Rephidim

Runway at AAI where I exercise in the mornings and evenings.

I guess this kind of a post was bound to come sooner or later. I “knew” what I was getting into by signing on to be a missionary. You know—all those challenges that you hear people face in developing countries: getting sick, creepy crawlies, lack of resources, being far from home, unfamiliar language, strange food, etc. But hey, I’m already a TCK and an MK (lived in an urban mission field until age 7), I’ve gone on multiple school mission trips, I’ve roughed it on backpacking trips, and I feel like I’m a very adaptable guy.

Sure there would be bouts of missing friends and family, and frustration with having to learn how to live in a new culture. Yes, there would be the challenges of learning to communicate in a new language. Of course it would be hard. But it wasn’t supposed to be overwhelming. I mean, I was coming to work as a pilot.

And yet 3 months in, I’ve experienced a struggle I was not anticipating. First the unwelcome news about the damaged wing. Ok, we'll work on the backup plan and start flying. Then after delays in getting the necessary parts and deciding to go ahead with repainting the wing, the unexpected news that Gary was going to have to take a business trip to Europe, with no clear ETA on returning. He ended up being gone nearly a month, during which I lost a special friendship and was left scraping paint off the wing for days wondering what had happened and when things would get better. Then Simon the mechanic got sick and went home to Java, all but halting the remaining work on the plane.

When everyone eventually returned and the plane was finally ready for its government airworthiness inspection, Gary found out he’d be having to take another unscheduled trip out of the country for paperwork reasons. For how long? It wasn’t supposed to take more than 2 weeks. That was 2 weeks ago; the latest is that it could be another 2 weeks.

My current kingdom. At least I'm getting spoiled by the AC!

I was dreading him leaving again, remembering what those 3 ½ weeks in October and November were like. Those were rough, long days. I guess it was time for round two. This time I’ve found myself working alone in the parts room with the task of organizing a collection of components from 3 different types of aircraft, labeled and unlabeled, which has fallen into disarray over the past several years. At least Simon is still out working in the hangar and I take breaks to go and chat with him. But then it’s back to the parts room to try to make sense of the mess.

Waiting is hard. But waiting in uncertainty is harder. And being stuck with my thoughts and memories for hours on end while I wait is the hardest. It’s not even so much about the flying  anymore. I just need to able to immerse myself in something meaningful and rewarding, that has purpose. But what I came here to do remains beyond reach.

 

Yes, the reality of missionary life—in my own individually tailored version—is definitely setting in. The ironic thing is that if you look at it from a purely academic standpoint, I'm simply in the second stage of culture shock. Yes, as much as I hate to admit it, it’s true that the classic progression applies to me. But when you throw in the additional layers of uncertainty, loss, and the realization that I’m still discovering what makes me thrive and ultimately what my place in life is—I think it makes for a much more complex emotional brew.

So why am I writing all this? Partly to vent. To share that modern missionaries experience real emotional struggles. Guys too. But also to share a critical lesson that I’m in the middle of learning and relearning.

You see I recently read something in a devotional that made me stop and think. It was about the story of the Israelites on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land. They had just experienced a miraculous exit from Egypt, walked through the Red Sea on dry ground, and were now having the daily miracle of manna being provided for them to eat. With all these events in the recent weeks, we read that they “set out on their journey…and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.” Exodus 17:1.

This was not good. Why in the world would this group of two million people end up in a place devoid of water? Because God led them there. That’s right. They weren't wandering along at random, neither was Moses choosing the route. God Himself was leading them visibly: “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.” Exodus 13:21. Supernatural, divine guidance doesn’t get any more obvious than that.

And yet, following all the miracles these people had just experienced, we find them becoming so desperate with their current circumstances that they were on the verge of stoning Moses. Right in the shadow of that visible token of God’s presence. Sure, their immediate need was real. But so was the manna they had just eaten that day. Did God really intend to kill His people by thirst, after having provided in every other way? What would be the point of a story like that?

