The hill above must be leveled by about 40 feet from off the top and 200 yards long to make an airstrip the Senepa district.
The village has an exotic sound -- Ndugu-ndugu but when you see the video at www.sharehim.org you’ll know this is from another time and another place. Make sure you look at the video “Irian Jaya”. In actuality the video was from 2005 but today nothing significant has changed. There are still enthusiastic people but their hearts grow weary at the incredible task of building an airstrip into their village. We have heard reports that money is being contributed from far and wide around the world and we will let you know when that money makes it here to Papua Indonesia – formerly Irian Jaya, Indonesia. With an airstrip in the heart of the Senepa district we will be able to reach 12 new villages with the gospel. With an airstrip in the Senepa district we will be able to get medical emergency patients out in hours instead of days. The nearest airstrip to Ndugu-ndugu is now more than 5 hours hike away.
What do these people need to finish their airstrip. Tools and a little money to substitute their food supply that they would have been able to grow and hunt had they not been building an airstrip. Bob Roberts, Chief Pilot for Adventist Aviation, says that the average airstrip in the mountains takes about 12 years simply because people can’t build more than a few days out of every quarter in a year because they have to eat. If they neglect their gardens and hunting they will die yet many die without outside transportation for emergency medical needs.
I want to share about 1 little boy in America who heard about this airstrip project and decided to challenge his Sabbath School class to do something about it. He is only 12. I wish I had a picture of him to post here but for now you’ll just have to imagine a boy of Navaho Indian heritage living in Farmington, NM. His Sabbath School class held a dinner at his church to benefit our airstrip in Papua Indonesia and raised $600 dollars. His Grandma brought a brochure to church that my sister in Tennessee had made for helping to raise funds and on that Sabbath a man from California happened to be present who is originally from Tamika, Papua, Indonesia. He is an engineer for the Freeport Mine and was so excited to learn that this project was for his home area just less than an hours flight from Tamika if the airstrip were complete. If he reads this story on this blog I want him to know that just 2 weeks ago I believe I met his mother who is a nurse in Tamika. What a small world indeed. Freeport mine is the largest Gold mine in the world and the third largest Copper mine. Who knows perhaps through a 12 year old boy in Farmington and his grandmother putting an updated brochure for the church in Farmington, NM there can be amazing things happen in the Senepa district.
For roughly $30 dollars 1 person can be sponsored with the tools and food necessary to help build this airstrip.
To contribute you can send your tax deductible donations to: Battlefield Community Seventh-day Adventist Church PO Box 5306 Ft. Oglethorpe, GA 30742 or you can go to www.battlefieldadventist.org and click “online giving”. After you have registered you can donate to “Papua Mission Evangelism.”
Another angle of the hill to be leveled by hand.
Amazing to see how God puts people in the right place at the right time and that anyone can be a missionary! "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands!"
ReplyDeleteWhat would it take for a band of people to come and work on it?
ReplyDeleteHi Noelle,
DeleteI just returned a few hours ago from Ndugu-Ndugu. This is an amazingly difficult place. We flew 250 miles interior and then hiked about 3 hours in but the normal person takes about 5 hours hiking. The airstrip will probably take 30-50 men another 2-6 months to build. We would certainly welcome help however there are easier places to send groups. This one is a logistical challenge as it will take cooperation on the part of the government just to allow foreigners to enter the place on a tourist or business visa. Papua is considered a military zone as there is strong sentiment against Indonesia in this area. It's not a place we can send lots of Americans into with out a lot of work and then supplying all the food needs for a group of 8-10 people would be very difficult unless you enjoy grubs and rice and root crops 3 meals a day. There are a variety of other locations that would be much easier. The cost of transportation to Papua would be about $2,100 to $2,500 dollars from Atlanta. Ruth and I will be in the Chattanooga area on Annual leave in the month of July several times. I will be speaking at the Battlefield church on July 14 and want to invite you guys to some see and hear.