Friday, March 6, 2015

10,000 Feet Up with the Doors Wide Open

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Ricky Oliveras, GC Adventist Mission media specialist,  has never shot from an open door at nearly 10,000 feet high, let alone in the Mountains of Indonesian Papua.

I actually have no idea how high we were because I was not paying attention to the Altimeter as I was having too much fun shooting photos.    When I finally did look we had descended to 8,700 feet and I was freezing but never before had I had such a free flying experience.   This past Thursday the General Conference Adventist Mission film crew was here on a 10 stop 10 day tour of South-east Asia.    We were just 1 of their stops.    In an effort to get better shots Gary and Eric Roberts our pilots for the day said, “Why don’t you slide the door open?”    I had my little cheap cameral whirling away as we zoomed over valleys and impenetrable jungle below.   Ever so often a small group of huts would appear far down in the jungle below.   Snap!   Snap!   Snap!   Our cameras would whir each time something else came into view.

 

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Finally after an hour Mountains appeared over the dashboard and down we went to Tinibil to the Church that Bob built.

 

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Gary Roberts (pilots chair) and Eric Roberts (instructors/co-pilots chair)   our pilots for the day.

 

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Pdtm./  Global Pioneer, Roy Marten Repasi (blue sweat shirt), talks with Gary Roberts.

  Allow me to introduce you to Roy Marten Repasi.    Just 3 weeks and 4 days earlier Our Global Pioneer in part sponsored by Gospel Outreach and the General Conference had been places as our first trained worker in Tinibil.    Already he’s climbed 13,000 foot passes to make it to district head offices for the government to report his where-abouts to the Regional leaders so they don’t think he’s up to something other than what we’ve placed him there for.    In the mountains surrounding Tinibil what looks like a short walk is actually many hours.   In 1 place 3 minutes in the plane is 8 hours hiking.   11 minutes to the Regional offices of the government in Oksibil is 2 1/2 days and many blisters latter.    Roy called me one day from Oksibil where there is a lone cell phone tower to communicate to the outside world.     “Pastor I have lots of blisters on my feet.   Do you think I can get a flight back to Tinibil.”    After listening to him carefully I had to explain to him that there was no pilot that was going to be near him for a while.    So reluctantly he walked home.    After being home for 16 hours a church member came from a village 5 hours away.   “Brother Roy can you come and preform a funeral for my son?   He died last night.”   So despite being in much pain Roy walked with the small handful of members who have already been baptized before Roy came.   5 hours there and 5 hours back.   6 hours at the funeral.   

 

We interviewed Roy Marten Repasi for a future Hope Channel and 3ABN program.    I was worried about translating on camera after all I’ve only been here 3 years and still have a long way to go?    Fortunately God helped and the interview went well.   Then we got some Ground to Air shots and video. 

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The Adventist Aviation Indonesia Porter plane goes to the top of the strip as Ricky Oliveras sets up for videoing the take off

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And the door came open 5 feet off the ground for the return trip home.   We decided to keep the door shut on take off lest a rock come off the  tires on take off.   But 5 feet off the run way and everything secured better the door slid open.    The temperature for this tropical acclimatized pastor was down right cold.   

 

More villages.   Clearly tribes that have little to no contact with the outside world because there is no runway.    For the occasional runway you can assume at least a form of the Gospel has come but for places where there is no runway its often completely traditional religions.     Pray to the Lord of the Harvest for more laborers.