So it’s easy for me to look at the story and point out the obvious. Hey guys, look! This isn’t some bad mistake. I mean, see the cloud over there! Of course God knows there’s no water here, so just ask for help and He'll take care of it. It’s so simple, right? And for those of you who are familiar with the story, you'll remember that God indeed worked another miracle and produced a water supply from the dry rock.

And then I realize it’s my own story. I didn’t end up here by some fluke of circumstances or the flip of a coin. No, this journey has been the result of many prayers and I can say God led me here. And here I am…struggling being in the place He has put me.

The words of the author Ellen White really start to hit home now:

“…every one who takes up his cross to follow Christ comes to a Rephidim in his experience…. Disappointment overtakes us; privations come; circumstances occur which bring us into difficult places. As we follow in the narrow way, doing our best, as we think, we find that grievous trials come to us. We think that we must have walked by our own wisdom far away from God. Conscience-stricken, we reason, if we had walked with God, we would never have suffered so…. But of old the Lord led His people to Rephidim, and He may choose to bring us there also, in order to test our faithfulness and loyalty to Him. In mercy to us, He does not always place us in the easiest places; for if He did, in our self-sufficiency we would forget that the Lord is our helper in time of necessity. But He longs to manifest Himself to us in our emergencies, and reveal the abundant supplies that are at our disposal, independent of our surroundings; and disappointment and trial are permitted to come upon us that we may realize our own helplessness, and learn to call upon the Lord for aid, as a child, when hungry and thirsty, calls upon its earthy father.” [Emphasis supplied] Signs of the Times, September 10, 1896.

Wow. This is where I’ve found myself. And this is where God is too. It’s okay to admit to the difficulty and the struggles. But I also have to admit that God knew exactly where this road would lead and He still took me on it. So that means He has a plan and my job is to simply ask Him to help me. Of course my needs aren’t immediate life and death problems such as running out of water, so the answer to the prayer will take longer. But it will come.

And it has already in some ways. I have a wonderful family spread across the world in multiple time zones, and almost anytime I need to call, one of them is awake and able to listen to me. A couple years ago the internet here in Papua was very poor; now I’m able to video call with very decent quality. Just to be able to talk to people who understand you like no one else is such a blessing—and from the other side of the world!

The entire Boyd tribe. (photo stolen from Facebook)

And I have family here too! The Boyd family, American missionaries with Adventist Aviation, have adopted me and in doing so helped me keep my sanity. They’ve made sure I always have a place to go on Friday evenings, they’ve listened to me, fed me, taken me hiking, and I don’t know what I would have done without them. I’m so grateful for them, and that’s another real manifestation that God is taking care of me.

As I finish up this post, I am feeling a lot better than last week. Of course things come in waves and I’ve got the classic human problem of forgetting lessons learned. But as a servant and child of God, I have the privilege of getting to see Him work miracles. So it’s only a matter of time until the next one.

On an abbreviated hike; we got back right before the downpour.

With the guys who still live at home and haven't left for college.

When I decided this was what I was going to write about, I was thinking, Boy, wouldn’t it be neat if God put a pillar of cloud outside that I could take a picture of so I can put it in my post? The very next day as I was walking back to the hangar from lunch, I came around the corner and there above the hills to the southwest I saw it. A beautiful towering column of cloud with an ethereal looking wispy halo on top illuminated by the sunshine above. It was spectacular.

I got a big grin on my face and my eyes misted up at the same time as I realized what I was looking at. My own pillar of cloud. Thank you Lord.

So right now, I’m right where God wants me to be. And even if it’s Rephidim, it’s good to know that Rephidim doesn't last forever. And while it continues, He's there right beside me.

A Day in the Life of a Pilot in Waiting

Spectacular atmospherics. And the noisy road below...

