in remote communities only to leave again within a year or two. It’s not for everyone and there is no question that it takes a certain type to not only
live, but flourish in a community so foreign to your own culture. Isolation also takes its toll and it’s not uncommon for people to come for a relatively short period before leaving.

In many cases it’s not necessarily a problem, more a part of life in the area, but it does have an
effect when it comes to missionary work of any kind. These days there is a lot of shorter term
missionary work carried out and whilst it can be very beneficial, there is a work at a deeper level that can’t be rushed. In a cross-cultural situation it takes time to build a relationship and it takes time for the real deeper trust to be formed with the local people, especially when they have seen so many outsiders come and go. However once that relationship is established then there is a wonderful foundation to build something really worthwhile for the future. In order to do that it takes people with a more long term view of things, such as the family we are about to meet.

To read the full article from MAF Arnhem Land Communications, click here.

Galiwin'ku Sunday School

15/4/2013

It is exciting to see the Sunday School activities restart this year. Ngandama, a very faithful lady, who has run Sunday School for years and years asked some of the younger ladies from the weekly Bible Study to take up the leadership. With support from Graham and Jen they are leading a group of 20-50 children each week. Jonathan provides valuable technical support from home for the Sunday School.

Technical support for the Translation Centre

20/2/2013

The projector in pieces

Jonathan is a regular visitor to the Bible Translation Centre. He is always on call for technical difficulties beyond the staffs' own capabilities. It could be re-installing the printer drivers, trouble-shooting their network, or just giving advice when a new error message appears. Recently, he was asked to look into a recurring fault in the LCD projector donated from the market proceeds. He carefully dismantled the unit until he discovered the fault in a loose connector buried deep within. It has now been working successfully for several weeks.
He has also performed some research and testing of audio file players for use in web pages. The BTC has put the Djambarrpuyngu New Testament on a web site and wanted the audio to be an option on each page. He converted files and wrote some code so that they would play on all popular web browsers.

New training role with MAF International

A waiting game

Building for the future

Galiwin'ku Sunday School

Technical support for the Translation Centre

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