So…?! What’s the life of a missionary bush pilot like? Haha, I’m still wondering myself! The mammoth task of getting the first of our two planes back in the air still continues, and so far I’ve spent 2 1/2 months in Indonesia doing everything but flying. It’s been a blessing in disguise, however, as I’ve been afforded time to get everyday life figured out here, process through transition (pilots, the E in the IMSAFE acronym is a very real factor in flying), and be able to work on learning Bahasa.

Although I can’t say anything about the flying yet, I can talk about the more down-to-earth aspects of life here. Such as playing house! Figuring out how to set up my place was actually something I was dreading in coming here - like not knowing exactly what I would need to bring from the U.S., what things I could get here and where to find them. And then anticipating the process of getting settled in. But I managed, and just the other day I was realizing that I’d actually had a bit of fun in the process! The benefit of starting from scratch - I moved into an almost empty place - is that I could decide from the get-go what I really thought was essential to have in my house and then just get that. The end result has turned into a nice tidy place that is easy to keep from getting cluttered and has most of the functionality that I need in the way that I like it. I may decorate it a bit as time goes if I get the urge, but for now, I’m happy with my family photo fridge magnets and the wall map that I always gravitate toward.

More than just the fridge contents make me smile!

Of course I do more than just putter around the house. I actually stay fairly busy helping out at the Adventist Aviation hangar with whatever projects need doing. I’ve gotten to know some particular aircraft components very well as I’ve helped in the process of overhauling them. Right now my work days typically run from 8:00 - 6:00, with an hour for lunch in between. Once we start flying, though, it’s going to get pretty busy. I’m told we take off at sunrise at 5:30 and do flights all the way until we come back to home base around 5:00 in the evening. That’ll mean getting to bed rather early in order to be ready to take off at dawn. I guess I got some good preparation for that by working the early shift at EVA FTA!

I’m probably not going to have as much trouble falling asleep so early as staying asleep though. To help you understand what I’m talking about requires a little explanation about the noise levels here. As you might have gathered from the previous entry, I’m not in an isolated jungle outpost, but rather on the outskirts of a sizeable town. The road leading out of town happens to run right by our runway and if you close your eyes and just listen, you’d think there was a major freeway running next to the airbase property. It’s just a small road, but traffic is constantly flowing by from the early hours of the morning till late at night. Then, in the wee hours of the morning when the traffic is finally just a trickle, you’ll hear the 4:00 a.m. call to prayer from several masjids echoing over the countryside from loudspeakers.

But just when you’ve gotten acclimated to the baseline noise levels, you discover that sources of noise are not limited to the frequent obnoxious revving of motorbikes with modified mufflers; there are a number of folks in the local population (not on campus) who have considerably powerful sound systems and seem to think the entire neighborhood wants to hear their particular playlist. Do they choose the daytime to broadcast the musical selections? I don’t think I’ve heard music in the day once yet—they usually fire things up no earlier than 9:00 p.m. and continue far into the night. Sometimes they’re considerate and wait until you’ve already fallen asleep before powering on the speakers. One time they got going at the prime hour of 2:30 a.m. Back home, it might just be a matter of shutting the windows (and calling the police, haha!). But here… well, we don’t have glass panes to speak of, but, rather, large screen windows and some flimsy glass slats that can be closed if there’s a driving rain getting things wet. So sound-proofing is non-existant.

Just a couple days ago I’d gotten to bed nice and early and was blissfully dead to the world until a driving beat woke me up just before midnight. Great. I put in my earplugs, but that just focused the sound. After turning both fans in my room to the highest speed for the maximum amount of white noise, I felt like I was in a veritable hurricane, yet I still could hear the dum, dum, dum, dum, dah, dah, boom, tish! Oh brother.

Sometimes when I show up to work at the hangar in the mornings, Simon will ask, “Lombart, did you sleep good last night?” to which I’ll chuckle, knowing he was treated to the same concert that I had. Right now it’s kind of hit and miss as to when the music plays at night. Lately it’s been fairly “quiet” but I’m told that as we approach the Christmas season, every street corner is going to have a boombox playing Christmas songs 24/7 at max volume. And when it comes to sleeping through noise, apparently it’s not even worth trying on New Year’s Eve; the fireworks will be going off constantly from sunset to midnight.

Housekeeping and noisy neighborhoods aside, where does this leave me in the timeline for getting airborne? I’m not going to make any hard and fast predictions, since most things take about 3x as long to accomplish here as expected. But… as of this writing, we’ve reached a major milestone with PK-TCA, and it now has two wings again like a proper airplane should! Tasks that still need accomplishing between now and flight day include, but are not limited to: rigging flight controls, weighing the aircraft (yep on some actual scales!), rigging the engine and then test running it, and getting the airworthiness certificate signed off by the DGCA. Looking at the long road the program has traveled, we’re almost there. So for your sake, you can hope that we’re up and flying soon so I can start writing about things more interesting than my gripes about the noisy neighbors! (Again, not referring to my colleagues on campus.) On that note, let me leave you with a few words of encouragement: "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." Galatians 5:6 NKJV.

Only a matter of time now...

Where in the World Am I?

On final approach, descending across Lake Sentani.

Don't worry - I'm not lost nor did I get lost on the way between Jakarta and my new home. I made it and I thought I'd share a little bit more about where I'm going to be serving. Get ready for some head-scratching unless you're already very familiar with the geography of this part of the world.

I am currently living in Papua, Indonesia. This is the eastern-most province of Indonesia and is located on the world's second largest island, New Guinea. Now just 40 miles away from my home is the border of...Papua New Guinea (commonly abbreviated PNG), which is an independent nation. The island is split down the middle, and Papua, Indonesia is on the western half and PNG owns the eastern half. Confusing, I know! I guess it's akin to having a Nevada City in California or something like that. If it helps any, the region of Indonesia I'm living in was once called Irian Jaya.

Does this picture take care of the thousand words? (Borrowed the graphic from Wikipedia)

Confusing countries aside, I live in a little suburn town called Doyo Baru, just a few minutes away from the larger town of Sentani. The region's main commercial airport is located in Sentani and a lot of mission operators like MAF, JAARS, and AMA fly out of Sentani airport. Adventist Aviation Indonesia has its own campus in Doyo Baru and we're fortunate to have our own runway and hangars right there. With staff housing located on the airbase, I get to live a few hundred yards away from work!

Time for some produce. It really helps to know numbers here.

Right now I'm in the process of getting everyday life figured out here which means stuff like learning how to shop at the pasar (market), setting up the house I'm staying in, figuring out to make bread (quality whole wheat bread isn't to be found here), and dispatching the sizeable cockroaches that make regular, unwanted appearances in my kitchen. Language learning will come next and then as the mission planes are returned to service from maintenance and my FAA pilot's license is validated, it will be on to flight training!

And that written test I took in Jakarta? After 2 weeks of waiting, the results are finally in: I passed!! And just to satisfy the curiosity of my former flight students who might be reading this, I scored 80% on one and 72.5% on the other, haha! But the typical American that I am, I was just happy to pass in the first place! All that matters is I don't have to go and make a special trip back to Jakarta to retake that thing.

As I settle in, there are so many things to thank God for. The written test was a big one for me, but also just the wonderful blessings of everyday life: a beautiful campus to live on with plenty of clean well water, the ability to eat fresh fruits and vegetables again after carefully avoid all such raw produce in Jakarta, and a great team to serve alongside. And most of all, I'm thankful for the promise that in the not-too-distant future we're going to be going home - to heaven - for good. That's going to be a great day. You coming?

Friday evening sunset at Doyo Baru.

Almost Home

I scanned through the 40 questions on the paper test in front of me, trying to calculate whether I’d answered at least 28 right. Many of the problems had been familiar, but to my dismay I’d come across a good number of ones that I’d either forgotten or hadn’t seen before. Part of the difficulty of the test was the basic grammar of the questions. Gary said they’d been translated into Indonesian from English, and then back into English from Indonesian! Some were based on the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASRs) which were borrowed from the U.S. FARs, so that helped, but others were from sources I would have no way of finding. I had no idea what Annex 2 was, for instance, and what it had to do with the high seas, if anything. So having done my best to study the prep material I’d been provided, I followed Gary’s advice on the test to keep praying and answering.

Last train ride - for now. Glad to be done for the time being!

I decided I’d answered the questions as best as I could so I caught the attention of the proctor and traded my completed air law test for the meteorology test. I felt much more confident on that one, although I realized afterward that I’d messed up on at least a few. Oh well, all that matters is that I get the 70% necessary to pass!

As far as if I’d passed or not? “The results will get sent directly to your organization,” the proctor informed me as I turned in my last gradesheet. “Do you have any idea when the results will come?” I queried. He shrugged his shoulder with a sheepish look on his face. “I don’t know…I can ask later, but maybe one week.” My eyebrows went up. “Or less,” he quickly added. Phooey. Ah well, weren’t you saying something about patience, Michael?

Time for some swapping around.

If patience is a quality for a missionary to acquire, flexibility is an attribute that he must increasingly exercise. As I got out of my exam, I discovered my latest opportunity to be flexible. “How much do your suitcases weigh?” Choqky asked me. After we briefly sorted out pounds to kilos, he told me why he was asking. “The airline you’re going on to Papua only allows 1 suitcase of 20 kilos. So maybe you can rearrange what you’ve packed and take the most important things in one suitcase and the other suitcases will get shipped by boat next week.” Lovely. If there’s one thing I’d rather do when traveling, it’s keep all my belongings together. I’ve already lost a suitcase in Africa and don’t really want to do a repeat. But when I found out the extra baggage fee - $10 per kilo - it was pretty obvious why the boat was the best option.

Simon! The awesome mechanic from Costa Rica.

As I was pondering what I would bring in my one suitcase - isn’t everything important? - I got a welcome surprise. I was going to be traveling with Simon, a mechanic who would be giving Gary some much-needed help with work on the planes. Knowing how many suitcases I’d brought, Gary was checking with him if he was traveling with luggage - and he wasn’t, so he could check a second bag for me! I couldn’t be happier. It made the job much easier as I rearranged my belongings between suitcases that afternoon.

That brings us to today. After checking out of the hotel this morning, I tagged along with Choqky for one more metro ride to downtown to order some appliances for the mission base. Then back to pick up the suitcases and head out to the airport to meet Simon and catch our flight to Papua. It’ll be a red-eye flight, but I’m stoked that we’ll be landing at 7:40 a.m. which means I’ll actually be able to see my new surroundings as I arrive, rather than everything being black and generic. So here we go. I’ve been on the road for 2 weeks since leaving California and I’m ready to get to Papua. So on to…home.

One more semi-sleepless night to go.

Welcome to Indonesia!

The Dreamliner.

I gazed with keen interest at the sleek interior of the Japan Air Lines Boeing 787 that I had just climbed aboard. This was my first time to fly on the Dreamliner and I was pretty stoked that both international legs were going to be on the same type of plane. There was plenty of legroom, nice soft lighting, a cabin that apparently had more humidity than regular metal-body planes, and - oh yes! those huge passenger windows that didn't have pull-down shades, but instead a magical dimming function operated by the press of a button. I happily settled down into my seat and buckled up for the trip.

Umpteen hours, and a very sore posterior later we were finally descending through the night toward Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. I peered out the window, straining to catch a view of this new country, but there were only a few lights scattered in the murk and nothing much to see. A few moments later we were on the ground and the humidity immediately fogged the windows, blocking any more sightseeing of the airport.

It's always encouraging to see the rainbow, a reminder of God's care.

Our flight was early, but the length of the immigration line more than made up for gained time. As I inched closer to the front, I eyed the officers apprehensively, trying to guess if there would be any difficult questions to deal with. There were none. I stepped forward, gave my passport, the officer stamped it, and I was in Indonesia.

By the time I emerged from immigration, all the luggage from my flight had long been claimed, except for mine. An airport staff member was wandering around calling my name for me to get my pile of suitcases. Piling it all on a cart, I made my way through customs and then sent a message to Choqky, AAI’s operations manager who would be picking me up. Thank God for WiFi!

Grins all around. With Choqky, Operations Manager.

I stood awkwardly for a moment near the exit looking down  at my phone to see if he’d replied when I heard a friendly voice. “Are you Michael Lombart?” I looked up at the smiling face and grinned back. “You must be Choqky.” Choqky had been doing a lot of stuff behind the scenes with my paperwork and it was great to finally meet the guy who had helped get me to Indonesia.

Choqky helped me lug my suitcases over to a taxi and then got me to the hotel room where I’d be staying for my time in Jakarta. It had been an exhausting trip, it was after midnight, and I was so ready to drop into bed that night - after taking a few moments to write in my gratitude journal first. It had been such a smooth trip, no hiccups in immigration, and...all my suitcases had made it!

With nothing on the schedule in the morning - Choqky had planned a day off for me to rest and adjust - I could sleep as much as I wanted. Turned out to be a grand 5 hours thanks to jet lag, but it was nonetheless wonderful to sleep lying down again!

My stopover in Jakarta was for paperwork purposes. I needed to take a written on Indonesian aviation regulations and get a medical checkup done by the Indonesian aviation authority. After that was all done I could head on to my final destination of Papua. I’d arrived on Monday night and the plan was to get the appointments done in time for me to head to Papua by the weekend. But do things ever go quite accordingly to plan? I think you’re getting the idea now! 

If there’s one thing I’m finding you learn and relearn and relearn as a missionary, it’s patience. Sometimes things move exceedingly quickly and you have to be able to ride the wave, but more often than not it’s one delay after another. In my case, I found out I would need to extend my stay a bit beyond the weekend due to some snags that were still getting resolved. Ah well, no great hardship. At least I could take it easy.

A classic Indonesian dish called capcay.

Over the next few days I got a good initiation into life in Jakarta, starting with the cuisine. I quickly discovered what it was like to eat rice - white rice - for every meal. The vegetarian dishes I tried were pretty good and I particularly enjoyed the tempeh, a taste for which got me in trouble over the weekend. At church potluck I think I overloaded on the different kinds of tempeh and got a bad case of indigestion. I’d been so careful too, trying to avoid fresh vegetables, fruits with skins, and anything remotely suspect, and yet there I was on the metro back from church growing increasingly nauseous.

Rush hour at the train station.

The smells that wafted in me each time the metro doors opened, followed by the swaying motion of the train was almost too much for me and my churning stomach threatened to rebel. Somehow I made it back to the hotel without upchucking, though I  lwondered in retrospect if it would have been better to get rid of the problem once and for all. It took me a couple days to get completely back to normal.

After three days of waiting with nothing in particular to do except study and find a way to amuse myself, were finally able to take care of one important piece of business, namely my flight physical. The DGCA requires foreign pilots to get a one-time aviation medical checkup prior to letting them use their original country’s medical certificate for flight privileges. So it was off to the medical center to find out what they wanted to do to me.

Trying to see which station I need to go to next.

The whole process was fairly involved compared to the FAA medical. I checked in, got my checklist and began the two hour of process, after which I had been poked, x-rayed, wired up to an EKG, had my hearing tested, and...my teeth inspected?! It was all rather amusing actually, as I made my way through the various stations, feeling like I was being put through an extended NEWSTART Health Expo. I was eventually deemed “Fit” and left the place with my Indonesian First Class medical certificate and a poster sized x-ray of my thorax.

One more task remained and that was the enigmatic Indonesian validation written test. While I struggled with knowing quite how to prepare for the test that seemed to be taken from multiple sources, known and unknown, Choqky was having quite the time trying to get me scheduled for it. Friday ended with no answer from the DGCA on a test date, which meant Monday was out and I would spend another day in Jakarta. Immediately after breakfast on Monday Choqky got back to work checking to see if I’d been scheduled. I didn’t hear from him until lunchtime when my phone buzzed and I saw a text from him: “I got your exam schedule. Tomorrow at 9:30.” I would be leaving for Papua the next day. Praise God! Time to for some final studying and then on to the test and Papua!

The Adventure Begins

First stop on my journey to Papua: Indiantown, Florida! A pretty random place to go first, I know, but my boss Gary was sending me to get some specialized flight training with an instructor there. I would spend three days training, take Sabbath off and then leave the country for good early Sunday morning.

My home away from home. In Indiantown, FL.

The training was quite the experience. The course was supposed to be a kind of Upset Prevention & Recovery Training (UPRT) program and I'd mentally steeled myself for the worst, i.e. using one of those barf bags for the first time following some unusual attitudes. I could have saved myself the worry, because flying through those maneuvers couldn't have been more of a blast!

My instructor, a seasoned aerobatic and tailwheel pilot, coached me through the 3 days of intensive ground and flight training. I relearned the fundamentals of turning flight and using the sight picture, how to let the airplane do the flying rather than overcontrolling, and my personal favorite: how to recover from an inverted attitude. We also practiced a bunch of tailwheel takeoffs and landings, since I'll be flying a taildragger in Papua. As we taxied back to his hangar after the last session, I felt like I'd really gotten a taste of what flying as an art form can be. It was great to be a student again and experience raw flying again.

Would have taken a dip if I didn't have to keep my clothes dry for the trip!

On Sabbath I visited Jupiter - yeah, it's a town in Florida - and had a lovely time worshiping with a very welcoming congregation at the Jupiter Adventist Church. And of course I managed to meet people who knew people that I knew! Then a long walk on the beach and finally back to the hotel room for my last night in the U.S. It was a strange feeling climbing into bed knowing that I was really going to be on my way in a few hours. I tried to relax my mind, and finally drifted into a restless sleep.

The light notes from the final movement of Mozart's piano concerto number 15 filtered into my subconscious at 2:45 a.m. and pulled me back to reality. Today was the day. I'd planned to wake up to this piece for a long time. I associate chapters of my life with certain melodies and this one just seemed to fit the mood in a way that I can't really put in words. I let the music continue playing as I climbed out of bed and dressed, the pianist and orchestra skillfully evoking a sense of poignant transition.

Opted to skip the early morning curbside fest.

After lugging my 3 heavy suitcases, 1 carry-on suitcase, jam-packed backpack and pillow down the stairs to the front lobby, I surveyed the sign posted on the inside of the entrance with some dismay: Do not open this door for anyone. This is for the safety of the inn. The inn staff had told me how to unlock the door and get back after hours, but I suddenly didn't feel quite so safe venturing out with a warning like that. Every single day of my stay in the town I'd seen police activity, and it was a little town. Oh well... I briskly stepped toward the parking lot, eyeing the bushes by the hotel, and then drove my rental car to the curb in front of the hotel entrance.

As I got out, a vehicle drove by on the main road and seemed to be slowing down. I looked up the road behind it and saw some blue and lights come on. Great. Well, at least it was comforting to have the police nearby. I quickly loaded my luggage up and then climbed in, mentally checking that I had everything - yup, I think I got it all. With no one and nothing really to say goodbye to, except 3 police cars with lights blazing a half block away, I pulled out and drove away into the night.

When Tomorrow Arrives

Somehow I managed to survive the last few hectic days before departure as I did my best to downsize all my belongings that I wasn't taking and pack up my room so everything I left behind would be portable. I didn't quite get all the things done on my to-do list as I would have liked and instead figured out quite quickly what things could be deleted without creating a hardship. Making a return at Walmart was something I could skip, but having a ravioli dinner with a friend I wouldn't see in person for months wasn't something I would trade for a world of crossed-off checklists.

The night before my departure I said my last goodbyes to friends on campus and then returned home to burn the midnight oil tying up as many loose ends as possible. I finished boxing up my room and taking out the trash and then I stopped and surveyed the empty looking room, letting out a big sigh. I glanced at my watch and saw the time: 12:30 a.m. That's when it hit me. There's a saying that tomorrow never comes. Well, this time it did. August 21 had arrived.

Two of my dearest people got up with me at the unearthly hour of 3:30 to take me to SMF airport. It was a miserable thing saying that goodbye. If only I didn't have to leave those I cared about most behind. Perhaps it's just the smallest taste of a goodbye that was infinitely more difficult, when God "gave His only begotten Son" to this dark world. I suppose if Jesus was willing enough to leave His Father's personal presence for 33 long years for my sake, shouldn't I feel it a privilege to do something so comparatively small as leave home for His sake?

The sun was just rising as my Southwest Airlines jet passed over the crest of the Sierras. I waved farewell to California and then let sleep close my exhausted, moist eyes.

Between Here and There

The road to becoming a missionary pilot is often pretty long. On the podcast Plane Faith, it was not uncommon to hear the guys sharing that it took them quite a few years to go from the first step of deciding to pursue the calling and finally reaching the mission field, as it takes time to get through all the training and life experiences on the way. I also met a missionary pilot at Oshkosh a couple years ago who told me it took him 2 years to get his visa for Indonesia. So I guess I was basically on track in pretty much every way!

Once everything aligns, though, it's a mad scramble to get all the tasks done that are necessary to finish before I can head out. After spending the last 2 1/2 years having no definite departure date, I'm suddenly realizing how little time I have to get so much done! It seems my to-do list gets longer as the days before my departure quickly evaporate.

But ready or not, I will be on my way August 21! It'll be a 3-stage trip getting to my ultimate destination. My first stop will be Indiantown, Florida where my boss is sending me to take some preliminary Upset Prevention & Recovery Training (UPRT). Then early Sunday morning, August 26, I'll start my 29-hour journey to Jakarta. After several days of paperwork in Jakarta, I'll finally catch my last flights to my new home in Sentani, Papua.
 
It's going to be an interesting journey for sure!

You really think I'm all packed already? Hehe...

Finished.

798 hours. What happens in that amount of time? Or 433 flights? And how have I impacted the 46 students whose names are written in my logbook? These kind of thoughts are floating through my mind today as I collect my last paycheck, clean out my desk, and load my car up with my office belongings. Today is my last day of work and what a mixed bag of feelings it brings. It’s been such a great journey, working as a flight instructor at EVA Flight Training Academy, and I’m honestly sad to be closing this chapter. I can’t really encapsulate all I’ve learned and experience I’ve gained while being a CFI here, but the least I can do is share some snapshots of the awesome time:

This is where it starts, seeing all those eager faces of student pilots ready to learn how to fly.

You never forget your first student. (and don't worry, I haven't forgotten the rest of you either!)

Seeing someone go from zero hours to Private Pilot and beyond is pretty cool.

These ladies will probably be flying me around one day.

And this guy too...

What a fun time I had back in February when I got to meet up with former students at the HQ in Taipei. (no, these weren't all my students, but it was great seeing them all again)

The sights you see as a pilot never get old. PC: Ann H.

And that's it folks. Last flight.

As you must have guessed by now, I am leaving my job to go overseas and start working as a missionary pilot in Papua, Indonesia. It's been quite the ride getting to this point and many times it looked like it wasn't going to happen, but 2 1/2+ years after first committing to going, I finally have my visa in hand and I'll be departing the end of August. It's exciting and daunting at the same time. The work will not be easy. But I believe it will be well worth it. And I'm encouraged by this neat verse I read a couple weeks ago. Never before has it felt so relevant and personal: